Cookies for Nie

For weeks now, I have been following the story of Stephanie Nielson (Nie Nie) and her husband Christian, who were in a private plane crash and are now trying to recover from very critical burns. I've checked in daily with Nie’s, sister Courtney, on her blog, cjanerun--at first, for updates on the victims, and then for inspiration. Her last couple of posts are especially good! (Click here and here--oh, and here, but make sure you have a box of Kleenex handy!) I have personally been enlightened and uplifted by the writings of Nie and Courtney and from the amazing outpouring of love shown by the blogging community. Though not directly connected to anyone involved, I find that the lessons I’ve learned from these amazing individuals, have profoundly effected me and pop-up in nearly every good conversation I have.

It’s about time I did a little something to show my support and gratitude! I have spread the word about the auctions and bid on some items, but never won. I have toyed with auctioning off some of "my insanity" for a party or an event, but wasn’t sure how to go about that one logistically.

I saw the announcement about this cookie auction and thought it sounded like fun, but it wasn’t until I was editing some pictures of these incredible, huge molasses cookies my husband made this summer that I thought, “we need to do this!” Yes. I did say "my husband made." This is about his insanity. I have to admit that he is better at baking things than I am. He has more patience and perfectionism in the kitchen than I do. These cookies were REALLY good! I don’t think I thought I liked molasses cookies until I tasted these ones. The texture was the perfect amount of chewy!

I did think it was a little lame that I am here purporting to be some kind of domestic diva and I have to ask my husband to bake my cookies for me. And then I remembered something I am better at than him--making things look PRETTY!

This little bit of insanity comes from my family’s Christmas tradition. We actually hand-paint our Christmas cookies before somebody eats them! And you wonder where my insanity comes from!

Note: I cannot guarantee that any of my Halloween cookies will be quite as ridiculosly detailed as my Christmas house but they will be cute!

So on (correction) Monday, September 22, come back here for not one but TWO cookie auctions! Will you go for the basic brown, but oh-so-delicious molasses cookies, or the yummy, miniature works of Halloween (changing it up for the season) art--a.k.a Handpainted Halloween Butter Cookies???

It's not too late to sign-up to participate. Go here for more info.