I have always been a Kitchen-aid girl.  My big Christmas gift the year I left for college was my bright and shiny new white Kitchen-aid.  It has traveled with me through dorm room, apartments, and four homes.  I still own that little mixer and it keeps on going.  I've added two more Kitchen-aids to my army and I love them.

At Cookie Con this year, I attended a night out at Orson Gygi (an amazing Baker's supply paradise). They had dozens of giveaways and so many great prizes.  I filled out my little ticket and tucked it into the Bosch Mixer prize pack.  Would you believe that I WON!?!  I couldn't believe it!  A few weeks later, my new mixer arrived.  I'll be honest, I was skeptical.  Could it really be as good as my beautiful Kitchen-aids?

I read all instructions, plugged it in and gave it a go!  I have to say, this mixer is a work horse.  It is powerful and mixed up my double batch of dough without a second thought.  For my first use, I was pleased.  In the weeks since, I've come to love my Bosch mixer....and wish a few things were different!

First, its not the prettiest mixer to look at.  While my Kitchen-aid in its beautiful copper orange looks great on my counter, my Bosch gets hidden away.

It is incredibly loud.  I'm not sure what I expected, considering it is a work horse, it operates and sounds like one!  It mixes fantastic and has great suction cups that keep the mixer in place (unlike the Kitchen-aid that would mix itself right off the counter).

The cookie paddles are fairly light weight and plastic.  I actually don't use them for my cookie mixing.  I bypass them and use the dough hooks.  It works great and gets the job done!

The Bosch mixes up my royal icing recipe in 6 pound increments without any difficulty.  If I was to write an open letter to Bosch, it would simply be to ask them to add a handle on the mixing bowl.  It would sure make my icing transfer a ton easier.

So, my verdict is in.  I really do love my Bosch Mixer.  And I still love my Kitchen-aid.  It is possible to love two brands and use them both!

Tonight a cookie friend texted me and asked, "Do you ever struggle with the feeling of inadequacy with your cookies?"  I thought on that question for a quick second and immediately answered, "NO!" Trust me, it isn't because I feel like my cookies are SO amazing, not at all!  Two years ago, I was finding myself patrolling social media looking at all the amazing cookie pictures and then criticizing my own cookies.  I was stuck in a perpetual cycle of comparison.  Sadly, rather than it improving my techniques or my quality...it stole my joy.  I was comparing everything about my cookies to others and I suddenly forgot why I loved doing cookies.  I let comparison steal my joy.

Do you do that?  It took me a while to realize that I was even doing it!  Then, I went through a phase of not following my fellow cookiers.  I needed to focus on ME.  I needed to find who I was as a cookier rather than trying to be anyone else.  It's amazing the transformation that occurred.  I stopped searching on Pinterest for "cookie" ideas.  I stopped looking on social media at other cookie posts and I started working on me.  I even started sketching my sets out and brainstorming for myself.  I had to experiment and play with icing.  I needed to tweak and alter my dough flavorings.  I started trying different methods and finding what works for me.  I began a journey of staying in my own lane.   I realized a very important lesson, "Don't allow comparison to steal your joy. "

When I grow up (not literally because I'm pushing the big 4-0),  I know what I want to be in my cookie life.

Lets back up a little bit first.  This past weekend I flew to Salt Lake City to attend my second Cookie Con!  It is the very best convention that focuses on the Cookie Artist (more about that to come).  I was just a girl from Kansas, headed to spend five days with five hundred amazing people.  It is a tad overwhelming and everything fabulous.

We dedicated days to learning, celebrating, and educating ourselves about a cookie!  Yep, a cookie. From first light to well past my normal "mom" bedtime, we talked cookie.  It sounds ludicrous to people who don't "get it", but that doesn't matter when you are at Cookie Con.  THESE people understand, my tribe!

Friday was class day, from 9 am until 6 pm, we spent the day soaking in tidbits from some amazing artists.  And this brings me to what I want to be when I grow up.  It was getting to be the end of my class day, I was dragging a little bit.  I hadn't had my normal doses of coffee or shut eye, so I was starting to waver a little.  I sat down hopeful that I could keep my eyes open.  4:00 hour struck and BAM, the teacher began.  She was AMAZING.  Her knowledge of cookie techniques, her knowledge of art, her knowledge of teaching, it was ALL inspiring.  But, what captured my attention was her love of cookies.  She LOVES to create beautiful cookies.  She doesn't just do cookies like everyone else does them.  She finds new ways to create texture and she experiments with different tools.  The excitement she exuded was like nothing I've seen before. THAT type of passion for cookies is what I want to have.  Sure, I have that excitement and trust me, I have the love of cookies (I wouldn't spend all these hours and backaches, if I didn't love it).  But, what I want to be is someone who stands before a crowd and inspires.  A cookie artist who pushes others to do better, create differently, and get excited!  THAT is what I want to be when I grow up.

A genuine thank you to Amy Clough of Clough'D 9 Cookies for being that special instructor.

Cookie Con!  Its a thing!  I tell people I am heading to a con in Salt Lake City and they look at me completely baffled!  I am loading up to head out in the next hour for my second Cookie Con!  I am beyond excited.  Its where online friendships collide into reality.  Where fellow cookiers speak your love language.  Its where you can totally nerd out on cookies and nobody thinks its odd!

My very first Cookie Con was a tad overwhelming.  Meeting people face to face for the first time was hard!  There were personalities that wasn't what I expected, people who were way more amazing than I thought and a ton of fun mixed in.  If you are heading out to your first cookie con, I have words of wisdom for YOU! Do as much as you can!  I was a little overwhelmed last time and completely skipped open decorating.  What a huge regret!  Some cookiers are intimidating, but don't let that stop you from meeting them!  I had the joy to meet a few cookie gals that are really inspiring to me, I even took photos with them and I was thrilled I did.  Funny thing is, I remain friends with several of them today.  The photo below is with Georganne Bell of Lilaloa at the Cookie Tasting! If you are not a very social person, force yourself to meet someone new and do things together!  Put yourself out there and I guarantee you, you will not be sorry!

If you can't make it to Cookie Con 2017, be prepared for a ton of photos on social media by a ton of cookie people!  Enjoy the photos and make plans to join the next one!  If you see me in Salt Lake City, come say hi!

Do you ever start a cookie set with no plan in mind?  You bake shapes and mix icing but have no idea what you will do?  I am a "type A" organized planner.  I rarely don't have a plan.  But, every once in a while, I like to change things up.  I like to sit at my desk and see where the icing bag takes me.  There are times that I have created some of the ugliest cookies in the world this way.  Other times, a set without a plan and direction, turns out pretty great.

For this "type a" decorator, its not something I do very often.  I typically have a pencil in hand and sketch out designs.  I normally know what will go on each and every cookie.  But, winging it, it pushes you.  It keeps you on your toes.  You have to commit to each cookie and go with it!  If you've never tried the "wing it" method...give it a try.  If it produces ugly cookies....EAT them!  But, if you design gorgeous cookies...its worth it!