What We Did This Weekend:
Cookies with Todd and Brookie
It turns out that a half cup of shortening, one cup of sugar, an egg, a half cup of milk, a teaspoon of vanilla, three and a half cups of flour, half a teaspoon of salt, and four teaspoons of baking powder make some pretty darn good sugar cookies. Add some brightly colored icing with a hint of almond extract and they are even better. But since we wanted to take this classic cookie recipe up a notch, we added seven energetic kids to the mix by hosting the first annual "Cookies with Todd and Brookie."
We had the idea for this little event about a month ago. We wanted to steal our friends' kids for a little while on a Saturday morning. So this Saturday was the day we chose to have all of our little friends over to help us make and decorate cookies.
By the time the first kids arrived Saturday morning, we had already made the cookie dough and the icing, and had baked about 18 cookies. We set up some extra chairs around our dining table and spread out a table cloth in case things got messy. As our pint-sized pals arrived, we said goodbye to their parents and gave them a seat at our table and a softball-sized mound of cookie dough. A few of them brought their own cookie cutters, but we had also provided 40 Halloween- and Fall-themed shapes of our own that were spread out for them to use.
I must admit that at first I was trying to help them to roll out the dough to about a 1/4 inch thickness, as the recipe suggests. But it didn't take long before we just let them pound away at their own dough and do it themselves. Soon there were all sorts of misshapen ghosts and pumpkins (I think) on our cookie sheets ready to be baked at 400° for 5-7 minutes.
Having thought ahead a bit, we had baked some cookies beforehand so that they would have something to decorate while their own cookies were in the oven. It worked out beautifully, as did our idea of placing icing in some disposable paper bowls and giving them popsicle sticks for spreading the icing on their cookies. There were drips of bright green, orange, and purple icing all over our vinyl tablecloth, as well as orange and black sprinkles virtually everywhere. But everyone was having a great time, so who cares about a little mess?
Most of the kids were able to focus long enough to decorate 4-5 cookies that we put on a plate for them to take home. But I'd estimate, judging from some of the pictures we took, that for every two cookies they decorated they ate at least one in between (maybe two or three).
By the end of the party, we had them all outside playing "Red Light, Green Light" in our backyard. And, just like with the cookies, some of them grasped the concept, and some of them didn't, but were having fun just the same.
When their parents came back to pick them up, we got everyone together and took pictures on the front porch. One of the picture takers yelled, "Say cheese!" But from the looks of things, they must have been yelling "QUESOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" because there were no "EE" sounds being made at all. I blame Dora.
And that's what we did this weekend! Here's a quick slideshow:
Go to the board!
We had the idea for this little event about a month ago. We wanted to steal our friends' kids for a little while on a Saturday morning. So this Saturday was the day we chose to have all of our little friends over to help us make and decorate cookies.
By the time the first kids arrived Saturday morning, we had already made the cookie dough and the icing, and had baked about 18 cookies. We set up some extra chairs around our dining table and spread out a table cloth in case things got messy. As our pint-sized pals arrived, we said goodbye to their parents and gave them a seat at our table and a softball-sized mound of cookie dough. A few of them brought their own cookie cutters, but we had also provided 40 Halloween- and Fall-themed shapes of our own that were spread out for them to use.
I must admit that at first I was trying to help them to roll out the dough to about a 1/4 inch thickness, as the recipe suggests. But it didn't take long before we just let them pound away at their own dough and do it themselves. Soon there were all sorts of misshapen ghosts and pumpkins (I think) on our cookie sheets ready to be baked at 400° for 5-7 minutes.
Having thought ahead a bit, we had baked some cookies beforehand so that they would have something to decorate while their own cookies were in the oven. It worked out beautifully, as did our idea of placing icing in some disposable paper bowls and giving them popsicle sticks for spreading the icing on their cookies. There were drips of bright green, orange, and purple icing all over our vinyl tablecloth, as well as orange and black sprinkles virtually everywhere. But everyone was having a great time, so who cares about a little mess?
Most of the kids were able to focus long enough to decorate 4-5 cookies that we put on a plate for them to take home. But I'd estimate, judging from some of the pictures we took, that for every two cookies they decorated they ate at least one in between (maybe two or three).
By the end of the party, we had them all outside playing "Red Light, Green Light" in our backyard. And, just like with the cookies, some of them grasped the concept, and some of them didn't, but were having fun just the same.
When their parents came back to pick them up, we got everyone together and took pictures on the front porch. One of the picture takers yelled, "Say cheese!" But from the looks of things, they must have been yelling "QUESOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" because there were no "EE" sounds being made at all. I blame Dora.
And that's what we did this weekend! Here's a quick slideshow:
Go to the board!
You guys are so awesome & BRAVE! The boys had a great time and INHALED their cookies! Thank you Todd & Brookie! Oh, and I loved the slide show, the song was perfect & the pictures of R were hilarious! =)
ReplyDeleteYou guys are AWESOME!! I hope when you get your baby that you have lots of friends to give you a Saturday off too. Parents love that once in awhile. You're so full of energy, what a brave undertaking! AND I love the new collage. Can you photoshop your glasses off? I think that's all you need to change but that's me, always think you look better without them. MKR
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