The Great State Of...MICHIGAN!

 Each time I have extra dough from a cookie order...I cut out some shapes I've never done or something new I'd like to try.  I bought this wildlife set of cookie cutters QUITE a while back and had never attempted them.  So the last time I had extra dough, I cut some out, baked them, and then put them in the freezer to decorate later.  Well I had some extra icing yesterday and decided to "play".  I just did a variety of textures on the animals.

Nothing fancy.  But kind of different and fun.

 Had to include "The Great State" as well!

I'm not sure which is my favorite.  I love the texture on the bear...but the duck turned out cool too.  Maybe one of these days I'll get around to doing details on them!

Ha!  Or not... ;)

#Pure Michigan...More State Cookie Love!

So, what's the best way for an amateur cookie decorator to get in some more practice?

Keep extra cookies and icing on hand, at ALL times!

Every time I make cookies for a special occasion or an order that comes in, I always take the extra dough and cut out a variety of shapes that I find interesting, fun, or for an upcoming season or holiday...

...then I freeze them!

Yes, you CAN freeze your baked cookies!

I always have royal icing or glaze leftover as well.

So, when I don't have any special occasions or orders to fill, and I get the urge to decorate...

I can just pull my pre-baked cookies out of the freezer and practice away!

I had cut out some of my state (Michigan) cookies last time I baked.

So I thought it would be fun to play around with them.

I did our state's "Pure Michigan" campaign and added the commercial phrase:
"Your trip begins at michigan.org".

And then for fun, I just added "Da Yoopers" to our Upper Peninsula.

They're not perfect, as my icing was a little thin and I struggled a bit with it being runny.

But alas, they were fun.

Have you ever made your state's cookie?

Leave me a comment and tell me where you're from and if you have state cookies, I'd love to see them.

Follow me on Facebook, and post a picture of your creation on my page!

My Facebook link is in the sidebar!

I can't wait to see!

For the love of Michigan...Pure Michigan...The ONLY Mitten.

There is actually a story behind these cookies.

A couple weeks back, there was a big HUGE article CONTROVERSY about the state of Wisconsin trying to use the "mitten" to describe their state and promote winter tourism.

Michiganders, all over the state, came UNGLUED!

THERE IS ONLY "ONE" MITTEN!

And it is NOT Wisconsin.

It is MICHIGAN!

This was so huge...it made the front page of Michigan newspapers all over the state.

It was all over Facebook, Twitter, EVERYWHERE.

You don't MESS with THE MITTEN.

The ONLY mitten!

And let's face it...if you showed even a preschooler, a picture of the map of the United States and asked them to point to the mitten...they'd point to Michigan.

There was even a joke/cartoon going around of an x-ray of a hand with a mitten on it, showing Michigan...and then Wisonsin next to it...showing and describing Wisconsin as a "mitten", yet looked more like a hand shriveled with arthritis.

It was pretty funny.

So that is where and how I got the inspiration for these cookies.

Out of my love for Michigan.

There are plenty of things I don't like that go on in our state.

But the state of Michigan in general...is BEAUTIFUL, rich with history, and I love it.

And so I had some fun with these cookies and all the sayings I put on them.

No disrespect at all to our Wisconsin neighbors...just pure fun.

I tried a new recipe as well.

My three guys get really tired of sugar cookies from all my decorating/practicing.

So I tried a chocolate chip cut-out recipe.

And it turned out REALLY yummy!

And so...dear MICHIGAN...the ONLY mitten...we love you.

Don't MESS with the mitten!