Cookies for Celebrations
Some people are just plain hard to buy for — either they are fussy or they have everything. One thing they don’t have, and even the fussiest of the fussy will enjoy, is one of our birthday gift baskets filled with melt-in-your mouth, buttery Smiley cookies. Choose from several Smiley Cookie gift baskets with cookies or cookies, coffee and a mug. Relatives, friends and co-workers will love you for this gift, and though it may not last long, the smiles that Smiley cookie gift basket brings will be remembered for a long time.
A Birthday Gift Basket like this one is guaranteed to make anyone Smile!
Our cookies are made fresh and hand packed so they are always fresh no matter where you send them. These gifts are perfect for the birthd ay guy or gal overseas, though you might want to choose one of our bigger baskets. You know that once your loved one in the military opens the package, everyone around is going to want a Smiley Cookie. We also have cookie gift baskets for other occasions that require congratulations, such as graduations, new babies and marriage.
You can also create your own birthday cookie. Choose a shape, a base color and a smiley color to personalize your loved one’s smiley cookies. Need Kosher cookies for that someone special? You don’t have to forgo cookies because you need Kosher — we also bake Kosher cookies.
If you’re like many people, the scent and taste of gingerbread brings to mind holiday memories. Whether it’s in the form of cookies, a decorated house, or even a flavored latte, gingerbread is everywhere this time of year.
One great holiday Gingerbread tradition is decorating Gingerbread Houses!
But did you ever wonder why gingerbread is a part of the holiday season, or even where gingerbread came from in the first place? We found this fun, informative article with all sorts of interesting facts about the history of gingerbread.
According to the story, gingerbread has been baked in Europe since the eleventh century. Depending on the specific location it might be a soft cake, a crisp, flat cookie, or warm, thick, dark squares of “bread.” Although the exact flavor could vary, gingerbread was usually cut into shapes such as men, women, stars or animals.
If it’s often in the form of a cookie, why is it called “gingerbread“? As the article explains:
In Medieval England gingerbread meant simply “preserved ginger” and was an adaptation of the Old French gingebras, derived from the Latin name of the spice, Zingebar. It was only in the fifteenth century that the term came to be applied to a kind of cake made with treacle, an uncrystalized syrup drained from raw sugar during the refining process, and flavored with ginger. Ginger was also discovered to have a preservative effect when added to pastries and bread, and this probably led to the development of recipes for ginger cakes, cookies, and flavored breads.
Gingerbread came to North America with the settlers from all over Europe who brought their traditions and family recipes. The German practice of making and decorating houses from gingerbread at Christmas time was especially prevalent in Pennsylvania, where there was a strong German influence. Many traditional German gingerbreads reappeared in this area, especially during the holiday season.
Gingerbread Cookies from Smiley Cookie honor the long standing tradition of gingerbread on the holidays!
At Smiley Cookie we put our own twist on the classic gingerbread cookie with our gingerbread smileys and mini gingerbread smileys, available in a variety of holiday gift sets. Contact us to check out our entire selection of gingerbread and other holiday cookies.
With the holidays rapidly approaching, it’s time to start thinking about gifts. What do you plan to give your child’s teacher as a special thank-you? Another mug? A gift card for that coffee shop?
How about something more unique?
Think back to your childhood: remember how special a simple cookie made you feel? What about a cookie with a smiley face on it? We’re pretty sure a box full of smiley face cookies would make that special teacher adore you even more.
Gourmet Cookies are a great way to show a teacher you appreciate all that they do. With 144 custom color combos, special occasion designs, and six different shapes your options are endless. By letting your child help choose the cookies, the gift becomes even more special.
Also, our cookies are nut free, so they can be brought into any classroom without any concern that they might make a child sick.
Holiday Cookies Make a Great Gift For A Teacher!
Teachers have plenty of mugs. Be ahead of the holiday game and order a custom designed box of cookies for that special teacher today! We take pride in offering a high-quality, great-tasting, fun cookie that just can’t help but bring a smile to your face.
Questions? Just contact us and let us help you make someone’s day just a bit more smiley.
The #StarSmile Contest is back! All you have to do is guess the name of the celebrity whose smile is pictured below and you’ll be automatically entered to win a dozen Smiley Cookies.
You can enter by tweeting your answer @Smileycookie with the tag #StarSmile or by leaving a guess in the comments section of the StarSmile post on our Facebook page. At stake is a dozen awesome Smiley Cookies that we’ll deliver fresh to your door.
