Cookie Cake and The Boys of Summer

WE BEGIN THIS DAY WITH A COMMERCIAL MESSAGE!!!

It seems like I've been waiting for this book to release for a long, long time... and here it is!

I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!

Peace in the Valley releases May 2, 2017... and to take advantage of the preorder offer with the copy of this beautiful hymn go here: https://t.co/ZtVHQorYqF

And now we return you to your regularly scheduled programming! 

We love baseball.

We love the history of baseball, woven with America's past... Ken Burns did a great documentary that Dave watches every winter... "Baseball".... If you're an Amazon Prime member, you can watch it here... or on MLB.TV EVERY SINGLE WINTER.... :) And winters are long in upstate New York!

I think seeing the history of civil rights and baseball and power-hungry owners and politicians... oh my stars, there is a lot of insight when you look at these things through history-loving eyes. And I love that I can go to a baseball park and people of every creed and color are sitting there, mowing popcorn and hot dogs and sodas watching an amazing group of similar players, an international sampling....

All for the love of the game.

Elijah turned seven last week.... and like his Grandpa, he was born loving baseball. I don't even know how that happens, but at six months old he'd sit on Grandpa's lap, or Dad's, or mine, and watch the game with baby intensity... None of the other kids did that. Not one.

But Eli practices hitting and throwing and catching all the time. If no one will play with him, he sets it up himself... and chases his own fly balls, then bats again. He starts Little League this month, his first OFFICIAL baseball team experience... and he's so excited!

He wanted a cookie cake for his birthday.... and I wanted to do something baseball related, because a March birthday, on the cusp of opening day... well, that's a no brainer!

I don't have a round cookie cake pan, so I used my pizza pan and lined it with parchment paper. I drew a circle with a plate and then pressed the cookie dough to within about an inch/inch-and-a-half  of the penciled circle...

You can use your favorite chocolate chip or any cookie recipe to do this... And my decorator buttercream icing recipe is HERE

And I reduced the oven temperature to 325°. Cookie cakes take a while to cook and I didn't want the outside edge to get all crispy...

I flipped it onto a foil-covered round platter and (using a smaller plate as a guide) I outlined my circle...  That circle would become the baseball.

And then I made the circle more definite by using "dots". (No tip needed, just snip the end off a frosting bag to make a smallllll opening.

Now all I had to do was fill in the circle with more "dots" of frosting...

I piped a border using a star tip and then did the red "lacing" with another frosting bag... and I took just the tiniest part of that frosting bag tip off.

We had the perfect baseball cake for a baseball-loving kid born at the end of March...

And the BIG STAR tip for the outside edge is perfect because it covers up the uneven edges, LOL! And no one cares because it tastes mighty good... and makes a little boy smile.

This is what we have going on this Saturday at Greece Ridge Center Mall...

It's always so much fun to see folks, and huge thanks to Barnes & Noble for hosting this!

And after the book signing, there's this:

I've got a few of my little ones in this production and it's so fun to go down to the high school and see them shine!

And who doesn't love Cinderella???? Oh, rags-to-riches, #mustlove!!!!!

Cakes and cookies and time with little (and big!!) kids.

I am beyond blessed.

And one last look at this book... :) Coming soon to stores across the country.

And here in Western New York, I am counting my blessings!

Ruth Logan Herne is shaking the winter dust off of EVERYTHING in her old farmhouse in rural New York State when she's not writing beautiful stories that make folks laugh... and cry. Find her at ruthloganherne.com or friend her on facebook (she loves to talk!) or give her a shout out on Twitter!
She loves to chat it up with readers and writers!