27 
Tagscrafting with sugar
I’ve posted several times about my defunct annual Valentine’s cookie decorating party, and in general about my absolute and undying love of Valentine’s Day and all its disgustingly sugary motifs. (I don’t even like the color pink!) Living in my postage-stamp-sized Manhattan apartment, hosting that party myself is impossible. So when Pam came to visit for a long weekend, arriving on the 14th, and asked if we could make cookies, well, you know we were immediately at the grocery store for butter and more confectioners’ sugar.
As per tradition, we made only hearts, cupids, and some hearts-with-arrows. The first year of the party, I was a bit of a Valentine’s fascist, allowing only white and shades of pink for the icing–and only hearts (300 of them). It was a big deal a few years ago when I conceded to a different color icing (I think lavender was the first variation) and bought the cupid cookie cutter. I also used to allow only red food at the party, which requires a lot of creativity, a lot of red tortilla chips and salsa, and a lot of shrimp cocktail. This year we cut tofu into heart shapes for the Valentine dinner–because on Valentine’s day, everything you eat must be heart shaped, of course.
Though we’d bought more confectioners’ sugar, we didn’t have quite enough for a lot of variation, and I got a little liquid-happy when I mixed up the second batch, so we had a limited palette for decorating: two piping bags of pink and three “glazes” in white, green-blue, and raspberry. We made do.
We were up til 1:15 am decorating cookies, and we didn’t even finish them all. Which means I have a fridge full of sugary delights. And, thanks to Nova‘s ingenious pie Wednesdays, we also baked a pear pie with gruyere crust—more leftovers! No recipe; we just grated approximately 1/2 cup of gruyere into homemade pate brisee and used that for a classic pear pie. Except, of course, it was still our Valentine’s weekend, so we cut the top crust into a whole mess of fluted-edged hearts and a solitary cupid.
It was quite tasty, with the gruyere’s tangy hints playing in the background. But I have to admit, I prefer the overt sweetness of the sugar cookies–fits better with my whole vision of Valentine’s Day as a time when you want to puke, everything’s so sweet.
My weekend with Pam could not have been more fun. I even think I’ve convinced her to embrace Valentine’s Day!
Well, I thought I had.
27 Responses to crafting with sugar
Way too much fun with sugar! The cookies are beautiful, and creatively decorated as always. Pear and cheese, a beautiful “pairing” :)
Hello!
I can’t remember if I have ever commented before, but that picture of Flintknits biting the head off Cupid spurred me into action. Lovely photos and your cookies were very cool (I take it they are all gone, but with 300 who knows)!
Best wishes,
Pear pie with gruyere crust–I’ve been thinking about doing this myself some day because it sounds so good on “Pushing Daisies.”
Mmmm – nothing beats sugar cookies :) They looks great!
How fun! That plate of cookies is very Martha Stewart Living-worthy!
That sounds like the best Valentine’s day plan ever! I love the cookies. And you must be the eleven-teenth person to mention baking pie with gruyere baked into the crust, so clearly I need to join in with that.
you had me a pie.
and i think it’s hilarious that you are a valentine’s day fascist.
that’s impressive – I always ran out of steam decorating and ended up making them all plain frosted… :)
I’ve really been enjoying your weekend with Pam vicariously! But it would be better with cookies and pear pie.
The cookies look fantastic! I love your glaze colors.
I’ve never had pear pie, but it looks pretty inviting. Cheese and fruit just go together.
they really do look great! and that last pic of Pam is hysterical. :)
It was great seeing you and meeting Pam on Friday – sorry I couldn’t stay longer and hang out, I had sweeping and mopping in my immediate future to fret over. I’m not the biggest fan of V-day but with cookies like that I might soften up a bit.
It looks like a lot of fun!
mmmm, i love sugar cookies. their simplicity is what sells it for me :)
I am so glad that I could participate (in my own little tiny way) on your bakerly fun. Your cookies looked amazing. Cookies as art AND edibles. I like it.
I’m not sure why, but this post just made me laugh so hard. I’m glad you had a great time, and I kind of envy you your Valentine’s Day spirit :)
Yep, this was my Best Valentine’s Day EVER.
Seriously. No contest. :)
ha! that’s a hilarious pic of Pam. Your pie crust is very creative, what a great idea to patch it. I had a bite of lisa’s same pie on the weekend, it’s a winner.
what a wonderful weekend for you! i love the cookies ;)
LOVE the pie crust, what a great idea! I might have to try that, never thought of using a cookie cutter to make the crust more interesting. Very cool. (Did it turn out once baked?)
*drool*
those are the most beautiful cookies ever! They definitely rival (ok, surpass) the ones my Mom and I make every Christmas.
Looks like you two had a blast! And I’m glad you relented on the cupids. They are very, very cute.
reading your’s and pam’s posts about your weekend together was the highlight of my lunch break! each year when I read your V-Day post, I’m astounded by depth of your love for the holiday. are you already planning next year? it’s gonna be hard to top heart-shaped tofu. :)
Oh Cookies. How I love Theese. Best I can do , is the boxes of girl scout cookies newly piled in the cabinet. YOURs are amazing.
Crafting with sugar! Always a good time…
I love your cookies – you guys are very talented decorators!