One Smart Cookie

Today was my older daughter's first day of kindergarten. It was a huge day in parenting and I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about it all. Maybe tomorrow I'll be ready to talk about it.

What I am ready to talk about now is the adorable gift I made for my daughter to give her teacher. I originally saw the idea on Pinterest (where else?!) and knew I had to recreate it.

Simple enough, but (hopefully) it made the teacher's hectic first day a little brighter. 

Glass jar for less than $5 at Marshall's.

Homemade cookies.

Ribbon from my craft leftovers.

Cute saying copied from Pinterest.

I also used the tag as an opportunity to write a note to the teacher (on the back) offering classroom help. Being proactive allowed me to tell her exactly what day/time is best for me and to offer my knowledge as a pediatrician for lessons related to health.

First Impressions

The old saying is that you never get a second chance to make a first impression. As I can be kind of a socially awkward person I've found myself overcompensating on the back-end for a less-than-stellar first impression more than once.

Today was the Teacher Welcome Brunch at my daughter's new school and I wanted to send something that wouldn't require any making up for later on. When I really want to knock a recipe out of the park I always turn to my favorite baking cookbook - Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours. Enthusiastically I selected the recipe for her Cardamom Crumb Cake.

Then, I realized that I didn't have cardamom and that I shouldn't send nuts into a school without knowing if they are nut-free. Unperturbed, I sifted through my spices and discovered that my TJ's pumpkin pie spice blend contained cardamom (and smelled awesome!) I also omitted the nuts from the topping. Otherwise, I followed the recipe as listed here.

This cake filled the house with an amazing fall scent as it was baking and looks beautiful. I also received very high praise from one of the teachers who said everyone really enjoyed it and wanted to know who made it. I'd call that a successful first impression!