Cookie Pals

It's officially summer here at Flour Box Bakery ... and in our family household! My oldest daughter, Grace, is now a preschool grad and we are finding fun and creative ways to spend our summer days. We actually made a summer-must-do-list, comprised of all the things we want to do before kindergarten starts. It's got the typical summer stuff on the list: swim everyday (if doesn't rain), visit 10 different parks, go to the library once a week, plant flowers, go on a hike, camp out in the backyard, eat ice cream for breakfast (just once), learn to play tennis, go to a Spikes baseball game, picnics at daddy's office ... you get the idea. We are doing well with the list, and all of this is in an effort to have fun, keep the TV off, and keep active.

One of the best ideas Grace and I did so far, came from a group of cookie decorators I belong to. Those of us with children signed up to do a cookie swap, but the kids were in charge of making the cookies. This reminded me of my pen pal days as a kid. I had one from summer camp and one from Australia. We would write back and forth, send photos and trinkets to each other. I especially loved this idea because it didn't involve TV, phones, the computer...no electronics. Just Grace and I and an icing bag!

Grace usually decorates cookies with me every holiday, but we both wish we did it together more often. And this time around, she was in charge of the cookies from start to finish. 

She designed them herself, selecting to spell out her cookie pal's name, Phineas, in cookies. And she picked her own icing colors, "boy colors", she told me. 

She outlined her own cookies. They were wiggly at first, but this was her first time outlining. By the end, she was getting straight lines and really enjoying herself. She flooded her cookies and used a toothpick to tap the icing into  place. And because she loves when things sparkle, she had to use decorating sugar! 

She marbled a few of her cookies.

She even got to use the airbrush all by herself! And let me say, the girl was a natural!!

We carefully wrapped up each of the cookies and wrote Phineas a little postcard. We popped them in the mail and they were off.

Only a few days later we got this photo from my friend Lorraine of Lorraine's Cookies ...

Here is Phineas with his cookies! He loved them! 

And here is Grace with her cookies from Phineas. He made her a special set of graduation cookies, since she just graduated from preschool.

Grace and I had a blast doing this project together. Besides, it was fun to show her that sending (and getting) mail is lots of fun. In a world of texting, email, and facebook, it's great to emphasize that communication can be written by hand!! It was a nice reminder for me too! 

And who knows, maybe you'll find a cookie pal this summer!!

Have a sweet day,

Anne