Gingerbread Owls

It's amazing how as soon as the weather cools off my taste buds start crying out for spicy holiday foods. I thought I'd make use of some of my many many cookie cutters and so I baked up some ginger owls. I made some dachshunds as well, but didn't get around to photographing them before they were all eaten.
I used Martha's recipe, and they were delicious. The day they were baked they were very crispy, but they softened up overnight (which I greatly prefer).

Cowgirl

So if you've never seen Bakerella's site, you my friend are missing out. She did a lovely little post about cowgirl cookie mixes, and they sounded so tasty I had to make some. You can get the recipe on her site, along with some lovely little templates for packaging. I switched the nuts out for some cocoa nibs, and added a little peanut butter. And the results were fabulous!
Oh, I also didn't add m&ms (I didn't really feel like walking to the store) so I added some white chocolate chunks I had lying about. Really, you can throw all manner of things in this cookie. I worked at a place that added bran cereal to a similar cookie, and it was amazing!

The Scoop

I wonder how many ice cream scoops (or portioners) have fallen apart in my hands over the years. The inner scrapping arm is the most common place for things to go wrong. They bend or break free and refuse to return to their former location. The second most frequent place for things to get squiffy is in the lever area. Modern scoops generally have a spring, and those springs are often held in place by little tiny bits of plastic that easily fail, and getting a spring back in place is generally a lost cause. I have even once had the entire head of a scooper pop off while portioning out cookie dough.
Why can't we still make things as well as we use to? I wonder how much less waste this country would have if we didn't constantly have to throw away poorly made objects that break constantly?
I don't think I will have to worry about it at home now. I found these two beauties the other day, and I think I'd need a sledgehammer to mar them.