Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Baby Shower Cookies with an Elephant Theme

Awaiting the birth of her first child - a little baby boy, Ashlea contacted me to create these elephant cookies to go with her baby shower theme of baby blue, teal and grey.  Each cookie was packaged in a cellophane bag and closed with a teal or baby blue ribbon.  I love how they turned out and know this little boy will bring Ashlea and her husband much love and joy!


P.S.  Those little grey dots?  I counted and figured out I piped 1400 for this order!  A special thanks to Amy of Sweetface Cookie Boutique for the design idea.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Cookies


I live in "Leaf Country" and many of my neighbours bleed blue and white.  Created for a little boy's birthday party and dedicated to all the Leaf fans who have been waiting 44 years for another cup to come to Toronto.  Go Leafs Go!

P.S.  My husband, a Habs fan, will not appreciate this post.

Friday, March 22, 2013

Easter Cookies

Looking out of my window, it is hard to believe it is Spring or that Easter is on its way, but the calendar tells me Easter is just one week away!  So on that note, here are my Easter cookie options available for preorder, pickup is Saturday, March 30th.


This darling set of bunnies and chicks is $18.  This set comes packaged in cellophane bags and colour coordinating ribbon.  This set will provide 6 packages (1 bunny or 3 chicks per package).


This adorable set of eggs and baby animals is $20.  This set comes packaged in cellophane bags and colour coordinating ribbon.  This set will provide 4 packages, each package will have a round cookie and an egg.


This bunny family can spend Easter with you for only $10.  This set comes packaged in cellophane bags and colour coordinating ribbon.  This set will provide 3 packages.


What is the Easter bunny leaving your loved ones this Easter?  Beautifully packaged with a colour-coordinated ribbon, these cookies are one of the yummiest Easter treats anyone could wish for!  Contact me today to place your order, space is extremely limited!

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Thank You Cookies

I admire Kelly - she knows the importance of taking time to nourish her marriage to her terrific husband and this time she did it by planning a spa day together.  In order to make this day work, she called on her friend to take care of her son after school until she returned home.  What better token of thanks than a box of Sweet Handmade cookies?


These beautiful blossoms and ladybugs shout spring and are a perfect way to say thank you for being a kind friend.

Monday, March 18, 2013

Leap Year Baby Cookies

Corey is a leap year baby and this year celebrated his 21st (or is it 5 ¼?) birthday!  I created these cookies in a masculine grey and blue colour scheme.  Happy birthday Corey!


These cookies resulted in a big debate at my house.  If your birthday is on February 29th, and it is not a leap year, when would you celebrate?  My youngest daughter says on the 28th because you want to celebrate in the correct month, the rest of us say March 1st.  What do you think?

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Australia Travel Cookie Set

Emma's family was moving to beautiful Australia and her mom thought goodbye cookies would be a great way to celebrate one last time with her friends.


I made a variety of cookies to represent her loves and travel and her future home, including soccer and basketballs, a stack of luggage, kangaroos and boomerangs.  I hope the cookies helped to make "goodbye" a little sweeter.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Mickey Mouse Birthday Cookies


Justin, his two older brothers and his mother are regular Farmers' Market customers and during the summer months I see them weekly.  The boys love my cookies and for Justin's third birthday his mom ordered Mickey Mouse themed cookies instead of a cake.


Justin's dad came up with the fabulous idea of putting candles on the cookies, which was a huge hit!


Happy birthday Justin!

Monday, March 11, 2013

Happy Birthday Flower Cookies


These beautiful daisies and black-eyed susan cookies were sent across the country for a favourite sister who lives in Kelowna, British Columbia.

Friday, March 8, 2013

Moments of Joy - Family Dining

Yesterday was a weekday, Thursday to be precise.  Who did I have lunch with?  My wonderful husband and my two beautiful daughters.  Since my husband works out of his home office most days of the week we often have lunch together, but since both of my girls were recovering from illness, they were both home too.  As we tucked into our sandwiches I looked around and my heart swelled a little.  This is the life, I tell you!  I love mealtime together, and it is something we usually do for every meal.  Taking the time to eat together is something that brings me great joy.  I started writing this post, but realized I had written it before on an old blog.  Here it is again for your reading pleasure.

