A Day for Moms

Ask us moms. We don't really want presents on Mother's Day. It's all about the kids. And the fact that we have been blessed to have them in our lives. 

This year is especially meaningful for me. I am going to be a Gramma for the first time. Yes, my partner in this cookie adventure is preggers! I am beyond excited. I love my grand-dogs more than I knew I could, and talk about them incessantly to my patient co-workers. But this? This is new, and I am thinking I am about to be elevated to a whole new plateau of love and fulfillment!  So stay tuned ~ October is going to be an over-the-top month for us. I suppose she can always decorate between contractions. . (yes, my kids are THAT talented.)

We are again donating to the Nipomo High School Boosters' Silent Auction. It just so happens that the auction is tonight, and Mom's Day is tomorrow. We thought we could help out those last minute folks who wanted to acknowledge their moms by gifting them a box of decorated Mom cookies. Not your typical spring colors; we were going for Titan colors.

Good luck to the Titan Boosters.  And congrats on your recent Girls' Softball League Championship!

We are thinking of the moms in our lives today, especially.  

Happy Mom's Day to my Mom and Kimi's Gramma Grace. Missing You. . .

And to my mom by marriage and Kimi's Gramma Joycie. . . 

And to my friend and Kimi's mom by marriage, Dianne.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms in our lives!

So much of me is made from what I learned from you;

you'll be with me like a handprint on my heart.

~ from Wicked

Bake Some Cupcakes - Then Bake Some More!

I've been wanting to try this Chocolate Cherry Cupcake recipe for quite a while. What a combination, huh? I've been trying to lose weight to limit how many recipes I try out. If I don't have a reason to bake something scrumptiously tempting, I shouldn't, right?  So I spend most of my time keeping my mind open to reasons for trying new recipes!  Don't judge. It makes sense to me.

This particular weekend provided the PERFECT opportunity to try something new. Kimi told me that there was a new baby on the way and the baby was going to need open-heart surgery immediately after birth.  Her colleagues are getting together for a fund raising slow-pitch tournament in honor of the new babe.  Say no more.  I have a reason.

So with great passion I started melting, chopping, mixing and baking. I love red. It's so cheery. The perfect color for this new baby. And for his delicate baby heart. (I hate to take too much credit, but the team did exceptionally well that day.  Just sayin'. . .)

I also have been wanting an excuse to try some chocolate malted cupcakes. The hubster loves malt balls almost as much as he likes Easter Peeps. Except that he actually EATS the malt balls. He mostly just plays with the peeps.  

Well, just so happens that MY office was celebrating hiring some awesome new employees who will surely help make our days brighter (and lighter!).  So I baked a double batch of these yummies for our office's brunch, and sent the others to work with the hubster. Since he's retiring soon *happy sigh* he won't be taking my 'experiments' to work for much longer.  It's the least I could do. 

This is my favorite shot of the day. Money shot, right? And I didn't even drop it into the water! I'm happy to report that both recipes were a success.  

Most importantly though, baby Frankie has had his surgery and is doing well!  Congratulations on the birth of your son from XOXO Cookies!  (Do you suppose he will want to play baseball?)

Peanuts? Popcorn?? COOKIES???

A friend emailed XOXO and requested some cookies for her hubby's birthday celebration.  The twist?  The party was being held at the Giants/Brewers game in beautiful San Francisco at the AT&T Park.

It turned out to be a gorgeous (make that sizzling!) day on the California coast.   Nearly forty of the birthday boy's fans celebrated the day together, occupying two entire rows in the right center outfield bleachers - the Giants beat the Brewers in an exciting extra-innings game - and we heard that the guests loved their themed-cookie surprises!

What's a game without a ball?  

Add a mitt and you have Baseball. . .

 Almost on their way - time for their photo shoot!  We LOVE this part!  :-)

We couldn't forget it was a birthday, so we added a few coordinating cupcake cookies.   We attached a tag to each cookie with wishes for the birthday boy.

All boxed up and packed in a cooler to make the trip North. Thank you Andrea for allowing us to be part of your fun day! Happy Birthday to Brad from XOXO Cookies!

If you want a couple of minutes of giggles, click on this link and listen to the:

Classic Abbott & Costello sketch

xoxo

When you wish upon a star...

We have been holding onto our crown cookie cutter in the hopes that someday someone would ask us to help decorate a princess party.  This was our lucky day!

This sweet little fairy princess turned 5 this weekend and celebrated with friends and family at the Children's Museum where they could run wild and explore.

This was a special order for us.  From mixing the flour and eggs to putting on the finishing glittery touches, we had smiles on our faces and songs in the air.  

This party left no one out. 

Spice cake pops for the adults....

Special star princess wands for the girls,

(and the boys were not shy to grab one either)....

Prince and princess crown cookies for their goodie bags...

and orange flavored pink and yellow cupcakes for all....

Happy Birthday Sophia! 

We hope you enjoyed your special day and we are so happy to have been there.

