I don’t always remember to take photos of my work as I’m in the thick of decorating and painting my cookies.   However, for this particular design I’m pleased that I remembered.  Now, I’m better able to show you the design process from start to finish and I hope you will enjoy seeing this particular cookie come to life.   I’ll show you the end product now, incase you’re ealisy bored and need the visual to keep interested.  I know how that goes because I’m the exact same way

The Redbird is the school mascot for Illinois State University in Bloomington-Normal.   Being from Illinois, and having a son that attended Illinois State for his freshman year, I’m somewhat familiar with this attractive yet determined looking bird.  The first step I almost always do before starting a cookie is turn to my computer.  I can’t tell you how often I turn to the web to find pictures and inspiration I can work from.  I seriously don’t know where I’d be without the internet for all my photo research and I’m constantly amazed at how much information and images can be found right at my own fingertips!

Many times I’ll do a cut out cookie but for this design I decided to do it on a basic square, royally iced cookie (and yes, by that I mean that they’re tasty enough to suit a king or queen ).  Looking back, it may have been easier to do this on a cut out cookie so I could have had more frame of reference for painting the design with the proper placement of eyes, beak and tilt of the head but after I got one cookie done to my satisfaction, the rest were just a matter of remembering and copying what I had originally done.  Just so you know, I do make mistakes and I always have a few extra cookies on hand for just that purpose.  I highly recommend that practice for you too, when you do your own.

Having my guide picture in front of me, my diluted food color paints in place, and my glasses off (I’m getting older you know) I set off  to work on my basic outline painting.  You’ll notice that I always use my trusty napkin so I can easily turn the cookie without having to touch it too much and to also occasionally dab off excess paint from the brush if needed.

Changing paint colors is easily done by washing the brush with water.  I always try to have a plan in mind before I start the actual painting process.  For this cookie, I’d decided that I would do some of the outline in black first and then fill in with the base color.  Even though there is such a thing as white food coloring, I’m never all that happy with the way it looks on a painted cookie.  For this reason, where there is white in the design, I try to plan ahead and leave those areas without any paint at all.  For me, this is the only sure way to get a true white color on a painted cookie.

Here you can really see the white teeth area being left unpainted and also the eye and eyebrow as the original picture shows.

Once the outline has been completed, the fun part of filling in the cookie can begin.  Just so you’ll know, I use a very fine liner brush 10/0 for the fine detail and then grab a somewhat thicker brush for the filling in.  I like a pin point tip on my brushes so I never let them sit in water for too long and always dry them off on a paper towel after washing.  For whatever reason, gel food coloring is hard on the hairs of the brushes, so take good care to keep your brushes in good condition.  It makes all the difference in the world to have decent, well cared for brushes.

Slowly but surely, this cookie is starting to come to life with additional details and the filling in of colors.

This is a good picture because I get to show how the napkin comes in handy and I can also tell you a very important point.  Make sure you’re paying attention for this:  When painting anything with a brush (i.e. a wall, a chair, a fence, a cookie ) you always need to pull your paint brush and never push it.  Pushing the brush will only splay the bristles and cause the paint to splatter out in areas you don’t want it to go. Plus, you’ll ruin your brush!  There, you’ve been warned and my work here is done!

The best part for me is always the final bit of detail that brings the cookie to life and defines the design. I guess you could say that it’s the exclamation point at the end of the sentence

Now humor me just a bit for some beauty shots.  Since I’m taking pictures, I might as well make the most of it, right?

TA DA! Wrapped and ready to go. I always feel such a great sense of pride and accomplishment when the order is complete.  Yay!!!

I sincerely hope that I’ve been able to help you better understand the fine art of cookie painting and that maybe I’ve inspired and encouraged you to try it for yourself.  I’d love to answer any questions you may have for me on the subject of cookie painting so please don’t hesitate to ask.   After all, you’ve stuck with me for this long, now is your turn.  I’d be thrilled to hear what you have to say

Thanks for visiting and come again soon!

Fondly yours,   Reneé

I thought you might find it fun to see how one of my painted cookies comes to life.  I made these particular cookies for a  Share Our Strength fundraiser to be held in (you gussed it)  ”Sweet Home  Chicago!”

As with almost all of my painted cookies, they start with a completely dry, white royal icing “canvas”.

Here’s where he starts to come to life.

They’re a little out of order, but you’ll get the idea.

He looks a little naked right now, don’t you think?  Funny what a difference eyebrows can make!

Ta Da!  The completed cookie!  The Chicago Blackhawks: “One Goal!”   You might find it funny to know that this cookie looks very much like my husband (minus the war paint and head dress, of course).

I’d love to answer any questions you may have regarding my work and my cookies.  Feel free to ask away and I’ll get back to you with an answer.

Thanks for stopping by!

