Luvy-Duvy Cookies

Cupid drew back that bow, and struck my Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies this week:

I made cookies for our older girl's Valentine's Day party at school. I reduced the size a tad, and tripled the batch. There was a definite request for making the cookies look "special" for V-Day. I am no decorating diva. First to admit it. I think I'm too fast-paced and in 'multi-task' mode that intricate decorating irks me. I appreciate and enjoy seeing others do it... just don't want to do it myself!

So, I melted dark chocolate, let it cool down to just warm, then poured it into a small ziploc bag and squeezed it into the corner of the bag. Snipped the tiniest edge of the corner, and used that to pipe heart shapes on the cookies. That was fun, easy to do, and our daughter loved seeing them all finished!

Of course, I couldn't forget Mr. Man, so I used a large heart-shaped cookie cutter to form the batter of this cookie, and then piped on my V-Day message. I snuck it into his lunch in a ziploc container, so he would get the surprise at work!

So, I was feeling quite good about my cookie decorating day. "Not bad, not bad!" (I'm thinking of that line from Notting Hill.... the roommate that's looking at his butt clad in his grey boxer briefs in the mirror and saying "not bad, not bad at all... chicks dig grey". Loved that butt, er bit, in the movie). hee.

Anyhow, I was feeling proud as a peacock, and then I get this photo from Angela:

Now, isn't THAT gorgeous? THAT is decorating! Plus, not only did Angela decorate this cookie from scratch, and make the batter from scratch... she also used the gluten-free version of my cookies from ed&bv (the "Gluten-Be Gone Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies") to make this big ol' cookie! Who says gluten-free AND vegan can't be deliciously fabulous? Obviously her daughter was thrilled (and ahem, I didn't show this photo to our daughter -ha!)

What fun. Plus, a couple of days before Valentine's, I received a Vegan Love Letter. No... not *that* kind of love letter. No romantic or flirtatious intent. It was a vegan foodie love letter, for my cookie recipes. I don't know if you want your name mentioned, so I simply thank you again. That was a most special V-Day treat. :) I would dearly love to write a vegan book just for cookies... maybe someday... the words 'another cookbook' are the equivalent of four-letter words in this household right now - ha!

So, it was a luvy-duvy day all around. Though, I miss the days of Valentine's when we exchanged little cards at school, sometimes homemade ones, and that was it. Not little cards with a Hershey kiss attached. Or gummy worms. Or lollipops. Or gum or candy or sweethearts, etc, etc. I know the parents are well-intentioned and want to do something extra-special. It's just so overdone now. I remember the preciousness of simply bringing home my envelope of Valentine's and just enjoying going through them over and over. Don't you? No candy was needed - and that's from the biggest sweet tooth of all time! Though, my daughter received a tiny stuffie from a friend in lieu of a chocolate treat, and let me tell you, that has been with her every moment since V-Day!

One more luvy-duvy vibe before I sign off. Most of you know that Urban Vegan was featured in a NY Times story, along with her husband 'omniman'. Congratulations, Dynise! You are a big bright light in our lil' vegan world. Thank you for giving some good press to being vegan. "Yeah... props baby, vegan props!"