Learning from Mistakes

"The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing."  ~John Powell

You know you're having a bad day when...

You wonder if you added the cheese to the macaroni, when you are supposed to be making Royal Icing for your cookies.

I just had one of those days...

Suddenly, the amount of water I needed for that perfect Icing was accidentally doubled,  because what I thought was a 1/4 cup was actually a 1/2 cup... and by the time I realized it, it was too late.  

No problem, right?!  Just double the other ingredients?  

Sure.  

No big deal if you have more icing sugar, time and patience.  

Let's see.  

Icing sugar... check

Time... 1/2 check

Patience....I don't want to talk about it. 

A problem that could have easily been fixed turned into The Absolute Worst icing I have ever made in my life.  

It was actually inedible...  

(No it wasn't the extra water.. it was everything else I did afterwards to try to fix it.)

The icing was super duper gritty and the taste was dreadful.  (Sound appealing?) 

So, I was left with two options, as I was now completely out of icing sugar.  

1. Ditch the Valentine's cookies this year and use this icing as a cookie lesson.
2. Drop everything, bundle the kids up,  get in the car and run to the nearest grocery store for more icing sugar to start all over again.

Well...  I went with option one as it seemed like the most logical choice.  

But, instead of doing a cookie lesson myself, I gave it to my two and a half year old Daughter Amelia to (play with) do her own cookie Tutorial.

So, get ready to be inspired... because here are some of the most fabulous cookie decorating tips you could ever dream of.  :)

Start with some super gritty, inedible Royal icing 

Spoon some Royal Icing on the counter.  Use it as finger paint, and then put your cookies on top. 

Begin to Decorate

If you are unhappy with the design you have piped on your cookie, you simply wipe it off with a dish sponge.

Oops!  If it drops on the floor {the cookie or the sponge}, don't worry.  Just lick it off and continue

Add Green Colouring to your Icing, (Because green is such a lovely Valentine's colour) and spoon it on your cookie.  This method is so much quicker than flooding.

Cookies for her teacher. I know... you're totally wishing she was your student!!  

For more cookie decorating tips from Amelia click Here

Celebrating George

Today we celebrated a very special day.  On November 7th, 1973,  my older brother George was born.  

Seriously, is this not the cutest picture ever?

George and I were always incredibly close growing up..  Yes... we were incredibly close... to killing each other that is!   J   


When I was 5, our parents divorced, and  George decided he would become the man of the house... the “protector” of the family...  He was 8...

He took his new role pretty seriously

There wasn’t anything George couldn’t do..  He could fix anything, and he could do anything.  It was quite amazing actually. What was more incredible was his ability to convince me to do anything... Looking back, I don’t think I was the smartest kid!


Today we were reminiscing about the time George talked me in to letting him pull my loose tooth.  "It will be quick and painless" he promised, but what I think he meant to say was it would be slow and painful.  The next thing I knew, my tooth was tied with a string, and the string was tied to the door, and my dear older brother was slamming the door over and over.  It was Lovely!  


Okay, so perhaps George couldn't do "everything", as this trick didn't give me much more than whiplash and perhaps a crooked tooth (that's right, I blame him for my imperfect smile!).  Luckily for the rest of the world, this experience kept George from becoming a dentist!



In honour of George, his lovely wife Zarine, hosted an incredible birthday lunch at their house.  I regret not taking pictures of the delicious spread she had for us, so I could post them, but I did manage to come away with a few pictures of the kids (courtesy of the hostess with the mostess)... :)

As George is probably the hardest person in the world to buy a gift for,  I opted to bake one of his favourite treats... Butter tarts.  

I know, you are probably wondering why I didn’t get him 

a comforter like the one we are sitting on…. 

It’s pretty sweet!

But I figured he would be happier with 

these!

Despite his inability to pull my tooth, I truly cherish the brother I have today.  George is one of the kindest, most generous and giving people I know, and he would do anything for anyone...(he got these traits honestly from our parents).  


K Happy Birthday Georgie Porgie Pudding and Pie!