Did I mention the prize? $150 for the team with the most participants and $50 to the winning baker. party_music50......that's a beautiful platter of sweets! WOW! That's a winner! Jasdip....they look delicious! The chocolate chip cookies lose every year. The judges are looking for "unusual". A bar cut to look like a cookie is sort of cheating....but it's got an edginess to it maybe....I'm giving it a try. rhizo......I'm comfortably retired from the computer industry. This is my "something to do job" & medical insurance. I work in a call center. It's monotonous, so they do "something" almost every week to "entertain" us. We have young people working there, but the majority are people who were layed off and ended up, not by choice, getting a job there, out of their comfort zone. Lots of people with college degrees. The company will even pay for your college degree while working there. Kayjones....Megan is a chef(culinary degree), owns her own catering business on the side. She suggested making those. Here's what I have so far. I made carrot delights(in 1956 they won a cooking contest, my sisters favorite) and pecan bars made in a jelly roll pan, then cut into rounds with a biscuit cutter when cooled. Murraysmoms recipe) This post was edited by nicole__ on Sun, Feb 16, 14 at 17:46

Aunt Sally and Sally Ann cookies are the same creature; from the late 1930's early 40's, a molasses cookie frosted with a thick cooked frosting that hardens on the exterior but stays soft underneath. The cookie dough is refrigerated and then rolled out and cut with a Spam can to give it the traditional shape. Once baked, the cookie is hard; it seems to draw moisture from the thick frosting and softens up as the frosting hardens. It's really a magical transformation! The name difference seems to be regional (Aunt Sally=east; Sally Ann=south & midwest). My authentic Aunt Sally recipe uses brewed coffee but no eggs. The frosting is made not with marshmallows, but by cooking unflavored gelatine, water and granulated sugar, and then adding powdered sugar and beating it for 15 min. Stage Plank cookies are a different animal altogether; they are a form of gingerbread with well-documented Creole roots. The cookie is crisper than a "Sally" and any icing (the original is not iced), is a just a thin coat of royal icing. Uncle Al's Stage Planks are the archetypal modern Stage Plank cookie-- but they don't seem to bear much resemblence to the original.

It was in the link, but I put it here for you. Butter Cream Frosting for Sugar Cookies 1/2 cup butter or margarine (1 stick) 1 box 10X powered sugar (around 3 cups if using a bulk bag) 1 tsp vanilla flavoring 2 to 3 TBS milk Food coloring Sugar sprinkles (for after the cookies are frosted) Directions: Again, let the butter/margarine sit out and soften. That makes mixing much easier, and it¡¦s also easier to get the correct consistency when adding the milk. If the butter is cold, then it gets too thin as it warms up. If this does happen, just add a little more powdered sugar. Cream the butter and powdered sugar putting in about a half cup of powdered sugar at time. If the powdered sugar looks pretty lumpy, it¡¦s a good idea to sift it, so you don¡¦t have sugar balls in the frosting. Mix well. Add the vanilla. Mix. Add around 1 TBS of milk and mix. Continue adding a tsp or so until the frosting is the right consistency for spreading. If you discover you¡¦ve made it too thin, stir in a little sugar. If it¡¦s too thick or starts to get too thick as you decorate add just a tiny bit more milk and stir. Add a couple of drops of food coloring and mix if you want a single color batch. It¡¦s more fun, however, to divide the frosting into small bowls and let everyone make a color. Be warned that some people (mostly boys) will put in all the colors and make ugly brown frosting. It still tastes great. And, this really is about having fun. If you want sugar sprinkles, then take some regular table sugar. Put a 1/4 to 1/2 cup or so in a zip lock bag. Add a little squirt of food coloring. Squeeze the bag until the sugar is all colored. It's fun also to divide the sugar out and make various colors like with the frosting. Sprinkle on the colored sugar. You may need to very lightly tap the sugar on top of the frosting if the frosting is starting to set. If you want the sugar sprinkles but not buttercream frosting, then make up the colored sugar and pat that on before baking the sugar cookies. If you try to put colored sugar on cookies without frosting after they're baked, the sugar will not stick.

My daughter's birthday is December 16....and I gave her a cookie decorating party when she was about 7 or 8. I made the dough and rolled out and cut a tray of assorted shapes for each kid before the party. Then rolled and cut some more while they were decorating the first tray. The kids loved it!! The mess was huge!!! LOL!! This is the recipe I used. Sugar cookies: 1 cup of butter 2 cups of sugar Cream together and add 2 eggs beaten with 2 T milk and 1 teaspoon vanilla ( I like a bit more) Mix with the butter mix Add 3 cups flour mixed with 1/2 tsp salt....and as much as 1/2 cup more flour until it's stiff enough to roll out Make flat patties, wrap and refrigerate for an hour or longer.... Dust board with flour and roll and cut... Bake 375 for 8 to 10 minutes....I use parchment on the cookie sheets....if you don't have parchment....lightly grease the sheets. The absence of baking powder keeps them from rising and keeps the cookies true to the shape of the cutter.....and makes them crisp