Botched Baseballs...

 My son is playing his second year of baseball this year through our local recreation department. 

It was "funny"/ironic...

On the registration form it asked, "Would you be willing to help out?"

My husband checked the box "yes"...assuming that it meant what it said...

"HELP OUT".

He gets a letter in the mail a couple weeks later telling him he's the coach, LOL!

Well...he kept his comittment and has coached the team this season.

The boys have had a great season, only losing one game!

(even though they "technically" don't keep score, hehe!)

 Well, tomorrow is the last game of the season...and it's our "snack week".

So we are in charge of snacks and drinks.

Last year, I did baseball cookies for the boys.

But this year, I thought it would be fun to add bats and team jerseys with their names and numbers as well!

 Well, who knew it would be so hard to find a baseball bat and shirt cookie cutter!

Yes, they ARE available to order online...but this girl didn't have time.

So I improvised and once again "hand-cut" my cookies with patterns I found off the internet.

 The strangest thing has been happening with my royal icing.

I've been using the same recipe for a year and a half.

I "thought" I was getting it down and "learning" the ins and outs.

Of course I still have issues and grow my skills each time.

BUT...

 This time (and last week as well) my royal icing had a mind of its own.

It mixed up just fine.

But when it dried on the cookies, it got all..."crystaly" and "dry"...almost wanting to "crackle" in certain areas.

 I posted close-up pictures in several of my cookie groups and the only thing they could think of was possibly "over-mixing" (yet I followed the directions just as I always do)...

And also...

The COLOR.

 I ran out of a couple of my Wilton/AmeriColor food color gels...and I substituted with regular food coloring drops (liquid).  I am wondering if this is a big "no-no" in royal icing.

Someone said they thought that regular food color may have oils in it, which is ALWAYS a big no-no with royal icing.  So that could have been it.

I know weather affects royal icing but I had my a/c on, so I don't think that was it.

 It's happened twice now.

And that is the only thing that I can think of that may have affected it.

The food coloring.

So, off I go to stock up on more colors of my Wilton or AmeriColor gels!

Thankfully, it wasn't a paid order.

It's just a treat/snack for my son's baseball team.

(Of course I always put pressure on myself for perfection no matter what.)

But...

I think the boys will enjoy them for a snack regardless.

Hey...at least it's not another granola bar or bag of pretzels, eh?

LOL!