Meals were always an event growing up.  In our tiny Amsterdam home, the table was located smack-dab in the middle of the living room   Pushed towards the wall when not in use, pulled out when needed, the first order of business was always the tablecloth.  The table was already covered in a couple of tablecloths - some sort of oilcloth to protect the table and then covered with a woven cloth with awesome tassels for style.  I love playing with those tassels and if I close my eyes I can still feel them in my fingers.



At mealtime, a cotton cloth would be placed over top of the cloths already on the table.  I remember the table always being soft from the layers of tablecloths.  There was a superstition associated with a clean tablecloth.  A fresh-from-the-wash cloth would inevitably get dirty the first time in use - a gravy drip or a pudding slop.  Then my mother would say that she wouldn't wash it for just one spill and that she intended to wait until it got good and dirty before washing it again.  Of course, nothing would spill on it again and finally it would just get washed anyways.  A clean cloth would be broken out and the first time in use - a spill!

We always ate together at the table.  That was the very important ritual at our house.  We ate family style with plates of bread and toppings at breakfast and lunchtime, bowls of steaming hot food at dinner time.  It made for lots of family time, talking, laughing and enjoying each other.  Oh, the life lessons we learned there!

We did occasionally eat lunch away from the table.  My mom would ask if we wanted "camping bread".  That question was always met with a resounding "yes!" and off she would go to break out that special kind of bread.  Open-faced sandwiches would appear on plates and we would sit in the living room, right beside the dining table (!) and enjoy that incredibly delicious lunch, tasting so much better than when we ate at the table.  Imagine my surprise when I discovered "camping bread" wasn't a special recipe baked up by the baker, just regular bread eaten on our laps!  In the innocence of youth, it was a mystery why it tasted so much better!


Eating at the table for each meal didn't end until my husband and I moved into our first apartment.  We brought a bunch of hand-me-downs with us, including an old table, but I think we ate at it twice and after about a year we got rid of the table.  Our apartment also had a bar that we could have eaten at, we didn't do that even once!  We lived like students, well, I was one, and ate all our meals on our laps.  For five years!  We never invited anyone to dinner because there was no place to eat once we got rid of the table.


One of my greatest joys when we moved into our first house was the delivery of our newly purchased dining room table.   We visited many, many stores, but eventually settled on a beautiful solid maple table with six chairs (I wish I could have justified more chairs and a sideboard, but alas...).  That was 17 years ago and we still have and use that table every day.  For every meal.  The four of us gather and eat together.  We try to wait until everyone is sitting to start eating (sometimes that is hard if you are really, really hungry!)  I have had many happy moments of joy sharing meals at the table with family and friends.  I hope to have many more!

X-Rays and Broken Bone Cookies

The call came Monday while I was at lunch with my girlfriend - it was the school secretary: "Can you come get Annie, she is really hurt after falling on the ice."  When I arrived to the school my brave girl broke down, crying and constantly letting me know that her shoulder "really hurts!"  A few hours later we had the diagnosis, broken humerus and she will be spending the next four weeks wearing a sling as it heals.



It was the first time I have had to deal with a broken bone in all my years of motherhood, thank goodness, but it was not fun witnessing the pain my sweet Annie was in.  A few days later, the reality has set in, most of her extra-curricular activities are on hold - horseback riding, piano, guitar, dance and swimming.  To top it off, she needs my help with almost everything - brushing and shampooing her hair, putting on her socks, cutting her food!  At almost 13 years old, she is not enjoying this loss of independence, but secretly I am enjoying this return to hands-on mothering.  I made some cookies to share - edible x-rays and yummy pain relief!

Monday, March 4, 2013

Stonebridge Guitar Cookie Set

It's a mom's prerogative to do something nice for her children, so after he tasted and raved about Sweet Handmade cookies, she decided to order him some,... just because.  After discussing many theme ideas, we settled on a musical one.  He has a special love affair with his custom made Stonebridge guitar and I hope I did it justice with this set.


I love how all the cookies turned out, but I especially love the plaque cookie in the front left - "Just because... you love cookies"  Cute!

Friday, March 1, 2013

Baby Shower Cookies

Babies bring so much joy; the celebration of a new life, and an endless landscape of possibilities ahead of them!  To celebrate the upcoming arrival of a baby boy, I was asked to create cookies for the baby shower.  Working on these cookies (especially the onesies) really reminded me of the times with my little ones, who have grown up so super fast!