A Wedding Shower Toast

We received an email from one of our favorite eastern states, Massachusetts!  We were asked to decorate wedding dresses and wine glasses for a bride to be's wedding shower.

Even though we always say certain cookie designs are our favorite, these wine glasses really are one of my favorites! 

 We are lucky to live in wine country ourselves, and happy to ship some wine-love their way.

Wine to me is passion.  It's family and friends.  It's warmth of heart and generosity of spirit. Wine is art. It's culture. It's the essence of civilization and the art of living.

-Robert Mondavi

"Harvest of Joy"

Congratulations and we hope you enjoy a lifetime of happiness!

XOXO Cookies

Fun Fund Raising

Nipomo High School had a boosters dinner to raise money for the school.  They had asked us to donate a gift basket for the silent auction.  

We really enjoyed making a little bit of everything for this basket; cake pops, oreo cookie pops, carmel chocolate dipped pretzels, and the NHS cookies. 

We also added a gift certificate for a dozen treats of their choice!

The basket turned out just how we wanted, full of flavor and school spirit.  Everyone enjoyed bidding for these fun treats, but in the end there could only be one winner.  We were happy to donate our tasty treats and help raise some money for the school. 

Congratulations to the winner, Victoria from XOXO Cookies!  And thank you for supporting the school with your generous donation!

Gotta Have a Pumpkin. . .

Gotta have it now!

The weather has turned.  The warm, blue days of summer that we waited for sooo long to finally arrive have given way to more humid, cloudy days. When I left work the other evening, I noticed a distinct change in the air, and the sun was already lower in the sky. Where have I been?  It is almost October!

I absolutely LOVE summer.  

But I must admit, Fall owns a special place in my heart, and I am (shhhhh), a little excited! 

I had some extra cake pops last weekend, and decided to create my own pumpkins! Mini punkins are just so cute, aren't they?

The yummy spice cake and cream cheese centers were just perfect to satisfy my pumpkin craving. (For now anyway.)  

We have some Halloween cookie ideas brewin' . . . XOXO Cookies is ready for Fall!

Speedy Recovery

With a little TLC, anyone is bound to feel better.    Think back to a time when you were feeling a little down in the dumps.  How nice it may have been when someone who loved you walked down the hallway delivering a tray filled with good wishes after your nap.  

        

    Maybe a fresh flower, a cookie and some hot tea?

Maybe someone had taken the time to write you a get well note ~

Or maybe it was time for your meds ~

Perhaps they just wanted to share some time with you, make you smile, and let you know that they felt bad because you felt bad.   Whatever it was, I bet you DID feel a little better.    As we enter the season when all the school kids start sharing their running noses again, be prepared to do a little something special for your loved one to wish them a Speedy Recovery!

To your good health from XOXO Cookies!

A New Recruit?

Arghhhh, Matey.  Who would guess that we'd be doing a second round of pirates so soon?  It seems my daughter (and Kimi's sis) had a class reunion coming up, and offered up some XOXO Cookies for the party. The high school mascot is a Pirate.

Unfortunately, my partner was off backpacking with her hubs and the grandpup, and I knew I couldn't single-handedly pull off an order that big, that quickly, alone.   So I accepted the offer of her sis to help out with the order. Little did she know. . . 

Two cups of instant hazelnut coffee and a whole lotta hours later, sis realized what she had gotten herself into.  But she is an ex-Lady Pirate herself, and she knows how to burn the midnight oil when necessary. She stayed with it until the bitter end, and worked until the very last pirate was bagged.

She did a great job, and managed to do it with good humor, a worthy attribute for this any future employer. . .      ;-)

I did ask if she would like to help us out in the future.  Her eyes smiled and her lips murmured something (I believe it may have been "You Betcha, Mom").

From what I hear, the party that celebrated ten years of life beyond high school was a huge success. I'm very glad that I was able to share several sometimes delirious, but fun long hours with another daughter and possible future recruit!    Love ya' Linds.

Mom

YoHo, YoHo, A Pirate's Treat For Me!

A very special "Pirate" just turned 5!  His mom wanted to throw him a fun, activity filled, pirate themed birthday for him and his Mateys to enjoy.

She had already planned this party down to the very last detail, from the eye patches and a treasure chest,  to walking the plank and hand decorated loot bags. What more could you want?  Cookies of course!  Pirate Cookies! Argggh....

We were very excited when she asked us to help out with this very special party.  But pirates were another first for us, so we called on every resource we had for inspiration, including a Play Mobile Pirate set we had as kids.  (Not exactly girly-girls I guess.)

When we finally finished, we loved these cookies so much that we had to bring out our own pirates to join in on the fun for the photo shoot.  

Mom shared this picture of the party boy.  I think it is safe to say, this little pirate had a great birthday, got lots of good loot and enjoyed every last bite!

