2020 Valentine's Day Cookies

My husband and I have a little side business making decorated cookies. Here are some of the Valentine's Day cookies we made this year!

Making Macarons

My sweet friend Kaleigh came over the other day and we made macarons! Since I've been wanting to do more photography with my DSLR, I pulled it out and took a few shots while we worked. The macarons didn't come out perfectly, but they were tasty and the most important part was that we had such fun making them! It's been so amazing to have a baking buddy in Hammond! Who knows what we'll bake next!

Happy Pi Day!

I may not be a math person, but I am definitely a nerd at heart and can get behind celebrating days that combine nerdiness and sweets!

Today I was driving downtown to Courtyard Cafe to get some work done when I saw a sign that said PIE! Immediately my attention was drawn because... pie. There were tables out with fresh homemade pies, people holding signs about pie, and the kicker—they had shut down the street. Literally. They shut down the street so people could sell pies. And in that moment, I received confirmation that I live in the right town. Small towns are the best.

I didn't actually make a pie today (nor did I make one yesterday that could be consumed today), which means I'm totally slacking this year. I did, however, make a chocolate coconut cream pie last week at Casey's request, so I guess we just celebrated early. My fave pie is apple though, and, man, I'm craving an apple pie. Maybe I'll make one next week, so we'll have celebrated pi day early AND late!

Hope you're having a happy pi day!

Baking with E

Ethan is my nephew, and also the cutest kid on earth. (Although I might be a little bias.) He lives in west Texas so I don't get to see him all that often anymore. I used to live with him and his mommy so I definitely miss him a lot! (Look how cute and little he was last year when we had our snow day!)

He's grown so much in the last year. He used to come into my room and play with the stuffed animals I'd bought from my travels. Or we'd color. Or we'd go through all the photos on my laptop and he would tell me everyone's names. And now here he is talking in full sentences, telling me, "Be quiet," when I start humming along to YouTube playing "Baby Shark." The other day in church our pastor jokingly said, "Do you want to go to Chick-Fil-A?" and Ethan answered, "No! I want to go to McDonalds!"

I visited my family this weekend in northwest Louisiana and brought a lot of Valentine's Day cookies to sell. (I have a side hustle making cookies. You should check out my Instagram! @JohnHenrysSweets) Ethan and his mommy were visiting too (we all stayed at my grandparents'), so I asked Ethan if he would help me make dog cookies. Well, actually I told him we were making cookies for Oxford, and since Oxford is his favorite and was one of the first names he learned to say, I figured he'd be excited to help me. He was a little upset that Oxford didn't come with me, though.

My mom and her husband came to visit everyone, they told Ethan and me hello and Ethan told them, "We're busy." So we scooped and poured and mixed and rolled out and cut dough. He was such a good helper! Although I did have to stop him from putting his feet in the cookie dough. ("I squish it!")

These are memories that I will cherish forever.

Cookie Crazies

A few months ago, I was on the phone with Casey talking about how I needed to figure out how to raise some money for our upcoming missions trip. He told me I should sell my baked goods, specifically my cookies. Now granted, I hadn't been making cookies long, but people kept telling me me they were too pretty to eat. But I couldn't imagine people actually paying me for cookies. 

Thing is, Casey is really good at making his point, and his points are generally really good. "God gives you your passions and gifts, so you might as well use them for Him," he told me. "Besides, the worst thing that can happen is no one buys them and you have a lot of cookies to eat." That's hardly a bad thing! By the end of the week, I had created some Valentine cookie packages and took to Facebook to sell them.

My mind was blown. Absolutely blown by the response. I can still hardly believe it. Not only did that fundraiser go incredibly well, but I did another one for Easter, expecting way less interest. Instead, I got MORE interest. AND not only that, but people keep asking me to make cookies for events and parties. 

The Lord truly provides. 

Now I have a kind of sorta side business making cookies and the proceeds go towards my missions trips. (Yes, plural. I'm so excited!)

Anyways, here are a few of the cookies I've made in the last few months!