As many of you know, this past Saturday I (aka Kudos Kookies) participated in my first ever Great American Bake Sale to benefit Share Our Strength to end childhood hunger in America.  This sale was sponsored and organized by the vast and caring food blogging community and took place in roughly 20 states across the country.  I was and am proud and pleased to have been a small part of this wonderful event in my state of Illinois and I especially want to thank  Maris Callahan of  http://ingoodtasteblog.net for contacting me to become involved . 

The Chicagoland bloggers combined were very successful in our efforts. Together we managed to raise a whopping $885  to help end childhood hunger.  How wonderful is that???  Here are a few pictures from the day:

The venue was located at:  SMASH CAKE    2961 N. Lincoln Ave.  Chicago     Tracy Vazques is the new owner of this awesome facility and graciously opened her doors and her heart for the day.

The bakers for the day were as follows (not all are pictured):  Jackie Kolber (Foodie Reflections), Jessi Langsen (To Kiss The Cook), Laura Swiatkowski (Arrange The Day), Allie Osmar (Avei Photo), Dave Capretto (Spicy Sammich), Angie Trigilio (Angilio), Stephanie Callahan (Steph Eats Chicago), Maris Callahan (In Good Taste), Alyssa Simons (Interior Bakerator), Bethany Park (Bridezilla Bakes), Caroline M. Supatarapron, Rebecca Carlson (A Homemaker’s Habitat), Kelly Alesso (The Pink Apron), Michelle Olsen (Hey Sugar), Tracy Vazques (Smash Cake and SugarBeez), Megan Lane, Mari Luangrath (Foiled Cupcakes) and Renee Goerger (Kudos Kookies)

The above photo is courtesy of Allie Osmar of Avei Photo.  It’s a wonderful picture of all the hand painted designs we had donated for the day!

Thanks again to Avei Photo for this picture of me by my display of cookies.  It’s rare that I come across a photo of me that I like but Allie managed to capture a good one. Kudos to you Allie

As I draw to a close, I need to mention what a wonderful day this was for me and how fun it was to meet fellow food bloggers and friends I have met through twitter and facebook.  Not only did we succeed in raising a great deal of money for a very worthy cause but we managed to combine our efforts and make the world a little bit sweeter. 

Before I end, I have to put out a disclaimer.  I realize that my linking abilities (or lack there of)  leave a lot to be desired.  I do what I can in that department and try my hardest to post a relatively decent blog.  That being said, I appreciate your stopping by,  reading what I have to say and viewing my food photos (such as they are) with a generous spirit.  What I lack in those areas, I hope that my Kudos Kookies taste and design make up for in heart.  That is my wish anyway.

Fondly yours, Renee

Re-new and re-strengthen.  That’s my plan. What better time than Spring?

First on my list will be trying to take more interesting pictures.  I would have never imagined myself taking a cookie out on the lawn to photograph it.  But then again, a year ago I would have never imagined I’d be blogging either.  Funny how things have changed.  

Over the past year I’ve made many positive changes in my life.  I’m not afraid to admit that last November I turned 50 years old.  With that age also came a wisdom of knowing that if I want something bad enough, I’d better be willing to go after it and move through my fear to get it.  A re-birth (if you will) of who I am and what I’d like to bring to the world.   Like the flowers in Spring.

Now trust me, I am not comparing myself to a flower (far from it).  What I am saying though is that I’m excited to be a starting this fresh new time in my life with creative new ideas, a new way of thinking and behaving, and a promise to live more thoughtfully each and every day.  

 I know I have a long road to travel in becoming who and what I’d ultimately like to become but I’m happy to be taking these baby steps in the right direction.  Thanks for following me along on my journey.  I enjoy your company!

I’ve learned such a great deal from you, my valued family, friends and peers.  I treasure each and every one of you for the encouragement and inspiration you’ve given me.   Your friendship means the world to me and I thank you all so much!

With fondness and love,

Renée (definition: re-birth)

http://www.tidymom.net/2010/04/im-lovin-it-easter-cut-out-cookies.html?

In this post, I’ll take you through my painting process, step by step, with few words in-between.  Just a note of caution when painting your own cookies with gel food color: Make sure you add enough water to the gel color to make it more like a water color paint consistency and less like the original gel consistency.  If you don’t do this step, it will take FOREVER for your color to dry (if ever) and you will never be able to bag them without ruining your work.  Believe me, been there, done that!  Plus, the coverage will work much better with the addition of the water and you’ll use less gel color.  Touchdown!!!

So there you have it, a step by step visual of the process of making “Big Game” cookies.   I don’t know if this blog post will have taught you anything or not.  I’d love to answer any questions you may have in regards to this post, so please leave them for me and I’ll be happy to get back with you.  In the near future, I plan on adding more tutorial video type blogs that will better document the processes involved in my Kudos Kookies baking and decorating processes.  Until then, I hope this post scored big points with you.

When inspiration hits, you just have to go with it

I wish this were true, but sadly, it’s not. What saying would you want on your cookie?