Inaguration Celebration

Whether or not you voted for Barack Obama, today was a huge moment for America, and hopefully a turning point for the state of our country (ok, so that might be interpreted as political, but I don't mean it as such). I work at a small high-tech start up here in Austin and we celebrate all the little things (and the big ones), today was no exception, we ordered Rudy's BBQ (one of my favorites), used Slingbox to project the whole she-bang on the wall and myself (and one of my co-workers) brought in desserts. I brought in red,white and blue sugar cookie stars. The cookies were festive, patriotic and quite the hit, every single one was gone before 5PM!

I used Martha Stewart's Sugar Cookie Recipe for the cookies:

4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
2 cup sugar
2 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar; add dry ingredients, and mix until incorporated. With mixer running, add egg, and vanilla; mix until incorporated.
2. Transfer dough to a work surface. Shape into 2 discs, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with nonstick baking mats or parchment paper; set aside.
4. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes, and transfer to prepared baking sheets, leaving an inch in between. Leftover dough can be rolled and cut once more. Bake until lightly golden, about 10 minutes; do not allow to brown. 5. Transfer to wire racks to cool.

After I finished that (around 10:30 last night) I realized it was too late to frost them, so I needed a 'patriotic' alternative....I turned to glaze!

1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon cream
*I used icing gel coloring to tint 1/2 of the batch red and the other 1/2 blue

Mix all of the ingredients together and paint on to cookies.

After so much cooking last night I wasn't really up for a difficult dinner tonight, plus I've been dying to try the Scintillating Sausage Stuffed Squash Reeni had on her blog Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice, I was certainly not disappointed! Yet another delish recipe I found on her website!