Bullie Love

As I had mentioned in an earlier post, our Bullie (my little inspiration for my logo and business name) passed away in October.  She had an aggressive form of cancer called Hemangiosarcoma of the Spleen.  Thankfully, back in September I had listened to my Mommy intuition and taken her to the vet because she just seemed "off".  The vet did an x-ray and found blood in her abdomen and a tumor on her spleen, so they did emergency surgery.  We were all quite surprised when the tumor came back malignant.  Because it was an aggressive cancer and she was already stage 3, chemo wasn't really a smart option.  The vet oncologist gave her anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of months to live.  Really horrible news...especially since I was due to have my 4th Pea in a couple of weeks!

Long story short, Ozzie lived almost two months longer.  We were so happy to have that time with her, and I was relieved she waited for me to get home from the hospital.  And we were able to capture this...

We had our friend, and awesome photographer, Jen Davis, come over for a photo shoot so we could create our Christmas card early.

Our Vet and Vet techs were amazing through this whole situation....really, they've been amazing ever since we stepped foot (and paw) into the office!  So kind and caring...and Ozzie LOVED going to the Vet (what dog likes going to the Vet??!).  I can not say enough positive things about Foxmoor Animal Hospital. 

About a month a month ago, I received a letter in the mail from APAW (a local animal placement agency).  The told me that Dr. Fjerstad had made a contribution to the agency, in memory of our Bullie.  Well, that just started the waterworks again!  I was so touched that I had to do more than just a thank you note to them.  I expressed my thanks through cookies...

We are hoping to add another Bullie to our family sometime this year.  We'll see you soon Dr. Fjerstad!

Gingerbread Roll-Out Cookies

WARNING:  These cookies are SUPER-addicting. 

I wanted one other recipe to experiment with, and I came across Sugarbelle's Gingerbread cookie recipe.  Just by looking at it, I knew it would be a bit more time-consuming than the other roll-outs I had tried.  More ingredients and a longer chill time...BUT, for the love of gingerbread, I thought I'd give it a try.

It may take longer to make these babies, but there is more dough per batch!  I ended up using almost 6 cups of flour, vs. the 3 cups I use for one batch of sugar cookies.  I ended up making gingerbread men and women, as well as ornament shapes (of course, I forgot to take photos of those!).  I agree with Sugarbelle when she says that minimal royal icing decorating is best...keeps the gingerbread flavor dominant.  With the ornaments, I did a simple lace pattern.

As with the other flavored cookies, timing is key...especially for these guys.  My first two trays looked done, but when they started to cool, they caved and turned a dark brown.  Definitely undercooked.  I let my second set stay in until the edges "just" turned a little brown, and it was overcooked (I didn't mind because I like crunchy gingerbread).  I finally got it right with the third set...and they were so popular, I was asked to make another batch of them!

I don't know if I'll be able to wait until next Christmas to make these...

Chocolate Roll-Out Cookies

My next experiment was with Chocolate roll-out cookies.  I decided to try Lila Loa's recipe because of all the great reviews (and she's another one of my favorite bloggers).  They were awesome!!!

The recipe was simple and I could roll them out right away!  No need to chill (although it is an option).  I kept it simple and did circle cut-outs with this dough, but it has the same consistency as the sugar cookies, so you could use any cookie cutter. 

They were soooo tasty!  The only thing I had trouble with was timing.  Because the cookies are dark, it's hard to tell when they're done.  I lucked out on this batch because they came out perfect!  I have a feeling I'll be making a lot more of these!!