Guess as often as you like and we’ll keep adding hints on Facebook and Twitter every now and then to help you out. We’ll randomly draw the winner from everyone who guessed correctly at 3 PM today. We tried to make this one pretty difficult, so let us know if you need more hints.
But enough of the contest mumbo jumbo, can you tell us who this smile belongs to?
Guess who this famous smile belongs to and you could win a dozen Smiley Cookies!
This post is not all about cookies. I know, it’s hard to believe. The thing is, even though I remember baking peanut butter bumble bee cookies for my mother and grandmothers, that tradition seems to be largely familial in origin. Historically, Mother’s Day is traditionally celebrated with cakes instead of cookies.
The Origin of Mother’s Day
In the United States, Mother’s Day was made an official holiday in 1914. It’s a floating holiday here in the States, always falling on the second Sunday of May. This tradition was adopted in many other countries in Europe including Germany, Greece, Latvia, Denmark and Finland. But the idea of Mother’s Day predates the official holiday by centuries.
The Greeks celebrated Rhea, the mother of the gods and the ancient Romans celebrated Cybele, the celebration of the goddess Cybele. Even today, Mother’s Day in different countries often matches up with more ancient versions of the celebration.
Food on Mother’s Day
No matter where Mother’s day is celebrated, there are several common themes. For that one day, children and fathers take over the jobs the mothers usually do, cooking meals and generally making mom’s life as easy as possible. These meals often have traditional elements.
Simnell Cake
Mothers Day Cake
This marzipan covered fruit cake is the traditional food gift in Britain from children to their mothers. It’s quite similar to the Christmas fruit cake. According to popular legend, Simon and his sister Nell wanted to make a cake for their mother. One wanted to bake it. The other wanted to broil it. They ended up doing both and bringing the cake to their mother.
French Bloom Cake
In France, Mother’s Day is not celebrated on the second Sunday of May, but instead is celebrated on the last Sunday of the month. A huge family dinner in honor of mother and a special cake decorated as a bouquet of flowers is traditional.
American Traditions
Making cookies is a lot easier than baking cakes. It may be for this reason that cookie baking and gifting is catching on in America, though it hasn’t quite overtaken breakfast in bed or the traditional dinner out. I still think that a plate of bumble bee peanut butter cookies from a 6-year-old is one of the best Mother’s Day gifts, but then again, I might be biased.
Happy Mother’s Day everyone!
When you think about Easter, you likely think about Easter Eggs. But we have news for you, our cookie-loving friends. Easter Cookies are just as much a tradition around the world as eggs are. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of ethnic traditions involving baking around Easter, but we’re going to focus on some of the more well-known traditions concerning cookies.
Greek and Italian Easter Cookies
Koulourakia: Greek Easter Cookies
Cookies and sweetbreads are a staple around Easter time in many Mediterranean countries. In Greece, the traditional Easter cookie is Koulourakia. It’s a butter-based braided cookie with a hint of vanilla.
Italian Easter Cookies
The Italians have a citrus flavored cookie made in a similar way. These cookies go by a variety of names: Knot Cookies, Lemon Knots, Anginetti and Taralucci are just a few. They’re tasty, crumbly Easter cookies frosted lightly, and sprinkled with multicolored confetti.
Nordic Easter Cookies
Semla: Swedish Easter Cookies
Semla are not precisely cookies. They get their name from the type of flower from which they are made: semolina. Versions of this delicious pastry filled with almond paste are served from Shrove Tuesday, the last day before Lent, until Easter in many Nordic countries. In Sweden, it’s called Fastlagsbulle. In Denmark and Norway, it’s called fastelavnsbolle, and is sometimes filled with whipped cream or jam rather than almond paste. In Finland, the pastry is known as Laskiaispulla. This traditional Easter bun can be found as far east as Latvia and Estonia.
The Easter Sugar Cookie
The sugar cookie is sort of the blank canvass of the cookie world. It’s easily decorated and so easy to make a variety of shapes with. For this reason, Americans have latched onto the sugar cookie for creating Easter themed cookies in a multitude of shapes. You can find bunny cookies, decorated egg cookies, flower cookies, chick cookies and almost any other shape and decoration remotely related to Easter.
We’d love to hear about your Easter cookie traditions! Maybe see some spectacular Easter Cookie pictures? Feel free to post in the comments section! Happy Easter!
