Toodles 2012...you have been great!

 

 

So....2012 is coming to an end..and 2013 is upon us.

 

Is it just me, or did this year just

fly by?

 

 

I mean really....it seemed like just yesterday,

I was celebrating Valentines day?

 

I think time moves faster as you get older.

 

I remember when I was younger,

 

Summer Vacation lasted FOREVER,

now...you blink and it is over!

 

And the period of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas,

 

oh my...they say it was 4 weeks this year,

personally...I think it was 4 days...but whatever!

 

 

I baked and decorated TONS of cookies this year.

 

Not a lot compared to some of the great cookiers out there,

 

but all of these cookies were done while

working a full time job.

 

And...I only have 3 hours each night to work on cookies,

because my lovely son, Collin, closes the kitchen and cookie room at

9 pm...SHARP from Sunday-Thursday.

 

He is STRICT

Friday and Saturday I can work late into the night, or till early in the morning,

but other then those two night..

 

HE SHUTS ME DOWN!

 

No matter how many cookies I have to do, or

how far behind I am.....9 PM....no exceptions!

 

 

So....no matter how the volume of cookies coming out of my

kitchen compares to others,

 

I am pretty proud of what I can do in a limited

amount of time!

 

So...I put together some collages of some of my

favorite cookies of 2012 for you

 

 

Lets take a look, shall we?

 

 



 

So, there you have it

 

my 2012 in cookies!

 

I would like to be able to tell you that great and wonderful

things are in store next year for The Cookie Puzzle,

but that would be a lie.

 

I plan on keep doing what I am doing....

 

simple cookies

 

simple blog

 

simple person

 

it does not take much to make this gal happy!

 

Hopefully though

 

I will post more

 

push my self more

 

maybe do a tutorial here and there

 

but mostly...I just want to be true to me

 

and hopefully that is good enough to make

a few people happy,

that would make me happy!

 

Wishing you a Happy and Blessed

2013

 

 

until next time,

 

Hugs

Kim

Cookie Cutter Challenge

 

 

I was lucky enough to be asked to be part of a really fun

 

Collaborative Group Project,

 

Coordinated by the super talented and ever so sweet

Cristin of  Cristin's Cookies

 

 

Cristin sent us each a cookie cutter, and asked us to create

whatever we wanted...anything goes!

 

But...we did not know what the cutter was, and we could not

share or talk to any of the other participates about

our designs, until they were all submitted and she sent

us the final collage!

 

Woot Woot!

 

 

I was super excited, and secretly praying that it would be

one of my two favorite cutter shaped,

 

Cupcake

 

or

 

Puzzle!

 

 

I totally stared at the mailbox for days...waiting and waiting....

 

and then...

 

 

it came!

 

I ripped open the box and saw this....

 

 

WHAT THE WHAT?

 

What is it?

 

What could it be?

 

What CAN I make?

 

Ruh Roh....I am in trouble!

 

 

I had a problem....a big problem!

 

I don't have "cookie think"!

 

I don't see stuff when I look at a random shape.

 

AND

 

I can not draw to save my life....I mean at all!

 

So...I traced the cutter, copied it like 8 million times...

 

 

the just stared at it

 

and stared at it...

 

Then I carried it around with me...

 

and asked everyone I saw

 

"What is this?"

 

 

Oh...everyone helped...they all saw different things

 

great

 

now what?

 

How do I get that "image" onto a cookie?

 

Remember...home girl can not DRAW?

 

SO....in a panic...I turned to my Collin

 

 

"Hey Collin, what is this?"

 

"It's a girl mom...duh"

 

"Um...sorry I don't see it"

 

"What?  It is right there...see...it is a little girl"

 

"Um...no..I still don't see it"

 

"MOM!  It's a girl...just make it a girl"

 

"Nope..still don't see it"

 

 

Then I had to do what parents all over the world do...

 

 

I had to PAY my son to draw a cookie design for me!

 

Everyone does that....RIGHT?

 

Please tell me people do that....I don't want to seem like a freak!

 

 

So...after $2.00 and like 5 minutes at the desk...Collin handed me THIS!

 

 

 

 

Isn't she cute?

