Monday, August 4, 2008

For the hostess with the mostest . . .

Texas hospitality is nowhere more evident than in my dad's neighborhood in Amarillo. When my son and I visited recently, a "come on over and use our pool" invitation by dad's friends, Kim & Vance, turned into an impromptu 5-hour pool party! Kim forced me (ok...not really) to have a few (3, 4, 10?...I lost count) of her poolside cocktails. I wanted to make cookies for her inspired by her drink. (It is a perfect summer/poolside drink: cherry 7-up, lime juice and vodka over ice...it beats the Texas heat, let me tell ya!)

I used my candy corn cookie cutter for these cookies. Here's a peek at just some of my drawings. I threw about half of the pages away before thinking to snap a picture. Sometimes, what is in my head just won't translate to the paper!
  • With a #2 tip, pipe the outline of the lime in one corner. (AmeriColor Leaf Green)
  • With a #3 tip, pipe the outline of the cherry in red, meeting up with the lime outline. (AmeriColor Super Red)
  • Using the lime as a guide for the corner of the glass, pipe the outline of the glass in black using a #2 or 3 tip. (Spectrum Super Black)
  • Thin white and light pink icing with water to a syrup-like consistency and cover both with a damp dishtowel. Let sit several minutes. (AmeriColor Soft pink with a smidge of Spectrum Peach)
  • Gently stir the white icing with a rubber spatula to pop any air bubbles that have risen to the surface and transfer to a squeeze bottle.
  • Fill in the top of the glass with the white flood icing.
  • Stir and transfer pink icing to a squeeze bottle.
  • Working with 6 to 8 cookies at a time, flood just below the glass "rim" with an uneven line of white icing.
  • Go back through your 6 to 8 cookies and flood with the pink icing butting up against the wet white icing.
  • While this is drying, add light green to the lime wedges using a #1 tip (or thin to flood). (AmeriColor Leaf Green)
  • Using a #3 tip, fill in the cherry outline (or thin to flood).
  • With a #46 basket weave tip, pipe the straw in white (un-thinned icing). Smooth side of the tip facing up.
  • If the flood icing has come up over the glass rims, like mine did, go back over the glass rim in black outline icing.
  • Switch the tip on the black icing to a #1 and pipe on the cherry stem.
  • Using a #1 tip, pipe stripes on the straws in red icing.