Cut-out Sugar Cookies & Royal Icing

Best attempt, but could've been better
Verdict: Win

At first, I didn't know how I felt about these cookies. Straight out of the oven, the aroma of butter overwhelmed me and the taste didn't sit well on my tongue. It didn't help that the stench of meringue powder from the royal icing lingered on my palate even after the smell was long gone. I thought the meringue powder made the icing almost unpalatable. However, after tasting the cookies one day after the other, I find that these cookies taste much, much better after letting the flavors mellow out (which is good because the royal icing takes forever to dry). On Monday, I actually liked them. On Tuesday, I now agree that they probably are the best sugar cookies that I've ever made.

Perfect Cheesecake

Verdict: Win!!

I made mini cheesecakes again for work, but this time I used this recipe for my ideal fluffier cheesecake. This one is "the one" among all cheesecakes. I've never cared too much for cheesecake until I tasted this. My favorite part was how the cool sour cream topping pairs amazingly well with the sweet, smooth cheesecake. I've copied the recipe for the whole cheesecake is below so I won't lose it, but take a look at Simply Recipes to see more tutorial pictures.