Kid Cook: Sweet & Salty Treat (Plus, a Giveaway!!!)

Welcome to my first blog post showcasing the goodies my little one makes (or helps make).

Not too long ago, we were invited to a cocktail party. Since I didn't have a sitter, I had to bring my little ones. We decided to bring a sweet treat to share with everyone.

We used the Rolo Pretzel Delights recipe, but modified it to fit our allergies. It is SUPER simple to make, and while I managed the oven, my 6 year old did all of the prep work. 


What you need:

• mini pretzels
• Rolo candies

I preheated the oven to 350°F, then set up a parchment lined baking sheet. 

Next, she arranged the mini pretzels on the sheet.

Then she put a Rolo candy on each one.

We baked these for about 3 minutes, until the candy started to melt. 

I used a spoon to spread the melted candy while it was still hot out of the oven.
At this point, you can top it with a nut or other goody of your choice.

After letting them cool, we were ready to party!

This was so easy to make (mostly because my little one did all of the work! Lol!). She had fun, and we had tasty treats to share and enjoy when we were finished!

...and...

I know it's Thanksgiving tomorrow, but I can't think of a better way to bring in December than with a free cookie giveaway!

You can enter below, however, the winner must be able to pick up from the greater SF Bay Area.
Enter now, and everyday until the contest ends on Dec 1!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Halloween (Mini Tutorial)

Happy Halloween!

Halloween time was the first time I started making a bunch of cookies at once, so I wanted to share a mini tutorial on how to make a dimensional-looking pumpkin. 

First, though, I wanted to take you through a journey of some of my first Halloween themed cookies:

My first Halloween cookie set.

My first attempt at chocolate cookies.

First Birthday cookies with a Halloween theme.

Jack-o-lantern cookies

Jack-o-lantern cookies

Halloween Minis Set

I've recently learned yet another cookie technique that I thought was pretty neat. I learned it from Semi Sweet Designs, but I'd like to share my condensed version:

I made Jack-O-Lanterns, but I like the idea of using this technique for other things as well.

Step One: Paint on the cookie where you want the eyes, nose, and mouth to be.

Step Two: After the first layer dries, pipe out the eyes, nose, and mouth.

Step Three: Outline the Jack-O-Lantern, and add each ridge of the pumpkin.

Step Four: Fill in every-other pumpkin ridge. After the first ridges dry, go back and fill in the others. This will give the pumpkins a dimensional look.

Finished Halloween set

Good News, Everyone!

I'm SUPER happy to share my recent success with everyone!
I want to thank all of my family, friends, and especially my supporters via Kickstarter! This has been an unbelievable journey thus far, and it's just beginning!

As many of you already know, I have obtained my business license to sell cookies in my city and county. I now have insurance, and I just found out that the Dept of Health approved my labels back in September, so I'm good to go as far as baking and selling goes (picked up the official paperwork today).

Today I also sent out my first official reward for Kickstarter, and it should be arriving sometime tomorrow (yay!).
I will be giving cookies to the winner of my Fall Cookies Giveaway tomorrow (yee!).
I was offered to host my first booth selling cookies next week (w0ot!).
And, my local paper did an article about my new business (sweet!).

It's a short entry today, but I'm planning out future tutorials for some easy recipes.

(And yes, the title is a reference to one of my favorite cartoons that aired its last episode earlier this year; and yes, I do hope you read it in Professor Farnsworth voice. Hehe)

Fall Cookie Giveaway!

Who doesn't love giveaways?

I recently entered one of Stephen Curry's #SC30 Contests. (He holds contests on the 30th of each month for prizes and/or a chance for fans to talk one-on-one with him. It's pretty cool that even though he'll have fans regardless, he takes time out of his schedule to give back.) This particular contest was to promote the charity that he is involved with called Nothing But Nets.

I figured, what better way to enter than with cookies? Well, I didn't win. However, something just as cool happened: I got a shout out from Steph on twitter and facebook! 

Less than 24 hrs left to get in #SC30 entries like this http://t.co/IysYqeupgP Details/rules if you missed them http://t.co/2fct3y3rhn

— Stephen Curry (@StephenCurry30) August 29, 2013

Post by Stephen Curry.

Cookies for #SC30 Contest: Nothing But Nets

Even though I didn't win, I decided to have a little contest of my own. Nothing big, but I still wanted to do a cookie giveaway!

Fall Cookies Giveaway

So, here it is: 

I'm hoping to build awareness of my new home-based cookie business in my community. Anyone may join this giveaway, but the winner will need to be a resident of Northern California (SF/Greater Bay/Sac). The prize is for local pick-up only. It's really simple though, there are five ways to enter!

1.) Like Mey's Marvels on Facebook

2.) Share Mey's Marvels on Facebook

3.) Follow @MeysMarvels on Twitter

4.) Tweet about @MeysMarvels on Twitter

5.) Follow @MeysMarvels on Instagram

Just use the entry form below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Good Luck! Oh, and here is one of me, my kiddos, and Stephen when Evie was less than a month old!

Me. Kiddos, and Steph Curry!

Helpful Links

I'm a big believer in finding resources easily, so here is my list of helpful links. These are recipes/techniques/websites I use or plan to use. I hope you find it as useful I as I did. 

