Turning Two

A friend's gorgeous little girl turned two recently; I made these cookie favours for the party. Whilst icing the number plaques, I realized it's been slightly over two years since I put my very first post up - my nearest and dearest will attest to the fact that I am really rotten at remembering birthdays and anniversaries; while I don't completely forget, I very often remember too late.

Anyways, I would be a liar if I didn't say this slice of cyberspace I think of as a second home has turned out to be very enriching on more fronts than one. Quite apart from discovering a cosy community where an obsession with food is not only considered normal but actively fostered, I've met many wonderful people through it, friends both new and lost-and-found, whose kindness, generosity and unstinting encouragement I find deeply inspiring and am immeasurably grateful for - thank you, you know who you are.

Back to the favours. I think decorated cookie collections tend to work best when you decide on and adhere fairly strictly to a colour scheme and family of decorative motifs, keeping in mind the occasion and the intended recipient. While it's tempting to play with a riot of colours and shapes, I find the end result can look less than pulled together, unless of course you happen to be the Jackson Pollock of royal icing and possess a deftness of touch that orders chaos into beauty. The amazing thing is, despite working within these self-imposed confines (in fact, because you are), you're pushed to be more imaginative, to be more thoughtful about how each cookie should look and how all the cookies work together. By limiting yourself to set colours and motifs, it's hard to go wrong.