Good Things by David

Does one say Merry Catsmas or Meowy Christmas?  Whichever way you think kitty pronounces it, it's so easy to make kitty cat gingerbread or sugar cookies for Christmas.  This is exactly what I did for my niece and nephews over the weekend.   For over a decade, I have made it a tradition to have a set of cookies with me as I travel out west to spend Christmas with my family.  I don't like to repeat myself with cookie designs for the niece and nephews, so it's a bit of a challenge coming up with things they've never seen me create.   Kitty cats are beloved pets in our extended family.  Using my Martha by Mail cat cookie cutters and a Wilton snowflake cookie cutter, I quickly iced cookies in a matter of an hour or so.  Nothing fancy.  Nothing difficult. For the kitty cats, I applied two consistencies of white royal icing.  A very stiff icing was used to pipe the scarves on each cat with a #18 open star tip.  Using a flowi...

It's a very charming and special thing to have homemade ornaments strung throughout one's Christmas tree.  Whether they're crafted by the kids at school or are made by a very creative member of the family, handmade Christmas ornaments become keepsakes that eventually turn into family heirlooms.  A lot of us have such mementos in our homes. Homemade Christmas ornaments, however, can be of the edible variety. These types of ornaments are really meant to be enjoyed for a present-day Christmas season.  They're great if one is hosting a holiday party, as each guest can pluck whatever he or she wants.  A set of homemade candies, chocolates, and cookies, can make any Christmas tree extra special for the season.  It's a nice way to have something that's both sweet and decorative for a holiday party. For weeks I had been thinking about the types of royal icing cookies that I would make for a small, tabletop feather tree of mine.  I knew the shapes would be ...

This year's Christmas cookies for family and friends were some of my best-loved to date.  I really enjoyed making these iced sugar cookies because they were decorated with only a handful of colors and a few flourishes. I wanted to keep the spirit of Christmas by showcasing some of my favorite images and shapes of the season, such as Christmas trees, snowflakes, ornaments and stockings. I only need to go back to my childhood and remember what mom used to do for us kids on the days leading up to Christmas.  The tree would be decorated with those multi-colored lights that looked so beautiful when lit at night, and our stockings would be hanging on a doorway or wall, along with die-cut images of Santa and candy canes. For me, nothing evokes Christmas more than the color combination of red and green.  Whether you have ornaments, lights, Christmas cards or desserts showcasing these colors, you're bound to create a festive atmosphere once you display them througho...

There is no time like the present to make a Holiday Eggnog Cake for your festive gathering.  Eggnog is one of those seasonal drinks that many of us enjoy in small quantities during Christmas parties, but if you have never had the pleasure of eating eggnog in the form of a cake, I highly recommend that you try some this year.  You don't need to have homemade eggnog on hand to make this if you aren't so inclined to use something that is spiked with alcohol. A good store bought eggnog will suffice for a cake meant to serve the entire family, but if you do have homemade eggnog, by all means use it! This is the type of cake that you will want to bake in your favorite bundt pan so that it sits pretty on top of a cake stand when it's ready for serving.  It's up to you whether or not you want to add a glaze to it or some type of icing.  I think it looks superb with a simple sprinkling of confectioners sugar.  And if you need even more proof of how good it is, I'v...

Gingersnap Cookie Recipe (click here) I've always enjoyed eating cookies, baking cookies, and sharing cookies  with friends and family.  From lighter-than-air morsels,  to rich & dense bites,  I hope you attempt to bake a cookie or two  in the future  and come to understand my love for the cookie jar. Nutella Brownie Cookies Below is a list of those essential how-to posts and my favorite recipes that I go back to time and time again.  They are the recipes you've come to trust.  It's so nice to hear from readers who have made a particular cookie recipe of mine (including my mom's cinnamon orange recipe) a part of their baking tradition.   If you're new to the blog, I encourage you to take a closer look. How To: Baking Essentials Checklist (printable list) The Best Way to Roll Out Cookie Dough Cookie Packaging Essentials Perfect Royal Icing Favorite Cookie Recipes: The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Choc...

This recipe is a sure way to bring the flavors and aromas of the holiday season into your home. With delicious ingredients like butter, eggs, flour and molasses, a medley of spices gets combined to make a dough which captures the spirit of Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate.   I created some simple cookies this morning for a very special client of mine, which is why I wanted to reintroduce you to the recipe.  You're going to want to try it in the coming weeks!  Gingerbread Boy The cookie dough is typical gingerbread dough, which is to say that it is a bit difficult to handle if you let it come to room temperature while working with it.  I like to roll and cut out my cookie shapes while the dough is still cold from the refrigerator;  you will see that it is still malleable regardless of having been chilled. Gingerbread Christmas Tree Once baked and cooled, the cookies will hold their shapes, the tops will dome slightly, but their tex...

A great way to decorate cookies this Christmas or for any other winter occasion, is to keep the designs simple and beautiful.  With a handful of seasonal shapes, cut out sugar cookies, spice cookies or even gingerbread cookies will take on that festive quality if the right colors are paired with one another. Winter Holiday Cookies You have no idea how long I've been wanting to own a mitten cookie cutter just so that I could make adorable cookies in December.  Well, I finally got my wish a few weeks ago when I spotted one.  I absolutely love it! For the set of cookies you see here, I wanted to keep the icing uncomplicated and quick to execute, yet I wanted each one to feel extra special because they were going to such a worthy cause.  These winter holiday cookies were created especially for the fundraising event I helped out with at Williams Sonoma this December.  People couldn't get enough of them and several individuals took home more than one wh...