Hurricane Sandy Cookies

I hope that everyone stays safe during these next few hours and days as we wait for the hurricane to pass.  This natural disaster will be truly historic, and something that we talk about for a long time to come.  Little did we know that when Good Sandy decided to reinvent herself for Danny Zuko that Bad Sandy would cause this much damage!  Ok that's my only corny joke....

As horrible as this storm is, there are some small perks and silver linings.... like having a little vacation from work and some time to spend with friends.  I took advantage of my time off by having a little 'hurricane party' with some of my favs at my apartment!

Ok, really there were 7 friends (and 3 dogs) at this event.  We all enjoyed a 'family' potluck dinner so I contributed with my now staple dessert: sugar cookies.  I chose umbrellas for obvious reasons.  I used an umbrella cookie cutter from my 'cookie cutters throughout the year' pack.  This one was meant for April, but it seemed much more fitting to use it for this!.  It took some maneuvering to transfer the cut out dough to the cookie sheet (mainly the handles), but with addition of some flour to the dough, they held together a lot easier.

I wanted to give the cookies a fall flavor, so I added a touch of cinnamon and a splash of apple cider to my standard cookie recipe.  I added a little cinnamon to the icing as well.  It didn't affect the consistency of either recipe, and the taste was not overpowering at all, just a hint of fall.  They were quite good.

Skull Cookies

I've been reluctant to write a post because over the summer I baked these beautiful watermelon cookies and I cannot find the pictures for them.  That's what I get for waiting to write a post on them.  Well just know they came out adorable and delicious.  If I find the pictures I'll complete that post.

Moving on I guess...

Happy October!!  I needed some serious baking inspiration after those hectic summer months.  When a couple of my friends and I decided to have a dinner party, it seemed like the perfect opportunity.  It was quite the serious dinner party: a salad to start, followed by penne alla vodka served on our fancy plates, paired with a Cabernet Sauvignon, followed by some loose tea and.. my freshly baked dessert.  What was the dessert you ask?  Fancy Skull Sugar Cookies of course!

Why Skulls you ask?  My reason was two-fold.  First of all, it was the beginning of October and that means Halloween season... which I love.  Enough said.

Second, my guests at the dinner party just started their own jewelry line, Guilty Jean.  Their concept is a mix between feminine beauty, rugged masculinity, spirituality, and goth inspired punk.    [ Shameless plug : Go to their website and check them out!  http://www.guiltyjean.com/ ]  Anyway,
the majority of the pieces they feature include skulls so I wanted to make something to show my support.

I tried a new low fat recipe for the sugar cookies and needless to say, I'm not going to copy and paste that recipe to this blog.  They tasted like chalk.  I just need to stick to the original recipe... full of butter, fat, and yummy goodness.

The good news is, the cookies looked awesome.  I used Color Writer Markers to make the faces.  It was ridiculously easy to do.