From My Family to Yours...

WE WISH YOU A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS & ALL THE BEST IN THE NEW YEAR!

Holiday Open House 2009

What a fun day it was here at the bakery today. It was great to see all the kids visiting Santa. There were a lot of smiles, and just a few tears too. Not everyone was ready to sit on Santa's lap.

Here is my Grandson, Paxton, 6 weeks old, sleeping in Santa's arms. He is just adorable! But, Grandma is just a little bit biased. :)

My daughter Bryn posed with her friend Jennifer. They are in 6th grade this year. I'm glad they are not too old to sit on Santa's lap.

Here is Brekston, 13 months, with my daughter Bryn. He is shown on the last posting of this blog as an infant in Santa's arms. This year he didn't want to pose or even get too close. Maybe next year, Brekston.

This is cake decorator, Kalee's little boy, Memphis. He is 8 months old and was happy to visit with Santa and flirt with the rest of the cake decorators.

Here is Addie, 2 1/2, eating her cookie. She didn't think sitting on Santa's lap was a very good idea. Staying on the other side of the bakery was as close as she wanted to be this year.

This is Kamilah, the 5-year old daughter of assistant baker, Elida. She wasn't shy at all and was happy to visit with Santa.

Here are sisters Kylie, 6, and Kayla, 4, telling Santa what they want for Christmas. They even brought their own reindeer antlers to wear.

Six month old Adrianne is picture perfect sitting with Santa. She wasn't too sure at first but then turned on the charm to pose for pictures.

Thanks everyone who stopped by the bakery today. I appreciate you so much!

Holiday Open House Saturday, Dec. 5th

Stop by the bakery for our annual Open House on Saturday! Santa will arrive at 10:00 and be here until 1:00. Bring your camera to get that memorable photograph. We will be open our regular Saturday hours from 8:30 - 3;00 and will have cookie treats for you to sample. See you on Saturday!

Basic Cookie Dough Recipe

Here is the basic cookie dough recipe that I demonstrated on Channel 5 this morning.

3/4 cup Butter (no substitutions)
1 cup Granulated Sugar
1 Egg
1 Tbsp. Milk
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 1/4 cups Flour
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1/8 tsp. Salt

Cream butter and sugar together. Add egg, milk and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Blend baking powder and salt into flour. Add to creamed mixture until blended. Refrigerate several hours until firm enough to work with.

Bake at 350 for 8 - 10 minutes depending on cookie variety.

Now there are all kinds or variations that you can do from this one dough. It makes about 3 cups of dough. I have variations below using a 1/2 batch (approx. 1 1/2 cups) of dough.

Pinwheels - Roll the dough 1/4 inch thick and about the size of a piece of computer paper. Top it with a thin layer of your favorite preserves, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edge. Roll it up and put in the refrigerator until firm. Cut into 1/4 inch slices and bake.

Chocolate dough - Add 2 Tbsp. of cocoa to the dough and knead to blend. If dough seems a little dry, add a Tbsp. of chocolate syrup to make it more pliable.

Thumbprints - Roll dough into balls and add jam in center before baking. You can also roll them in nuts before making indention for another variation.

Cherry Nut - Add 6 finely chopped maraschino cherries and 2 Tablespoons of chopped nuts to dough. Form in a log and refrigerate until firm. Cut in slices and drizzle with chocolate after baking.

Orange or Lemon - Add 2 tsp. of grated peel to the dough. Dip them in chocolate or glaze them with a powdered sugar icing using orange or lemon juice as the liquid.

These are just a few variations. Use your imagination and make up some of your own!

Happy Baking!

Cheri

6 Days until Thanksgiving!

Get your orders in for your holiday pies! We have lots to choose from such as:

• Pumpkin
• Pecan
• Cherry & Cherry Crumb
• Apple & Apple Crumb
• Blueberry
• Coconut Cream
• Chocolate Cream
• Banana Cream

Coach Purse

Here is a fun Coach Purse we did for some lucky lady! It is a fondant covered cake that even has a Coach tag. I thought it turned out so cute!

PIES, PIES PIES!

Don't forget that we now make pies! We make the crust from scratch, no frozen, pre-made pies here. Give us a call to reserve one (or two or three) for your Thanksgiving Day table!

Tropical 16th Birthday

This fun tier was for a lucky 16 year old. It is a buttercream iced then embellished with fondant leaves and bamboo. The surfboard and palm tree add extra details.

HALLOWEEN AT THE BAKERY!!

Halloween at the bakery was sooooo much fun! After icing so many cookies it was fun getting dressed up and just being silly!
I wanted to know if blondes really have more fun. Now I know why I keep my hair short, long hair tickles! Here is my Grandson Paxton. He stopped by to see his Grandma.

Halloween group shot including Brianna, Kalee, Tiffany, Audra, Me, Sara & Kristal Giraffe Tiffany and Cheerleader KristalThe French Cupcake, Audra

Aurora, The Cookie Fairy

Here's Coach Chris with my daughter, Sara

It was an nice day so Sara & Audra stood by our sign and waved to customers

Biker Chick Kalee with her adorable son, Memphis

Here is Kristal with her twins, Cowgirl Alex & Cowboy Cody

And, finally, this is the wedding cake I delivered on Saturday afternoon after we closed the bakery. They had a Halloween them for the reception. The Bride & Groom Spider topper just made this cake.

4 DAYS UNTIL HALLOWEEN!!

Give us a call for your Halloween sweets!! We have lots to choose from!

And, bring your kids in on Saturday to Trick 0r Treat here at the bakery. We will have something special just for them!! Plus, we are dressing up! I can't wait!!!!!