Hugs and kisses from  XOXO Cookies

Groundbreaking Ceremonies in SLO

Marsh Street Commons' groundbreaking ceremony was this past week.  

It was a beautiful sunny day for a groundbreaking ceremony.  XOXO provided simple "M" chocolate flavored cookies and chocolate mini cupcakes with a chocolate cream cheese frosting.

Chocolate dipped pretzels drizzled with blue and white candy were bagged individually for takeaway gifts. 

Best wishes to the wishes the Marsh Street Commons project, for a timely completion and for much future success. 

XOXO Cookies  

The Looks of Love

February was a busy month. More babies on the way, and of course, February ~ the month we celebrate L.O.V.E. Here are a few pictures of some treats for our XOXO friends!

Congratulations to Jeanette and Ryan.  Their first-born is expected any day now {ah, sweet sigh and happy faces!} and these treats were among many sweet offerings from friends to celebrate Jenner's pending arrival!

February was oh so long ago (!) and I can't remember the occasion for these Key Lime Cupcakes, but it must have been a fun day.   I think it may have been to celebrate knocking down a supporting wall in the middle of Kimi's kitchen/living room area.  Or maybe congratulating my hubster for passing the first inspection.  (Beam?  I don't see a new beam...)  Or maybe the second inspection.  The third?  Hmmm.  It's been a blur of take-out food and trips to the upstairs bath with dirty dishes for weeks, as all efforts are focused on getting Kimi and hubby back into some sense of normalcy.  So close.   So much improvement already.  So, So many bruises and Ibuprofen.  

These pops were a Valentine's gift, destined for a friend's girlfriend.  We're not sure if they actually made it home though.  Robert has quite a sweet tooth when it comes to these pops!

This was another fun order.  Tony gave us carte blanche on designing a box full of goodies for his wife. He knew he wanted pops, decorated valentine cookies, and chocolate chip cookies.  Beyond that, it was up to us to design and decorate.   Love that!

They were so much fun.  My favorite (for this month) turned out to be these bouquets of hearts with shimmer dust.  

So sweet.  I can see these in pretty yellows for Spring, too!  Maybe Mom's Day?

Dear Mr. Postman, 

Please deliver these safely to a much-loved woman in Fremont.  

xoxo

Okay, now we're just playin'.    Playin' with pictures is the bestest part.  

Smile and look pretty. . . 

Happy Daylight Savings Time Everyone.  ug.  

Treat yourselves to a lil extra suga to get those mornin peepers open!

XOXO Cookies

Hoot Hoot Hurray!

A very special girl turned ONE last week! It feels like just yesterday when we made cake pop rattles for Mommy's baby shower.  Now her little girl has turned one and we were soo happy to be a part of the celebration once again. 

When she told us her little one loved owls and could hoot just like them, we couldn't wait to get started on one of our favorite feathered friends.  

The party was decorated in pinks and teals and these owls were the finishing touch to a perfectly planned birthday party.

Mom reports that her Birthday Girl "has been hooting all day long! 

She absolutely loved her owl cookies!" 

We want to thank you, Blaire, for trusting XOXO Cookies to create a sweet treat that brought smiles from your sweetie on her very special day! 

A California Christmas!

Christmas in February?  Um.... ya.  We're a bit late in this post.  But, to be fair, it IS leap day. The extra day given to us this year should give us a free pass for late posts.  As long as I finish it before midnight, I think we're okay.  Actually, on TIME even!   By the way, I'm using Pacific Coast Time - might as well take advantage of everything I can.

A Coastal couple was heading east to visit family for Christmas.  They wanted to bring a touch of our salty air to the celebration.   The order: cake pops, starfish, penguins, polar bears, trees and wine bottles.  (SLO County is wine country after all!)

We did our best to bring these creations to life -  remember, we do talk to these guys as we're decorating them!   They were SO adorable, and we really had some fun on this project.  These rockin' California starfish were the hit of the order for us.  Because everyone knows, all starfish don sunglasses in the California waters.  Yes they do.

Inspired by a greeting card, these penguins served as reminders that our own Christmas lights were not yet hung.   Seems to be an ongoing problem around here during the holidays!

Were they funny, or what?

Polar bears on parade!  After all the detail on the penguins, the red and white polar bears were a nice contrast.  If you look closely, you might see the detail on their scarves.  X's and O's of course!

Some snow covered cake pops made the trip, too!  Darn. I wish I had one right now. The perfect Leap Day treat would taste pretty good right now!

And these were our California wine bottle cookies, complete with poinsettia flower accents and glowing 'foil' tops.  We added the tags for another element of detail.

All packaged up in our holiday boxes and ready for their holiday trip!  

Thank you Jen and Theresa, for your order!  We had so much fun preparing these.  We'd wish you and your family a Merry Christmas, but I think playing the Leap Day card only goes so far.  We CAN wish you a wonderful 2012, filled with many happy play days with your new puppy, Remy.

XOXO