When you think of Pittsburgh traditions, there are a few things that usually jump to the front of your thoughts:
- The Terrible Towel
- People in Steeler’s gear, regardless of season or solemnity of occasion
- Pierogies
- Chair parking space holders
But there’s one more thing that makes ‘Burghers famous throughout the rest of the country: Wedding Cookies.
“But wait,” the unknowing non-Burgher might say, “People eat CAKE at weddings.”
True. But while the traditional wedding cake still retains its touted position and remains a wonderful source of candid, frosting-smeared photos, the mighty cookie table often completely overshadows it.
The History of the Wedding Cookie Tradition
There are as many theories as to why we are such a cookie-loving people as there are types of cookies adorning the table at even the simplest of Pittsburgh weddings.
Necessity as the Mother of (delicious) Invention?
The wedding cookie tradition could have been born of necessity. As the steel mills closed down – and Pittsburghers began to tighten their collective belts, lavish wedding cakes were probably one of the first things to go. Many a bride’s disappointment must have eased as her entire family pitched in for days (sometimes weeks) to bake and freeze a dizzying array of traditional wedding cookies for the big event. In many ways, baking the wedding cookies is as meaningful for the mother of the bride as it is for the bride herself!
A Cultural Melting Pot
Much of Pittsburgh’s population descends from hardworking immigrants who came to Pittsburgh in search of industrial work. There’s a strong possibility that the wedding cookie tradition came with them. Pinpointing which ethnicity made the tradition popular would be nearly impossible. The credit for the Pittsburgh wedding cookie table is most often given to the Mediterranean and Eastern European cultural influences in this area.
The Popularity of Wedding Cookies
Regardless of where the wedding cookie table originated, it has certainly transcended its origins and has been embraced by an entire region of America. Though Pittsburgh is well known for it, the tradition is also prevalent in Ohio and parts of West Virginia and Virginia. Articles on where to get custom wedding cookies that match the wedding color schemes are popping up in high-end bridal magazines and people across the country are starting to adopt the tradition.
There is definitely something very warm and inviting about packing up dozens of cookies to send home with guests as edible reminders of a fantastic and memorable evening. It’s no wonder the wedding cookie tradition is still strong and growing!
We’d love to see pictures of your wedding cookie tables! Feel free to upload them in the comments section!
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, I thought I’d write about the various cookies of Ireland.
The Oatmeal Cookie
Oatmeal cookies didn’t start out as the tasty, sugary desserts we know now. Back in the 1800′s, oats were plentiful in Ireland, England and Scotland. They were a staple food group for people and animals, used in a variety of dishes. Oat cakes were easy to make, preserve and dry. They were also inexpensive and filling. They were largely considered peasant food. Eventually, as more and more people could afford sweeteners, they began including honey, molasses and even sugar. The eventual result was today’s Oatmeal Cookie. Cookie gifts were often presented at the Celtic festival of Beltane to commemorate the beginning the summer season.
Shortbread Cookies
So, why’s it called “shortbread?” Well, it’s not because of height. The name “shortbread” actually refers to the ingredients. The term “shortening” is used to describe any fat that was used to create a nice, crumbly texture and rich, creamy taste. In this cookie’s case, butter is used.
Shortbread is extremely popular in Ireland and the British Isles. The dough holds its form while baking so shortbread can take on a number of shapes. Some of the most common shapes are shortbread “fingers” and shortbread rounds.
The Sugar Cookie
Often enjoyed at tea time, the sugar cookie is popular, not just in Ireland, but all over the world. Sugar cookies are simple to make and are the cookie equivalent of a blank slate. They can be cut into as many different shapes as you can think of and frosted in a myriad of ways.
Our Shamrock Smiley Cookies
Although they haven’t been served on St. Paddy’s day in Irish households through antiquity, we’re starting to see that our Shamrock Smiley Cookies are becoming a bit of a St. Paddy’s day tradition here in America. We would love hear about your St. Patrick’s day traditions and maybe even get a few pics of you chowing down on our Shamrock cookies!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
St. Patrick’s day is right around the corner! As always, we have a Smiley Cookie for that.
If you’re looking for ways to show your Irish pride or just love Smiley Cookies, here’s a St. Paddy’s day Smiley Cookie desktop wall paper for you to download.
Shamrock cookies are only one example of our holiday offerings. What’s your favorite holiday Smiley Cookie?
