Kick {cancer's} Butt Cookies: LiveSTRONG with a Taste of Yellow 2009

This is my second year to participate in LiveSTRONG with a Taste of Yellow event hosted by Winos and Foodies.
LiveSTRONG with a Taste of Yellow is a blog event for wine & food bloggers to raise awareness of cancer issues and share stories. It is an official LiveSTRONG DAY (October 2nd) event.


Last year, I made Yellow Rose Sugar Cookies in honor of my mom, Gayle. You can read it here, and I'd love it if you would.

Thinking about this years' event, I kept coming back to the fact that cancer makes us warriors. All of us....doctors, nurses, researchers, fund raisers, families, and PATIENTS....we're all fighting.

That made me think of these cookies. They're feisty, they have a bite...they kick butt.

{They are also lemony, buttery and highly addictive. A perfect grown-up cookie!}

Here's to all of you warriors out there...go forth, kick butt...enjoy!

Kick {cancer's} Butt Cookies
(modified from King Arthur Flour's Citrus Sizzlers)

1 c unsalted butter (2 sticks)
1/2 c sugar
2 TBSP freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 TBSP grated lemon zest
1 egg
2 & 1/4 c unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
sanding or regular sugar for dipping

Preheat oven to 400. Line cookie sheets with parchment.

Cream together the butter and the sugar. Beat in juice, zest and egg.

Combine the flour, pepper, salt and baking soda. Add to the butter mixture and beat on low until the dough comes together.

Roll dough into tablespoon-size balls; place on lined sheet. Gently flatten each ball slightly, using the bottom of a glass that has been lightly moistened and dipped in sugar. (I used yellow sanding sugar.)

Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from cookie sheet and let cool on racks.

LIVESTRONG with a Taste of Yellow ~ roundup

Today is LiveSTRONG Day. Winos and Foodies has posted all of the 179 entries from bloggers received for LiveSTRONG with a Taste of Yellow event. You can find the posts here and here. All of the contributions look really amazing. I love that Barbara of Winos and Foodies commented on each and every entry! My wonderful family even got a mention...it made me cry all over again! My entry of Yellow Rose Sugar Cookies is here.

A Taste of Yellow : Yellow Rose Sugar Cookies

Winos and Foodies is sponsoring A Taste of Yellow event to benefit the LiveSTRONG, the Lance Armstrong foundation. Those yellow bracelets....that's it. I first heard about the event through Tartelette, one of my favorite blogs ever. I just love this idea of raising awareness of the foundation and paying tribute to a loved one with food!

Cancer, bleeeeccch!...I HATE that word...hate it more than any other, I think. If I see it in an article, on TV, on the radio...the magazine is shut, channel changed, radio turned off. My plan from now on is, when I hear the word cancer, immediately think, "Lance Armstrong."

One of my favorite pictures of my mom!

These cookies are a tribute to my mom who we lost to cancer eight years ago. They were her favorite flower and yellow her favorite color, so I think this event would have been right up her alley. This is honestly the first time I've cried making cookies.

If I let myself go, I'll have a page and a half blog post, so I'll just say, I had a good mom. She was a redhead, drank beer, made homemade cinnamon rolls and really loved life. She and my dad were married 32 years. My mom wasn't ready to leave us, but when I find a random penny or a cardinal flies across my path, I know she hasn't really.

My mom & I in all of our 1970's glory!

So, these roses are for Gayle (mom), for my friend Laura who has been battling brain cancer for NINE years now, for Kelly, for big Jack, for my Uncle Ben, for my papa who used to call me "ol' yellow hair" when I was a kid (and would now have to call me "ol' reddish-brown-with-highlights-and-a-few-sprigs-of-gray" hair), for Raquel, and for Kenny who I didn't know, but so many people I love miss him, so I know he must have been incredible.

The cookies.....I made this rose template from a file folder, (I like open roses rather than the buds.) and cut them with a paring knife.
Vanilla-Almond Sugar Cookies

3 c unbleached, all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 c sugar (I use sugar that I've stored vanilla beans in)
 2 sticks (salted) butter, cold
 1 egg
 3/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp pure almond extract

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine the flour and baking powder, set aside. Cream the sugar and butter. Add the egg and extracts and mix. Gradually add the flour mixture and beat just until combined, scraping down the bowl, especially the bottom.

The dough will be crumbly, so knead it together with your hands as you scoop it out of the bowl for rolling (video on University of Cookie).

Roll onto a floured surface and cut into shapes. Place on parchment lined baking sheets (I recommend freezing the cut out shape on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before baking) and bake for 10-12 minutes. Let sit a few minutes on the sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack.

For the Royal Icing...follow the recipe here for my favorite royal icing. When the icing is beginning to reach a stiff peak, add a drop or two of almond extract and beat until still peaks form.

Transfer icing to two separate containers and color (3/4 AmeriColor Egg Yellow, 1/4 AmeriColor Leaf Green). Press plastic wrap down onto the icing.

Using a #2 tip, pipe the outline of the rose in yellow.

Using a #2 tip, pipe the outline of the leaf in green.

Thin both containers of icing with water until they reach the consistency of syrup, cover with a damp dishtowel and let sit several minutes.

Stir the yellow icing gently with a rubber spatula to break any bubbles on the surface and transfer to a squeeze bottle. Fill in the rose with the thinned, flood icing.

Repeat with the green icing, filling in the leaf.

Let dry at least one hour, then using the same #2 tips, pipe the detail on the rose. Let dry completely.

On a final note...if you've read down this far, I have 3 extra LiveSTRONG bracelets, if you would like one, let me know in a comment and I'll send one to you.

Hi, Mom...and thanks!