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I am testing this blog post….

yes I am….

(Can you believe that the beautiful red colour in this Icing comes from a beet?)

I originally got this recipe a few years ago from here…

I have used it quite a few times and I love them. They are easy to to make, easy to roll out and cut and hold their shape perfectly when baked.

For the Cookies….

• 1 cup softened butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 3 1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together. Add the eggs one by one and incorporate them well. Add the extracts.

In another bowl, mix flour, salt baking powder and baking soda together and then mix with the butter mixture.

Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours.

When the dough is ready…

Preheat oven to 400.

On a floured surface, roll dough out to about 1/4 inch thick and cut out your favourite shapes…

Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake for 4-6 min.

Transfer to rack and let cool.

When the cookies have cooled, make the icing…

• 2 cups sifted icing sugar
• 1 tablespoon milk (or any liquid… Today I used the juice from a grated raw beet to get an amazing red/pink colour)
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup (this is optional but gives the icing a beautiful shine and helps it harden)
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract (or vanilla… or vanilla bean)

Mix all of the ingredients together. You might need more liquid to get it to the right consistency… you want it thick but spreadable.

Using a pastry brush, ice the Cookies and let the icing harden before storing…

Here is the shredded beet and the beautiful coloured icing that I got from it…

Just grated it finely and squeezed out the juice…

Happy Valentine’s Day!!!

A few pieces are now pieced together with the sashing…

and my decision to try a dresden flower turned into a great center piece for the quilt…

(it isn’t really that lopsided…. really!)

I still have have a lot of work to do. but I am loving what I already have….

For family, it was a compilation of our favourite photos and memories of 2010… For us, I made a book capturing my trip to Prince-Rupert last year and also sent one of those to Annie…

My favourite book however, is the one I made for Wilhelmina.

An ABC book all about her….

I ordered it in both an 8X10 and a 5X7 format… the larger hard cover one will be a great memory book and will be for a bit later when she is a bit more careful with books and the smaller version is great to carry around and for her to look at on her own…

Each page has a theme with the corresponding letter…

If you didn’t catch the link above, you can flip through the ABC book here

Photo books are such an amazing and beautiful way to keep and share memories, especially now in such a digital world.