Decorated Cookies Shipped Coast to Coast

We are now shipping our fabulous decorated cookies nationwide. Check out my new Web site, www.cheriscookies.com. For months we have been designing gift sets for all occasions. They come in a beautiful black gift box and make a wonderful gift.
They make the perfect gift for a client or loved one . Check us out at www.cheriscookies.com! Send something delicious to someone you know!

Rockin' the Roundhouse Fundraiser

Last Saturday was a fun night at WSU. We served lots of pie, cakes and cookies to everyone in attendance. It was a great event for the athletic department and we will definitely be a part of the festivities again next year!

WSU Cake

Here is the finished centerpiece cake for the Rockin' The Roundhouse fundraiser for Shocker athletics tomorrow night. We will be there serving cakes, pies and lots of cookies. Stop by to say hi!

Rockin" the Roundhouse at WSU

Here is Kristal working on our centerpiece display cake for Saturday night. Rockin' the Roundhouse is a fundraiser for Wichita State Athletics. We will be there serving cake, pie & cookies. Stop by and say hi if you are going.

Navy & Ivory Wedding Cake

Here is my favorite wedding cake from last weekends designs. It is a buttercream cake with cornelli lace piped all over. Two of the tiers had a navy fondant band with bow. It was just so elegant and simple.

Rock-N-Roll First Birthday

How about a rock-n-roll theme for a first birthday party. This is the tier we did last weekend. It was based of the napkins for the party. I thought it turned out great! It is a buttercream cake embellished with fondant details. We even added little skull medallions on the middle tier. I hope Grayson had a great birthday.

Red Chair Affair

Check out this "Sweet Seat". This is our donation to The Red Chair Affair, a benefit for the restoration of the Orpheum Theatre. It is an event on Wednesday, September 30, where chairs of all shapes and sizes will be on display and available for bid.

We decided to help out the Orpheum and do a chair out of sugar. Really, what else would we do! Some of the chairs will be on display at Abode Home Store during Final Friday, September 25.

Our next benefit is next week at "Rockin the Roundhouse" at WSU, a benefit for the athletic department. We will be sampling cake, cookies and pies. Our centerpiece cake is still in the works, I will post it when we get it done.

CHERI'S COOKIES ON-LINE!!

After being asked for years about shipping cookies, I finally decided to take the plunge in to shipping my cookies coast to coast. We have been busy designing cookie gift sets for all occasions. Check out our new Web site, www.cheriscookies.com. The cookies come in beautiful gift boxes that are sure to impress. These are the same taste as Cheri's Bakery cookies, but the designs are very different. They are sold by the gift set, not by the dozen. Cheri's Cookies is a separate business, so you must order from the Cheri's Cookies phone number or email us from that site. Please check it out and pass the word on to your friends and family.

Baby Shower Cupcake Tree

I am trying to get back on track with this blog. I haven't written on it for awhile, so now I will play catch up! We have done alot of fun things in the last month and this was one of them. This was a cupcake tree we did for my daughter's baby shower. The baby is due in 3 weeks, so I will keep you informed of any news.


The cupcakes were iced in colored white buttercream and chocolate buttercream, then topped with fondant bananas, monkey face medallions and polka dots. Everyone loved the variety of flavors and colorful decorations.


We made a 6-inch fondant covered cake for the top of the tree. The party had a monkey theme, and since we had already made a monkey for another one of her cakes, we decided to make a baby dressed up as a monkey. I thought it turned out adorable. This is a great set-up that you can turn into any theme.

KIM GETS MARRIED!!

Kim, one of my cake decorators, married Barry this past Saturday at Nativity Pines. The weather was just picture perfect for an outside wedding and she looked beautiful! Here they are walking down the aisle as husband & wife.







Kim designed her wedding cake that I decorated. It was bright and fun with periwinkle blue and lavender fondant on lime buttercream.


These photos are courtesy of JDB Photography. This one is of me trying to get a shot of the bride & groom. Of course my photos did not turn out very good. Leave it to the professional to get the best photos! But it is a fun shot that he took of my hands trying to get the shot.


The reception included a dance. Here is Kim and some other employees being goofy. We all had a fun time.

Congratulations Kim & Barry!



All photos courtesy of JDB Photography

Thanks Darrin!

Kelby heads to KSU

Friday was the last day for my employee, Kelby. She is getting ready to head to K-State. We surprised her with a few going away gifts and a big cookie. I always give silly things to the kids going away to college. Kelby got an apron, personalized with her name that I call her at the bakery, "Kelby Lou". She also got a package of wash cloths. We tease her how messy she is at decorating cookies. So I wanted her to stay clean while she was away at school. I also got her individual wet wipes so she could keep some in her backpack. Kelby likes mermaids, so I got her a big mug with a mermaid on it and a mermaid toy that expands in water.

Her big cookie was decorated with a mermaid that had her photo as the face. I teased her at graduation that I was going to do that on her cake. So since I didn't get to do it then, she just had to get a Kelby Mermaid cookie.

Good luck at school Kelby!! We will miss you!

Baby Shower for Erin

My daughters, Jill, Sara & Bryn, hosted a baby shower at our house for their sister Erin on Sunday. It was fun and Erin got lots of nice things for the baby. Yes, I am going to be a Grandma. That is a very scary word for me right now :)

She is doing the baby's room in a jungle theme. So the shower was also in that theme. Her cake featured fondant jungle animals, bamboo and and greenery. I thought it turned our very cute.


Below are my beautiful girls. That is Sara, Bryn, Erin and Jill. I will let you know when the little one arrives in October.