 

So...I "could" have tweaked it a little, evening out the features, make a little change

here and there...but in the end....I just went for it...and

re-created Collin's design exactly (or at least I tried)

 

 

Not perfect...but close...and I was happy with it...I had some consistency issues with

my glaze...but it was done...and Collin loved it!

 

 

 

NOW

 

 

onto what the other ladies did!

 

You are about to be AMAZED!

 

These ladies really out did there selves!

 

I love each and every one of them..

 

and honored to be included in such a

 

talented group of ladies!

 

 

 

 

#1 - Aymee of Wacky Cookies - www.wackycookies.com

 

#2 - Melissa of Simply Sweets by Honeybee - http://www.simplysweetsbyhoneybee.com/2012/12/pink-cookie-cutter-challenge.html

 

#3 - Tiffany of Tiff's Tasty Cookies - www.facebook.com/tiffs.cookies

 

#4 - Ansa of Sweet Treats by Ansa - www.sweet-treats-by-ansa.com

 

#5 - Shannon of The Sweet Shop Cookie Company -

www.facebook.com/thesweetshopcookiecompany

 

#6 - Kristina of Kristina's Kreations - http://www.facebook.com/pages/kristinas-kreations/251226944912844

 

 #7 - Kate of Kooking in Kate's Kitchen - www.kookinginkateskitchen.blogspot.com

 

#8 - Kim of The Cookie Puzzle - www.thecookiepuzzle.com

 

#9 - Margaret of Decorated Cookies (dba Edible Canvas Creations) - www.facebook.com/ediblecanvascreations

 

#10 - Stephanie of Ellie's Bites Decorated Cookies - http://elliesbitesdecoratedcookies.wordpress.com/2012/12/22/pink-cookie-cutter-challenge/

 

#11 - Lene of Not Your Everyday Cookie - http://notyoureverydaycookie.wordpress.com

 

#12 - Tammy of Fluffybutt Cookie Emporium - www.facebook.com/pages/fluffybutt-cookies/272728056090697

 

#13 - Laura of Laura's Cookies - www.facebook.com/laurascookies

 

#14 - Flaget of Cookies with Love by Flaget - www.facebook.com/pages/cookies-with-love-by-flaget/242124942466772

 

#15 - Karen of SugarDeaux Cookies & Cakes - www.facebook.com/sugardeaux

 

#16 – Cristin of Cristin’s Cookies – http://www.cristinscookies.com/2012/12/cookie-cutter-challenge-cutter-give-away.html

 

 

Thank you Cristin for asking me to join...it was a lot of fun!

 

 

I will be back soon...to show you all the cookies I did for Christmas!

 

Until next time....

 

 

 

 

Hugs

 

Kim

 



 

 



Inspiration Challenge: Winter Wonderland

 

 

It's that time again!

 

Time for another Inspiration Challenge with

 

Melissa of

Simply Sweets by Honeybee

and

and Stephanie of

Ellie's Bites

 

This month's challenge was titled

 

WINTER WONDERLAND!

 

 

OK...lets see what I did!

 

 

I am a BIG fan of the look of Winter!

 

I love the snow!

 

I love seeing the snow!

 

I love watching it fall!

 

I love sitting in my warm house,

with a cup of coffee

and a warm blanket.

 

I love snow...but only while inside!

 

What I don't like is driving in snow!

 

or

 

Walking on snow covered sidewalks.

 

Or

 

The mess at your front door when you come in

from walking on snow covered sidewalks.

 

So I wanted to do a

Winter Wonderland

cookies that reflects what I DO like about snow

 

WATCHING IT!

 

 

So I did a snow globe cookie

 

 

A mason jar snow globe cookie.

 

Wanna see?

 

Good!

 

I was going to show you even if you said no!

 

 

 

 

I am pretty happy with how it turned out.

 

I also made some snowflakes to go with it...

 

so I could enjoy snowflakes from the comfort of my house!

 

 

 

Thanks for the Inspiration Stephanie and Melissa,

 

I really enjoy doing these challenges!

 

Melissa has set up a link party...so make sure you head to her

blog Here, and link up your Winter Cookies!

 

Next month..the challenge is

 

New Year/New You!

 

How fun is that?

 

My brain is already spinning for that one!

 

 

 

Until next time....

 

 

 

Hugs

Kim



Nativity Cookies

I baked and decorated my

first Christmas Cookie

of the year this weekend

 

 

I have to say, Collin and I had

lots of fun.

