Cascarones Cookies

My version of the "pinata cookie"

My friend over at TheCottageMarket linked to the cutest pinata cookies at SheKnows and I really wanted to give them a try.

I just used my own sugar cookie recipe and since I waited until the night before family day at school I had to make do with an egg-shaped cookie cutter instead of a burro-shaped one.  (I do have a Dala horse cutter that would have looked really cute but it is solid and I would not have been able to flip it over.)

We are just finishing up Fiesta here in San Antonio and we go through a lot of cascarones in April, but since cascarones are fun any time of year I thought the egg-shape would be perfect!

So, they turned out a bit more round than I planned and my colors didn't turn out quite like I wanted - I haven't used food coloring in ages and used a bit too much, but they were still a hit - I mean they have m&m's inside - what more could you want!!

My changes from the original recipe were that I used a different dough (a lot of people seemed really unhappy with the recipe listed plus I prefer butter to oil), a different cutter shape, and I rolled the dough in a cylinder shape in some parchment paper before freezing.

Yes, they did take a long time to make, but not really any longer than any other cut-out and decorated cookie I have ever made.  And the leftover cookie didn't go to waste.  My children have almost finished every bite!

 

Re-Decorating With Architectural Salvage

I wish I had before pictures, but, of course, I don't! So you will just have to imagine a cluttered piano top and a lonely metal piece floating on the wall.

The day before my grandmother's house was torn down my mom and I manged to salvage a few things - pink! shutters, some windows and moldings, and a few other odds and ends. With the help of a friend I finally got around to using some of those features to make my place just a bit more homey! 

 

The weathered shutters add a fabulous pop of pink and fill the space on a rather tall (for my house) wall. We centered the little kitchen window under the metal scroll and added one of my favorite ceiling tin hearts so there would be a bit of "me," too! The oil lamp and candy dish are from my other grandmother and the picture that needs matting and re-framing is of her parents.

This super cool lamp is an early bday gift from my husband.  I found it at Tuesday Morning and was so excited - Don't you love it when you don't know what you are looking for but find it anyway!! I don't know if you can tell that it is covered with tons of little weathered mirrors. And it has fabulous light so my little one can read her piano music!

These little tables are underneath each shutter and will hopefully soon be undergoing a transformation to cottage white (and maybe a bit of mosaic on the horizontal surfaces).