If a little is good, more MUST be better!

So today’s installment will be a peek into my world.  My world as a cookie widower.  My darling wife may not realize that the events I’m about to portray take place, even though she is directly responsible for all of them.

My wife is an amazing cookie artist.  And I’m amazed at the final product every. single. time.  But the sweet reality (see what I did there, I throw the puns in for free folks) is that I see every cookie she does in at least 5 stages, sometimes more, rarely less. 

Step 1: The sketch.  My wife sketches almost all of her cookies out first to know what direction she is going with the design.  The sketches alone are awesome.  And I get to see every one.  EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.  Sometimes we pretend like she’s asking for my input, but usually it's simply a "look, here will be my _____ design".  Sometimes she also has to show me the cutters that will make said cookie.

Step 2:  Cookie is now baked, most likely with a flood (that’s the base layer of royal icing for you non-cookiers out there) and maybe with a few initial details.  It’s important for me to see this phase (seemingly) so that I can start to envision how the final product will be.  And how it’s shaping up to the sketch already examined in Step 1.  Usually this step is an iPhone picture sent to me at 10:30pm while I am watching football.

Step 3:  This will vary on the cookie.  In some cases it’s the “still in progress” cookie further on down the line, or for my example here, it’s the completed cookie.  Once again, shot with her iPhone, and sent to me while I am working.  It’s done being decorated, but the journey is not over, far from it.

Step 4:  The packaged, ready-for-delivery cookie.  Here I get to admire either my wife’s ability to place said cookie into a cellophane bag or revel in her plastic wrap skills as they are plattered.  Breathtaking.

Step 5:  Now I get to see the photos of the cookies that my wife just took.  And since she upgraded cameras, now every cookie gets no less than 5,000 pictures.  On a plate, off a plate, different lighting, flash and no flash, table cloth or SwankyPrint.  Imagine my delight in seeing the cookie at least the 4th time now on the 2” LCD screen of a camera that cost more than my first car. (The camera is a mid-line camera, I got my first car pretty cheap).

So, that is my life.  I get to share with her enthusiasm for her craft at literally every step of the way.  Every. step. of. the. way.  But it makes her happy, so I look at all 5,000 pictures.

Next time, you’ll hear about how I’m involved in every cookie cutter purchased.  Every. . . single. . . one. . .

My question is, do any of you other cookiers subject the lucky significant other in your life to this?

Note from Amy:  Mike writes the post in a word doc, and I transpose it into this blog.  And yes, I reviewed every picture and every word, before it went live.