For Liz

This post is dedeicated to my blogger friend Liz over at Mabel's House. I don't know Liz very well (although I'm sure we'd get along great...we have the same taste in friends LOVE YOU ASH!) but I know from her blog that she is an incredible writer and that she loves Halloween. So Liz, this is for you...

I have to be honest with you girl, and this may disappoint you but, Halloween has just never been a holiday that I look forward to. It just wasn't really celebrated in my house growing up. We went to the Harvest Party at church, ate some candy and called it a night.

But this year for some reason, I've been counting down the days. Perhaps it's because of all the cute posts of your elegant but fun decor along with the sneak peak chapters of The Secret of Cold Springs, or maybe it's because I've recently discovered the Barefoot Contessa's Halloween menu and tablescape or it could be the adorable Pooh costume hanging in my laundry room just waiting to be donned by my adorable Éva. Whatever the reason, I'm in the Halloween spirit this year.

So much so, that I got the uncanny urge to bake some of Ina's shortbread cookies today and decorate them with classic jack-o-lanterns, ghosts and bats. As I sat there with my orange royal icing, delicately spreading it on the crisp shortbread, I thought to myself, "I wish I could take some over to Liz. I bet she'd like these."

So girl, Happy Halloween! These cookies are for you, even if all you can enjoy of them are their pictures.