 

To kick off the Christmas Season

 

I thought I would share some cookies that

reflect the TRUE meaning of

the season.

 

I just love nativity scenes...

 

 

So I did Nativity cookies

 

keeping them simple of course,

 

in true

The Cookie Puzzle

style.

 

 

 

 

I loved how they turned out!

 

Let me give you a closer look at them.

 

 

The Angel

The Holy Family

 

The Three Wisemen

 

The Shepard and his sheep

 

Holy Night Plaque

 

And...because I took 38 picturs of

13 cookies

 

MORE PICTURES!

 

 

 

Have a Blessed Christmas Season my

Cookie Friends,

 

and Remember...

 

Jesus is the Reason for the Season!

 

Until next time...

 

 

 

Hugs

Kim

 

 



 



 



Virtual Thanksgiving Potluck

 

 

Thanksgiving is that special holiday

 

Family

 

Food

 

Friends!

 

 

Those three things make for a special day!

 

I am blessed with a wonderful family.

 

My family makes amazing food!

 

(my sister's stuffing balls...SHUT THE DOOR YUMMY!)

 

 

I have an amazing group of friends!

 

We have been together for sometime.

 

 

We  share cookie stories and ideas.

 

We help each other when cookies don't look right.

 

We listen when one of us have one of those total off day,

you know then you have craters, and bleeding.

 

Only a cookie friend would understand that.

 

My wonderful husband and family are super

supportive of me and my cookies, but honestly

if I tell my husband that my brown is bleeding into my white, his

response is

"Put a band-aid on it, that usually helps."

 

WHATEVER!

 

He clearly does not "get" me like my

friends do.

 

SO....since my friends are spread out all over the

country, we decided to have a

 

 

 

We each brought a cookie-fied Thanksgiving dish.

 

I brought turkey!

 

Talk about pressure!

 

But, I have to say..I loved how it turned out!

 

 

I also brought mashed potatoes

 

and gravy

 

 

Want to see what the other ladies brought?

 

The wonderful Melissa from

 

Simply Sweets by Honeybee

put together a wonderful collage for us

Thank you Melissa.

 

Make sure you click on the links

below to see the more pictures of the cookies,

they will take your breath away...

and make you hungry!

 

 

 

1. Cornucopia -- The Sweet Shop Cookie Company

2. Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy & Project Name -- The Cookie Puzzle

3. Salad -- Ellie's Bites Decorated Cookies

4. Bread & Cranberry Sauce-- Not Your Everyday Cookie

5. Corn -- Cristin's Cookies

6. Sweet Potato Casserole -- Simply Sweets by Honeybee

7. Pies -- Laura's Cookies

8. Wine -- Sweet Treats by Ansa

 

Thank you ladies for being great friends and for all the

wonderful cookies

Hopefully we can get together for real some time and have a

"Friendsgiving"

 

Until next time

 

 

Hugs

 

Kim



Paying it Forward...with cookies

 

 

In my previous three posts,

I shared about some amazing things

that happened to my family and I .

 

First, I had an Auction, and raised money

for my son's class.

 

Then

 

Collin was blessed with a

new iPad, you can read about it

Here

 

Then....my AMAZING friends, surprised

us with love, encouragement, cookies and gift card

 

If you want to cry tears of joy, you can read all about it Here!

 

 

Weeks before all of this happened, Collin and I planned

to mail cookies to

Cookies for iPads

for their bake sale.

 

 

Baking cookies for them, has always made me feel good,

knowing that every single dollar raised, goes to purchase

an iPad for a deserving child.

 

Wanna see what I sent?

 

 

Well...

of course I made

Puzzle Cookies!

 

 

 

 

Then I made some pumpkin cookies

but I HAD to include a puzzle piece!

 

 

 

 

And I made one more cookie design...

 

And I have to say...I LOVE THEM!

 

Remember me telling you about

Plastics in Print?

Well, Patrick and the PIP gang are amazing!

 

They make custom cookie cutters and presses,

and the customer service is TOP NOTCH!

 

Well, they made a cookie press, of the

Cookies for iPad logo, of course I bought one!

And I used it for the cookies I sent them!

I have to say, once again, I am in LOVE with

PIP!

AND...I used

This recipe shared by the

legendary Sugarbelle!

