I had so much fun decorating Easter sugar cookies a few weeks ago that I decided that it was time to bring out the spring cookie cutters and make a few dozen edible flowers and butterflies. What better way to bring Mother Nature’s exuberance inside than to bake cookies in shapes inspired by her and decorate them to pay homage to her designs.

Easter brings a lot of joy when it finally arrives. I have fond memories of new clothes, new shoes, and hunting for Easter eggs in the backyard. As a child, I was always fascinated by the beautifully decorated sugar eggs that held a tiny scene inside, usually of bunnies and flowers. How did that bunny get in there? Yeah, Easter is not really about rabbits and decorated eggs, but they do symbolize the true meaning of the season...abundant life and new beginnings made possible by God’s unimaginable love.

When Marie celebrated her 90th birthday, she had to have something elegant and delicious to mark the occasion. Her favorite color is mauve, so the cookies, of course, had to be mauve! And Marie is a truly great lady, so they also had to be elegant. Each of these wedge-shaped cookies says “You are special.” I am so fortunate to have this wonderful and wise woman as a friend. Her tastes leans toward something less sweet so the cookie itself is my buttery melt-in-your-mouth shortbread recipe. This is Marie’s favorite cookie.