Thanks a Basket-Load!

I did it!  I made (and ate) a bunch of goodies for those wonderful L&D nurses at Sacred Heart, and I am so glad that I did because:

1) They were awesome and deserved some dessert!

2) I tried out some new recipes, and as a result now have some new favorites!

I knew I wanted to make some cut-out cookies, because I had these ideas in my head for three of the nurses who really stood out to me (stars among the stars!) and I really wanted to try my hand at the whole decorating business again.  However, I’m just not a huge fan of the Sugar Cookie – yes, they are completely adorable and  in the right hands they even cross over into works of art (Hello Manda, Bridget, Gail, and Paula!) – but for eatin’s sake, I haven’t yet met a sugar cookie that I would prefer over a chocolate chip cookie.  Which isn’t to say that I’ve given up looking, but for this basket, I wanted a chocolate chip cutout cookie.

So I asked the ever-so-helpful Google, who introduced me to Nestle’s Mini Chip Cutout Cookies.  I love how these turned out and I will definitely be playing with this super easy, yummy recipe again!  I used Gail’s Between The Sheets Method again – if you haven’t tried it, you need to.  You won’t make cut out cookies without it again!

I made a whole bunch of heart-shaped cookies for all the nurses to share (and a few stars, which I reserved and decorated later with my awesome nephews) and instead of flooding them with royal icing, I used chocolate candy melts.  YUM, YUM, YUUUUM.

Now for those three nurses who really stood out to me, I had some specific ideas.  And no cookie cutters, so I free-handed it.  So don’t judge me too harshly. 🙂  Deja’ was an absolute sweetheart of a nurse, and I am pretty sure that she was actually in the labor room with me when Lauren was born.  Either way, she helped care for me and Danielle this time, too.  She kept Danielle pretty much a whole night so Dave and I could catch up on some much-needed Z’s, AND she showed us the easiest  way to swaddle – total lifesaver!  So her cookie, of course, was a swaddled baby.

Shauna was one of our day nurses, and she came in radiating sunshine and good cheer.  She was so happy and upbeat, we couldn’t help but be swept up with her.  AND she took one of the hospital-issue baby caps and made it into a totally adorable little bow hat for Danielle:

And last but most certainly not least, was Katie – my labor nurse.  She kept me comfortable and made sure that Danielle stayed safe while my labor progressed.  Basically, she answered my every beck and call and was very calm, compassionate and patient with me.  She was an angel, and so was her cookie.

I also made some totally awesome hazelnut nanaimo bites, ala Savour Fare.  I’ve never made or had nanaimo bars before, but these sounded way too good to pass up.  And they are.  You need to make some for yourself ASAP!  I gave some of these to my buddy Taylor (remember her birthday cake?) and she said these are her new favorite thing that I make.  🙂  I meant to take some pictures of the process, but I didn’t.  I didn’t even get a good close up of the finished product.  I’m an awesome food blogger! Or not.  Either way, I pretty much followed Kate‘s recipe except I definitely did not make my own graham crackers.  I didn’t even crush my own crackers – I bought graham cracker crumbs.  Infant and an 18 month old, people, that’s all I’m saying.  I also cut the amount of coconut in the crust in half – I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about coconut and hazelnut.  Turns out, it’s good.  Next time I’ll probably use the full amount.

Finally, I included some mini raspberry lemonade cupcakes like the ones that I saw over at My Baking Addiction.  They turned out well, except I think I went overboard on the raspberry in the frosting.  My Dad and Taylor really liked them, but to me they were a bit too sweet.  Then again, maybe I just don’t like fruity frostings since I found my cherry buttercream to be a little much, too.  Anyway, I hope everyone at the hospital found something in my basket that they could enjoy!

I also reserved a few hearts for my hubby, who has gotten little mention so far in this labor recap, but let me assure you now that he was wonderful.  He was a little frantic before we arrived at the hospital, but once we got there he was my calm, peaceful rock.  I can’t imagine laboring without his presence and support – having him there meant that I didn’t have to worry about anything – he would make sure that I was prayed for and cared for.  And he did.

Grateful,

Becki

Tagged as: candy melts, chocolate chip cut-out cookies, hazelnut, nanaimo bars, raspberry lemonade cupcakes, thank-you for nurses