Happy Birthday Dane! 

from

XOXO Cookies

Just A Spoonful of Sugar

Grandma Joycie's birthday is in July, and we knew she would enjoy an evening at the theatre seeing the Musical Production of Mary Poppins.  It was playing in Orange County so we bought tickets, gathered everyone together, and headed through the tumultuous traffic of So Cal.   Arggh.

We spent the weekend on beautiful Balboa Island, across the bay from Newport Beach.  Once you park your car on the Island, you don't get into it again until you go home.   Or in this case, until you leave for the theatre.  

The afternoon's summer sun was not wasted.  We sat on the beach soaking up the healing rays as we enjoyed the passing yachts and the young families walking dogs and pushing strollers along the promenade.

We took the opportunity to enjoy our birthday treats while we were enjoying the sun.  The breeze was a bit strong and we didn't light the candles on these brownie pops, so we wished Grandma Joycie a happy birthday and bit in.

Many of my children's summer days were spent along this gently lapping waterline, and I couldn't resist getting a shot of my brownie pop enjoying the same cool water.   Almost more fun than creating these little treats is photographing them.  

And look at the little person footprint!  So cute.

Chatting away with Grandma, daughter number three demonstrated that these treats are worth repeating in the future.  And the musical later that evening?   As I expected.  "Mary Poppins, practically perfect in every way."  

Happy Birthday Wishes to Grandma Joycie!

From your family and XOXO Cookies

It's in the Water!

To say that every time I turn around at work I am either bumping into a baby "bump" or hearing about disposable vs. cloth diapers would be no exaggeration.  How exciting to have FIVE babies on the way, all within one month of each other!

We had an in-office baby shower for our five expecting parents.  This was a celebration worthy of colorfully decorated cookies and cake balls!

"We" have three boys, one girl, and one surprise "we" like to refer to as Baby Apple Seed :)  I know everyone is very excited for the expecting parents and we have enjoyed hearing about these little ones all along the way.  I know I have!

The first thing everyone says when they find out about FIVE babies on the way in one company is, "It must be in the water!" The funny thing about that is that we spend most of our time working in an area where we are not allowed to drink the water!

I am so excited for all of the babies soon to come! It shouldn't be long now. . . 

 Congratulations to Amber, Alyssa, Alison, JP, and Robert!

Kimi and XOXO Cookies

The Colors of Summer

Summer cookies are so much fun to decorate!  The bold, bright colors make each design "our most favorite yet!"

We received an email from my nephew's wife, who was coordinating a family reunion being held in our County at a local beach.   We don't get a chance to see this young family very often since they moved to Oregon, and we were delighted when she asked us to bake some cookies decorated in a beach theme.  She suggested sandcastles and any other 'beachy' thing we might come up with.  

These were the li'l creations we made.  We had no cutters for these, so it took a while to design a castle we liked; one that would hold its own in a bag of goodies for the guests.   Add a few sea creatures, some sugar 'sand' and a splash of the Pacific along the bottom and they were ready to go.

Once the sandcastle design was finished, we brainstormed about other similarly themed ideas.   It seemed obvious.  You can't make a sandcastle without a pail and shovel, so we rounded out the order with the cutest little pails!  These were seriously so much fun to work on.  Again, we had no cutter, so they took a bit longer (okay maybe more than a 'bit'), but the bright colors kept us smiling the whole time.

And of course, the photo shoot!  One of my joys!

Thank you Nikki, for allowing us to be part of your family's reunion.  We hope everyone enjoyed the cookies and that memories of good times will bring you and your family back again soon!

'Love you!

Sheree and Kimi

XOXO Cookies

I'll have s'more, please.

It seems you can't have a campfire without enjoying fireside treats affectionately known as S'mores!   We've been treating ourselves to a number of these decadent desserts lately!  Family get-togethers in backyards, evenings at the beach, or celebrating a new deck project - 'seems I have several smoke-scented articles of clothing in my laundry hamper!

It got me thinking about a less smelly version of a family favorite.  So I hunted through my recipes and came up with this cupcake.  We had a couple occasions for treats last week which provided a great excuse for experimenting.  

The chocolate cake was scrumptious and I could have stopped right there and been happy.  Especially since I wasn't so sure about 'torching' the tops of my pretty treasures.   But I pressed on, and had some good laughs in the meantime, considering what my cupcakes might look like if the hubster's blow torch got out of hand.  Swiss meringue and marshmallow cream all over kitchen!

But, as pictures indicate, all is well.  A few trial runs on the torch proved to be quite helpful and in the end, not a cupcake was lost.    

A Hershey's square garnish was added, but I held back on putting the graham cracker cookies on top.   I was afraid they might get soggy.  (This 'learn by doing it wrong' household has taught me a few things.) So I decided to just serve the cookies alongside the cupcake.   I'm glad I had people to share these with, because I was definitely wanting s'more.

Happy Belated Birthday to my Bestie, Patty!

  

And Leah, you are one lucky granddaughter! We trust your upcoming trip to Costa Rica provides you all with some amazing memories together. 

Buen viaje from XOXO Cookies!