Cookies And Cupcakes And Cake...My First Graduation Open House!

 My first graduation open house.

My son's.

I survived!
I didn't know what I was doing.

I went into it blindly, but I "think" I did pretty good!

Son says it was a success!

If he's happy, I'm happy!

I thought all of the food and decorations turned out pretty great.

You can read more about the actual open house and see all of the decorations on my personal blog at:
http://www.melodysmuse-melody.blogspot.com/2014/06/lets-get-party-startedmy-sons.html

 I made chocolate and vanilla cut-out cookies.

I flooded them with glaze and did royal icing detailing.

But first I played with my new airbrush and some stencils.

I'm still getting the hang of that thing.

It's gonna be a while before I perfect it, but it's fun to play with!

 Some more of the cookies...

We served cupcakes to all of the guests, but I told my son that we had to have a bigger cake in school colors with his name...even if it were just for looks!  LOL!

We decided it would serve as "back-up" if we ran out of cupcakes, LOL!  With an open house, you never know how many guests you'll end up with!  Thankfully we had plenty of cupcakes.

I did a frozen buttercream transfer for our Chix mascot logo.

 I added his name on the front/side in cookies!

 We did a yellow cake with classic buttercream.

 I thought it was pretty cute!

 I added cookie pops to his graduating year!

We served chocolate, french vanilla, and confetti cupcakes.

I did a vanilla buttercream and a chocolate almond buttercream.

Don't forget to check out the full party post on my other blog!

Congratulations Evan!

We're so proud of you!

Class of 2014...Congratulations!

 First of all, I'd like to wish my son Evan the biggest CONGRATULATIONS ever!

My oldest son graduated from high school this year and we are so proud of him!

I'd also like to wish our entire Zeeland East High School Class of 2014 a big CONGRATULATIONS as well!  You all worked hard and are now moving on into college, military, or the work force.  We are so proud of all of your accomplishments!

And to all of the other graduates out there, be it high school or college...Congratulations to you too!

I made these "2014" cookies for my son's Senior All Night Party that they had after graduation ceremony.  The party was top secret.  They all boarded buses and were taken (in a round about way) to a steak house for dinner, and then off to a local college's recreation center.  They had rock climbing walls, laser tag, segways, massages, pool, temporary tattoos, games, photo booths, and so much more. And there was food galore.  I donated these "2014" cookies.  I did these in a Vanilla-Almond cookie and a Chocolate-Almond icing.  They were fun to do and I think the kids liked them.  Several of Evan's friends told me they grabbed them immediately because they knew I made them, LOL!

Again, congratulations to all of you graduates!

We wish you the best in all of your endeavors!

Easter...(belated)...

I know...

Long time, no blog.

And to think...

I wasn't even going to make Easter cookies.

Until my husband said, "What?  You're not going to make the daycare kids Easter cookies?"

BUSTED.

I had to make my 'littles' some cookies.

I attempted my new airbrush for the first time with some stencils.

Although I will say that is DOES take some practice...

IT WAS TOTALLY A BLAST!

I wanted to spray EVERYTHING, LOL!

I don't really know why I was so intimidated by it!

These little "stacked" cookies were fun to make.

I made large Easter egg cookies and then added a mini to the middle of them.

The kids really enjoyed them.

Then I did some simple crosses and a few sugar coated bunnies and chicks.

Nothing extravagant but the kids loved them none the less.

I hope you all had a very blessed Easter with your family and friends!

I am definitely looking forward to warmer weather!

Bring it!

Luck 'O The Irish To Ya!

 Happy St. Patty's Day to ya!

Our family is Irish (Malone) so I always love dressing the part (lots 'o green!).

I love fun celebrations of any kind.

 I whipped up these shamrock cookies with some extra dough I had in the freezer.

I had a small shamrock (mini) cookie cutter but didn't have a large one...

So, I had to get creative!

 If you don't have a shamrock cutter, all you need to do is simply use your heart cookie cutter, cut out four hearts, and place them all tip to tip.  Add a long rectangular (stem) and voila!

You've got a shamrock!