OMG! Talk about Yummy!

You HAVE to try these cookies!

WOW!

So...using the amazing cookie press, and the yummy cookie recipe

I made cookies!



 

Collin and I will be making cookie for them again,

in December, for a VERY SPECIAL event...shhh..

don't tell, it's a secret!

 

 

Until next time....

 

 

 

Hugs

Kim

 



Humbled (Part 3)

Welcome back!

 

In case you missed the previous two posts,
 

you can catch

 

Part One Here,

I made cookies and auctioned them off

for Collin's Special Service Class

 

Part Two Here,

Collin was bless with an iPad from the

wonderful people at

Cookies for iPads!

 

So..this is now part three

 

the rest of the story, if you will.

 

This part of the story...

 

well...

 

it was HARD to write about!

 

Hard, because, well, I am just so blessed.

 

I have the most amazing network of

cookie friends.

 

Friends from all over the country

 

Friends from other countries

 

Friends that are so caring,

giving and supportive.

 

I am so blessed to have them in my life!

 

These are ladies that will help me with a cookie

that does not look right, by giving me suggestions.

 

These are ladies that will shop for me,

because I live in a baking goods desert.

 

These are friends who will send me a

retired cookie cutter, because I have looked forever

for it, and they have it, and don't use it.

 

These are friends who, find out I don't have a

cutter, that should be a staple for every cookier, and

have one shipped to me.

 

These are friends, who find puzzle patterned stuff,

and ship it to me, because they know

puzzle pieces make me happy!

 

These are friends who, find a puzzle cutter, find out it is only

available in the UK, and find a way to get it for me,

 

These are friends who will spend their day off

running to TJ Maxx and Home Goods, searching

for Pumpkin Emulsion for me.

 

These are friends, who, when I tell them a package is

lost in the mail, help me track it down so that a

customer can have cookies for their special event.

 

These are friends, who, when they find out my cookies are lost,

offer to bake new cookies, and drive them one hour, just

so there will be cookies for an Autism Walk.

 

These are friend, who, will help me with graphic

work, because I have not talent for that.

 

Get the point?

 

These are AMAZING WOMEN!

 

 

So...I tell you this, because what they did for

Collin and I, is simply mind blowing.

 

 

So, want all the details?

 

Ok

 

Here it goes.

 

When we last left off, it was Monday

Collin had just got his iPad.

 

Life was good!

 

I was so excited for him

 

He was excited

 

I was humbled at all the love and support

my friends were showering down on me.

 

THEN

 

TUESDAY CAME!

 

OH MY!

 

Look what started showing up in my

mailbox!

 

WHAT THE HECK?

 

 

I guess, my friends got the news about Collin's iPad

long before I did!

 

BUT....HOW?

 

Well...I started asking...and asking...and

 

 

Finally...the story came out!

 

Melissa of Cookies for iPads, had told my friend

Heather of

SugarNoshTreats, Collin was getting an iPad.
 

Heather, just could not keep a secret, and told others, lots of others!
 

It would seem that all my friends KNEW Collin was getting and iPad, and they

kept it a secret from me...
and
the little boogers sent Collin
gift cards to use for his iPad apps. Gift Cards, for him to use for accessories for his

iPad, Gift Cards for him to use to buy stuff for his class.
 

AND they sent the sweetest cards, letters, emails, messages, and cookies.
 

They kept coming, and coming and coming!
 

Ya'll, I was in tears for a week!

Just when I thought I had my act together, I would get something else.
 

See!

Good People

Kind People

Loving People

Generous People

I have met NONE of these ladies, but I email, message, text and chat with many

of them on a daily basis. They are my rocks, they lift me up, hold me up, encourage me,

motivate me, help me, make me laugh, make me cry, and listen to me.
 

THEY ARE MY PEOPLE!

 

 

And I am proud to call each and everyone of them
 

MY FRIENDS!
 

They are NOT my "cookie" friends.

 

 

They are NOT my "Internet" friends.
 

These ARE my friends!
 

I KNOW them, and they KNOW me!
 

And, even though I have never met them, if I need one of them

they are there, just a call, text, email, or message away.

 

 

From the very bottom of my heart

 

Thank you Ladies!

 

Thank you for your friendship!

 

Thank you for supporting me!

 

Thank you for caring for me!

