Good Things by David

Spring officially begins for me with the first sightings of our beautiful crocuses and snowdrops which surround our house.  It doesn't matter what the calendar tells me, these little harbingers of the coming season, signify that our landscape is slowly but surely waking up.  In a matter of weeks, everything will be green! I simply had to go outside early this morning to cut a few dozen snowdrops from the sloping glade behind our house.  There are literally thousands upon thousands of snowdrops surrounding our home, that bringing in a few dozen feels like nothing.   With a pair of sharp scissors and a small basket, I gathered as many delicate snowdrops as I could, and began making small arrangements. Spring is a very good time for me to dust off and wash my beautiful collection of jadeite (jadite) glass, because it looks absolutely wonderful on the dining table, in my kitchen cabinets and on the counter.  This alluring green glass happens to b...

My friend Dennis, who happens to be a superb baker, preserve maker, gardener and cook, recently helped his great nieces create some fantastic puzzle piece sugar cookies for a school project of theirs.  With the help of his two nieces, Dennis and company made dozens of multi-colored puzzle pieces which were gathered and arranged into cookie bouquets.   The mission of this project was to let children know that we are all part of one great, big puzzle in life.  Puzzle pieces come in different shapes, sizes and colors, and every piece is essential.  Every piece is valuable.   The girls holding a printout of my recipe, along with the dough! I was flattered that Dennis decided to use my Heirloom Sugar Cookie recipe for these colorful beauties, because it is one that I've come to trust time and time again.  Needless to say, Dennis loved it and so did the kids.   Dennis isn't one to do things on a small scale.  Using his large ...

If you want to surprise your lovey this Valentine's Day, make a few sugar cookies and quickly decorate them using a combination of royal icing, and a cake decorator's gold highlighter.  There is no need to spend endless amounts of time in the kitchen piping elaborate designs on cookies to show how much you love your significant other.  A base coat of tasty royal icing, some brushstrokes of a superb highlighter, and voila!   Let's jump right into this year's Valentine's Xoxo cookies because you're going to want to make some for the love(s) of your life. Bake your cookies using a reliable sugar cookie recipe.  As you can see, I cut out dozens of hearts.     For this project, I only used three colors to pipe onto the cookies.  White, red and light pink royal icing were the colors I wanted to work with. There is something magical about seeing a tray full of iced cookies that are waiting to dry.  That glossy, wet look is out of...

If you're in the Philadelphia area, then you know that this weekend is all about the Philadelphia Eagles.  A week ago I was asked to make some custom Philadelphia Eagles sugar cookies for my favorite cafe.  Going through images of the football team's logo, I narrowed it down to the football helmet that all of the players use; a Philadelphia green helmet with the wing of an eagle.  After making one large batch of them, I was pleased with the results.  Needless to say, people went crazy over them!  Throughout the week I had to make dozens and dozens of cookies, and each batch sold out within a few hours of arriving at the cafe. You don't have to be from Philadelphia to support my city's football team.  I have friends in North Carolina, Massachusetts and California, who are behind the Eagles.  What better thing to have for people at your Super Bowl party than a plate full of Philadelphia Eagles sugar cookies?  Let me show you how easy th...