I did these really quick and they are NOT my best work...but since  we were in Chicago all day Saturday...Sunday I had to play "catch-up".  With a million things on my "to-do list" I didn't have a lot of time to go all out fancy.  It wouldn't have originally been a "time issue" because I had "planned" to just do some quick stenciling with my brand new airbrush!  I was excited to get it out and play with it.  HOWEVER, upon getting it out and setting it up...

I had no air coming through the gun!

My husband tinkered with it and it seems there's a connection problem between the gun itself and the air hose because it's sputtering...start, stop...start, stop...every time the cord is wiggled.

Sooooo...

Today I get to call customer support to try and figure out if my airbrush can be fixed, ugh.

But...

That left me in panic mode.

I had to get these decorated quickly for my daycare kids the next day!

Eeek!

So  just piped some quick little designs on them and added some sanding sugar to the border.  Nothing fancy, not my best work...more like "PANIC WORK".

Thankfully, my "littles" never judge my work...they're just happy to get a treat on the holidays, LOL!  Hope you have a wonderful St. Patty's Day!

Luck 'O The Irish To Ya!

Bridal Collection...

 Every time I have an order for cookies...I usually end up with extra dough.

When I end up with extra dough...

 I inevitably always end up digging for cookie cutters that I've bought, but have never used yet.

That means it's time to...

 Make samples...

Or as I call it...

 PLAY!

(or maybe I should say "experiment" new techniques...that sounds better)

I did this bridal set tonight as a sample for future brides to see for upcoming weddings and bridal showers.  I've done several weddings and bridal showers/luncheons now and I thought it would be nice to have some samples.

White on white is one of my favorite color palettes.

My friends always love it when I'm experimenting and practicing...

Because that means they get to eat the fruits of my labor!

Haha! 

Malone's Best Ever Brownies...(recipe)

Years ago...when I was a teenager...(yes, MANY years ago)...

Our youth group used to get together quite frequently for movie nights, game nights, and other activities.  We all used to bring snacks and munchies.  On one of the first occasions we got together, my sister and I made brownies to take.  We found a very simple recipe out of an old church cookbook.  Simple as they were, the brownies were a HUGE hit.  From then on out, the Malone gals were always asked to bring "The Brownies" to events.  Well, that was MANY years ago.  I completely forgot about the recipe or where it went to...but the other day, I wanted a good homemade brownie recipe.  I began digging online.  And by george, I found it!  I found one almost identical to the one we used to make close to 25 years ago!  It all came back to me!  There was no name on this recipe online either...so I still to this day can't give credit where credit is due.

But...I have "tweaked" this recipe and added a few things I like to make it even better!

And I'd like to share the recipe with you!

It's super simple, but oh so good! 

So when you're in need of a chocolate fix that's super easy...here ya go!

Malone's Best Ever Brownies
 

1/2 cup butter

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour (or spray with cooking spray) an 8 inch square pan.  

In a large saucepan, melt butter.  Remove from heat and stir in sugar, eggs, and vanilla.  Beat in cocoa, flour, salt, and baking powder.

Spread into prepared pan.

Sprinkle chocolate chips and pecans across top of batter mixture.

Bake for 25-30 minutes.  Do not overcook.

Let cool and dust with confectioners sugar.

It's Love...

 Valentines Day is one of my favorite holidays.

Especially when is comes to baking.

Maybe it's because I'm a romantic at heart.

In love with love, as they say!

I made all of these Valentine cookies for my daycare kids for our party this week.

I feel like I do my best work when I have no direction.

Someone asked me how I come up with all of my designs.

Many bakers plan and sketch designs.

I do best when I can just grab my pastry bag and "go with it".

The only thing I really do is decide what color scheme I want to go with and then, I just let my creative juices flow.

Even though I do make cookies for people by request...specific designs and themes...

I feel my best work comes when I just "let loose".

These Valentine cookies have been some of my favorites I've done.

The hearts, the flowers, the lace, the frilly, femininity of them.

I did these cookies in a vanilla almond flavor.

It seems to be one of everyone's favorite flavors that I've attempted.

Do you have any special plans for Valentines Day?
I hope your day is sweet!