Today I made...

For anyone trying to make your day a little sweeter, you've come to the right place!  Today is the first day of baking for my annual Cookie Party.  What is the Cookie Party, you ask?  Well, it is not a cookie exchange.  I take a full week off from work and bake around 4,000-5,000 cookies, and the Cookie Party is the culminating moment when my friends, family, and colleagues join me to sample the goods, to mix and mingle, and to smile for an hour or two, no matter what else is going on in our lives.  Why would I put in so much time and effort on cookies?  Think of that moment when someone walks into a room with a plate of freshly-baked cookies - picture the look on everyone's faces as they get a whiff of warm butter and melty chocolate chips...I live for that look.  Making my friends happy makes me happy, and that makes a week of hard work totally worth it!

Many attendees of the Cookie Party have asked over the years for me to document the week-long baking marathon that precedes the party, and this year, for the first time, I'm making their wish come true.  The first cookie of the week to be completed is...drum roll, please!...Cardamom Vanilla Spritzgeback cookies.  These cookies are both crispy and chewy, with an earthy mix of vanilla and cardamom to give a little intrigue to an otherwise fairly basic vanilla cookie.  They're made with a cookie press, and given the timing of this year's party, I went with a mix of green shamrocks and pink spring flowers.

More updates to come...stay tuned!