(Just a note: I have changed some of the recipes to fit my tastes, I recommend trying the original and then altering it to your liking.)

Sugar Cookie Recipe - This sugar cookie recipe from Bridget at Bake at 350 is my favorite! Bridget also has helpful tips on rolling it out, etc.

Royal Icing Recipe - This royal icing recipe from Callye, aka Sugarbelle, is my favorite! I'm such a lazy baker, I like not having to sift powdered sugar. (It also cuts down on the amount I wear after making RI! Lol)

Royal Icing Consistency - This video on royal icing flood consistency was so helpful for me! I tried countless times to get the consistency right, but after watching this video, I got the hang of it!

Color Chart - This color chart was made by Callye and I love, Love, LOVE it!

Decorating Techniques - Here are a list of some of the techniques I like and/or want to try! 

• Basic Decorating
• Brush Embroidery
• Coloring Book Cookies

Cookie Photography - Here is a link to an amazing tutorial on building a lightbox from Lisa, aka The Bearfoot Baker! This is so easy to make and I use it for almost all of my cookie photos!

Cookie Supplies - I provided a list of my favorite places to shop for cookie supplies. I love shopping online, but it helps a ton to have a local bakery supply place in case of last minute needs: 

• Country Kitchen Sweetart
• Karen's Cookies
• Charming Creations

And finally, here are links to some of my favorite things via Pinterest:

• Cute Cutters
• Cute Cookie Creations (by others)

Kickstarted!

I'm writing a short blog today. I've been procrastinating all day (in fact, it's Tuesday now. Lol).

I wanted to write and thank everyone who supported me via Kickstarter, donations, and cookie orders. My project was successfully funded! Woohoo! 
Right now, I am awaiting a meeting with the Small Business Development Center in my area to go over some more information about obtaining a business license in my city/county. I will also be sending out personal messages to my Kickstarter backers to schedule cookie deliveries soon (Yay!).

Between cookies, Girl Scouts, a school book fair, and maybe overbooking my time to volunteer at various places, I am going to have a fairly hectic week! (Though I'm not complaining. I feel like I thrive on the chaos.) I better go get some sleep!

If you want to check out some of my cookie creations, I will be adding both old and new to my facebook business page: Mey's Marvels.

THANK YOU!!!!!!

Evie's 2nd Birthday

So, today I'm running around like a crazy person trying to get everything ready for Evie's birthday party this weekend. However, since today is her actual birthday (and my blog post day), I decided to dedicate this blog post to my youngest princess.

On the day she was born, Evie was so excited to come out and meet us that she didn't even let the doctor put on gloves. As I was rushed to the bed, she just came right out and the doctor caught her with a towel! Needless to say, we were just as ecstatic to meet our newest baby girl. From day one she was a very easy baby: mostly sleeping, and only truly crying when she was hungry or wet. I think being a younger sister, she realized its just easier to go with the flow. 

A few pictures of Evie sleeping.

Even as a baby, she let us dress her up in silly props like glasses.

My Super Evie!

Evie's first birthday is the first time my family (as a whole) got a chance to see and try my cookies. After that, I started making cookies here and there for family and friends. 

Cookies for Evie's 1st Birthday! Can you guess the theme?

And finally, here is a sneak peak for her 2nd birthday. Can you guess the theme?

Happy 2nd Birthday, Evie!

Lucky Break

Hi Everyone,

I'm Melissa, aka Meyissa, aka Mey. I started making cookies about two years ago, and now I'm ready to share my adventures with everyone. 

When I first started out, I learned everything I could from Bridget's Blog: Bake at 350 and her wonderful book: Decorating Cookies! After a couple of weeks, I started discovering a whole world of cookie makers and cookie bloggers. Here are a few of my favorites (people I've learned from and people I've drawn inspiration from): Sugarbelle, The Bearfoot Baker, and Semi Sweet.

Anyhow, since one of my favorite radio stations just celebrated its 2nd Anniversary, I wanted to share some cookies that I made in early 2012 (one of my very first sets) for their very first Lucky Break competition. The competition gave local, everyday people a chance to compete with each other for an internship and a spot in the radio lineup. Pretty sweet, huh? Then host of "The Drive," Brandon Tierney, was one of the coaches. He competed with "The Rise Guys" host Dan Dibley to find the winner.

Well, with that, I knew I wanted to participate by making cookies. Oh, did I mention by attending the competition, I had a chance to meet my favorite basketball player, David Lee? Oh yeah, that happened too! Lol. Here are some pictures of the cookies and from the event back in early 2012.

Cookies for 95.7 The Game.
One of my first sets, so please forgive the terribly piped lines. Lol.

While taking a photo with Brandon Tierney (BT), we totally got photo-bombed!
Haha!

I got to take a pic with Dan Dibley (Dibs), too!

My Mom got to take a picture with the incredibly sweet, David Lee!

Me with professional basketball player, David Lee.

Oh you know, just chatting it up. He said he enjoyed my basketball cookies!

Woot!

This was my very first cookie-inspired adventure. I can't wait to share more, but for now, I better get back to baking!