Tag: sugar cookies

Easter Preparations

Dear Liza,

Grandpa Nelson, Auntie Bridgett and I have an Easter picnic planned at Laurelhurst Park with Auntie Katie, Cousins Jasper and Kestrel, and Katie’s pal Douglas. We are providing most of the food, so there was a lot to do!

First, of course, was cookies. Donna Spicer’s sugar cookies always turn out delicious, so I made a double batch.

As you can see, I have included the “traditional” Easter dinosaur. (Maybe it is traditional somewhere…)


Once the cookies were baked and cooled, I iced them with plain white frosting and painted them with food coloring.

The colors are sort of Easter-ish, even if there are no bunny cookies. Cats, yes, and flowers, and a happy face.

But you can’t have a picnic of just cookies, so we made some deviled eggs.

We sliced the eggs a little differently, mixed the yolks with spices and mayonnaise, and filled the eggs back up.

Then Auntie Bridgett put on the tops and gave them little eyes made of peppercorns.
Little chicks hatching from their shells! Aren’t they cute?

So now, the night before Easter, I feel ready for the picnic. We have cookies, deviled eggs, fruits, veggies, meat and spreads, pickles and other goodies. Auntie Katie will bring lots of bread, and we’ll be fed!

So now I can watch Yul Brynner give in to Charleton Heston in “The Ten Commandments” and head off to bed.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Donna’s Cookies

Dear Liza,

Auntie Bridgett’s momma Donna makes really good sugar cookies. I mean, REALLY good. And this year, with no travel, we had to make our own!

Sloppy, but accurate!

Fortunately, Donna gave us HER recipe, so we are just fine. We creamed the butter, eggs, and vanilla together, then sifted in the flour, baking powder and a dash of salt, mixed it up and put it in the fridge. While it chilled I hunted for cookies cutters. We don’t have many, since I passed most of them onto Auntie Katie long ago. But we had enough to make it work.

I made some to be left plain, because Grandpa Nelson prefers the cookies just by themselves, and some to make pretty to share with neighbors. I even changed from my usual buttercream and tried royal icing, a new (to me) type of cookie icing that dries smooth and shiny.

Work in progress

When the icing was fresh, it was very runny and hard to control, but after it sat in the fridge (in an airtight container) for a while, it worked much better.

I used the piping bag and Auntie Bridgett used her skill with a butter knife, and together we made some pretty cookies.

Now they just need to dry overnight (covered and protected from curious kittens!) and they will be ready to pass along. Baking is something I do to make me happy, and something I can share with others. It takes the love I have inside and allows me hand it out on little plates.

Merry Christmas!

Love,

Grandma Judy