My Creative Motivation is Home Baked!

It's been far too long since I baked or blogged.

Today, fresh cookies are on the table and here I am back at the computer.

I find it funny and interesting that my ability to produce new creative work is so closely linked to being able to walk back and forth to the kitchen table for regular home-baked sustenance.

Truly, I thought 'cookies and creating' was a game I played with myself, until yesterday.

After a several month absence from the oven and from any new creative work, I felt a strong urge to write and illustrate as I watched warm cookies pile up.

Thank Goodness! It's fall and the projects due are stacking up on my 'plate' just as the cookies did. : )

Work is delicious!

An Incredible Week that included Daniel Radcliffe!

My niece, Sarah, waiting to see the show. 

What an incredible week! I saw Daniel Radcliffe in "How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying" and I found Dark Chocolate Hob Nobs.

Daniel Radcliffe was amazing. He has such energy and spirit...and he's adorable! As was John Larroquette. The show itself was uneven, but Radcliffe, Larroquette, Mary Faber, Ellen Harvey, and especially, Christopher J. Hanke, who played the nephew...were hilarious and right on.

There were some standouts in the chorus also.

And I must give a nod to a favorite actor who had a more serious role, Michael Park...who was dreamy and commanding.

It was a fun show. Like watching a favorite nephew who has grown up and is doing well...because for many of us...we've watched and loved Daniel Radcliffe since he was 11 and now he's a man. And those of us who have been adults watching him over and over again all those years, because admit it, we watch the Harry Potter movies many more times than once...well...many of us feel pride in the man he has become...though we've done nothing to make him so wonderful, it just feels like we've known and cared for him for a long time.

I'm excited for July with the bittersweet event of seeing the last Harry Potter movie...plus, I'm anxiously awaiting Mr. Radcliffe's new movie, "Woman in Black."

Oh yeah, the Hob Nobs...well, if you've read my blog before you know that Dark Chocolate Hob Nobs are my favorite cookie. They have been unattainable for a year or so here in the States. They are made in England.

I did some research on the Internet. I could have them shipped from England, but as luck would have it, there was a British store, Myers of Keswick, down in the West Village that had them in stock. So yesterday, I made my way down to the shop and bought three packages. MMMMMmmm! Are they delicious!

Wishing you all a wonderful week full of your favorite things...whatever they may be!

Cookie of the Week

This week's cookie is delicious!

I thought of it when a friend suggested I look for a good gingersnap and I realized I already had a recipe for the very best.

I found this Gingersnap recipe years ago in the Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book, 1951 edition. (Just so you know, it was a well used cook book when I bought it at a Used Book Store in Kansas.)

Every time I share these cookies, everyone wants the recipe. They are mouth-wateringly delicious. A combination of soft and crunchy.

Extra bonus: if you keep them in a tin, they will last for weeks. I'm not kidding. They really last and still taste GREAT.

If you were to bake your own cookies this week, what recipe would you choose?

Cookie of the Week!

Cookies are a very important part of my creative process. I place a pile of them on the kitchen table and walk back and forth, one cookie at a time, between my work table and the kitchen table. I have to do some work between each cookie...the amount of work doesn't matter, it can be one word...but it's usally a paragraph of a story or a few lines on a drawing.

Today, I decided it would be fun to share with you the best cookie find of my week.

This week's favorite: "Ginger Thins" They are light and crunchy, made with small bits of real ginger. A healthy plus. They also include cinnamon and almonds, two other ingredients in their favor for the health conscience.

The box won't last long. My cookies will all be gone before bedtime. They lasted about 4 hours. I've been working. : )

The cost? Less than a piece of German Chocolate cake at Magnolia Bakery. The standard by which I judge all desert purchases. Making them a bargain.

So... How do you judge your cookies?

What are your very favorites?

My very favorite cookies is McVittie's Plain Chocolate Hob Nobs. They, however, have become hard to find in the states...so if you find any...send them to me!

Here's a Cookie to Try!

This is not a paid endorsement...though I wish it was paid... in cookies!

As many of you know, cookies are the carrot that motivates me when I'm working on a writing or art project. I set a pile of them on the kitchen table and walk back and forth...cookies to project...one cookie at a time, until either the project is done or the cookies are.

It's a system that works really well for me. : )

This year, I sadly missed out on the Girl Scout cookies, so imagine how excited I was to try these Fudge Mint cookies and find out they are just as delicious as the GS Thin Mint Cookies that I love.

Read that 'pure enjoyment' written at the bottom of the box?
This time, there is truth in advertising.