 

Thank you for caring for Collin!

 

Thank you for your kind hearts!

 

Thank you, for being YOU!

 

You are amazing ladies...

 

And

 

I am so blessed

 to have each and everyone of you

in my life!

 

Until next time.......

 

 

 

Hugs

Kim



Humbled (Part Two)

Thanks for coming back to hear

"The Rest of the Story"

In case you missed the first part

you can read about it Here

So...the Auction ended on a Saturday,

I was so happy, so humbled, so grateful!

I was walking on cloud nine!

Little did I know what was about to happen!

I came home from work that Monday

and there was a package waiting for me,

when I saw it was from Cookies for iPads,
 I was

pretty excited, the t-shirts I had ordered were HERE!

If you are interested in purchasing a shirt of your own,
you can find information on their Facebook Page
Aren't they cool?

They are so cute, I ordered three!

If you do not know about Cookies for iPads,
I wrote about them Here

They are an amazing group in Ohio. who,
bake cookies and sell them to raise money
to purchase iPads for Autistic Children.

This is an organization near and dear to my heart,
I support them in any way that I can.

So, I set the box on the table, changed clothes, read the mail,

you know the stuff you do when you get home from work.

The I sat down to look at my t-shirts,

I opened the box, and there was a card

Dear Kim,

On behalf of Cookies for iPads, here is an iPad for Collin!
How can I say thank you for being a part of helping us reach 20 iPads, or all of the cookies you and your cookie friends sent?
Well…by sending your amazing son the iPad he deserves! May God rich him greatly with this device in ways we can not yet see!

Love,
Melissa and the Team at Cookies for iPads

In the box was an iPad for Collin!

Umm..lets just say what happened next was not a pretty site

I grabbed the box, my phone and ran out to the back yard!

Crazy women?

NO!

A woman who was crying like a baby!

And, I did not want Collin to see me!

I cried for a good 10 minutes, and called my husband,

of course I was crying, and he got scared, and when I finally found

the words to tell him, he rushed home, and when he got here

he was teary eyed too.

Then I called my mom, and my sister, and emailed my bestie.

I was just so humbled, and in total shock!

I was totally surprised, I had no idea

no idea what so ever!

I was expecting t-shirts

NOT

an iPad!

So, after we gained control of our emotions, we called Collin

into the kitchen, and I read him the card

His eyes got HUGE!

"For ME?" he asked

"Yes, Collin, for you, because you are special!"

I promise, he is excited......I just forgot to tell him to SMILE!

Collin knows all about Cookies for iPads, when I bake cookies for them

he always helps, he know we bake cookies to raise money to buy

iPads for "special" children.

He KNOWS cookies buy iPads for "special" children.

BUT!

Collin does not know HE is one of those special children.

Well, he knows...but he never thought he would get one,

never asked for one

never wanted one.

So..he took it into his room, and my husband and I went to the store

to get him a case for it.

When we came home, he was watching TV, and the iPad was on the foot of his bed.

When I asked him how he liked it, his answer shocked me.

He told me to
"Send it back, I do not deserve it, give it to someone who REALLY needs it"

Broke my heart.

It took several hours to convince him, that he DID deserve it, that he WAS special

and that they WANTED him to have it!

Later that night, I could hear him in his room

"They gave me an iPad, because I am special"

"They gave me an iPad, because I am special"

"They gave me an iPad, because I am special"

So...after he fell asleep, and the house was quiet, I jumped online, shared the story, and chatted

with my cookie friends...they were all so nice...so supportive, so happy for Collin.

I was so worried about sharing this with anyone.
Why?

Well, I was worried that people would think that I only supported
Cookies for iPads,
to GET an iPad for Collin.

Would they think I had selfish motives in my support of them?

Would they think Collin did not deserve it?

Would they get sick of hearing my constantly talking about
Cookies for iPads, and Autism in general?

I will admit I was scared to share about it, publicly, for several days.
Only our family and my close cookie friends, online knew about it.

But they were soo supportive, and encouraging, and kind, and encouraged me to
step out of my comfort zone, and share it with everyone.

So after a couple of day's, I shared on my personal Facebook page
and on The Cookie Puzzle page.

I HAD TO!

I Had to, because what happened
next, simply BLEW MY MIND!

Until next time,

Hugs,

Kim