This is a guest-posting for Frosting For the Cause, but I wanted to keep it here for my own records as well. 

I’ve been here before, and I’ve talked about some amazing women. Shortly after my last post, I had the opportunity to add one more chica to that list. 😉

You see, Jennifer was a new friend of mine, and somewhere in the early days of getting to know her, I learned that she was facing breast cancer.

And then I learned that this wasn’t the first time.

Here’s Jen, my beautiful friend:

Does she look super-young to you? (She does to me!) Well, that’s because she *is* super-young. She’s only 25, and yet this strong woman has already faced breast cancer THREE TIMES.

THREE!

Jennifer is active-duty in the Air Force, stationed here at Minot AFB in North Dakota. She’s miles from her family, and she’s facing these medical & health hardships on her own, with only small bits of help from friends. She’s not one to ASK for help, either. She just kinda takes it all in stride.

And there’s one more little thing you should know about Jennifer…

She’s a single mommy to the cutest little baby boy you could ever meet! ♥ Yep, she and her son Bryce are weathering this storm together, and I know that he is the hope she sees in her future. I’m sure his smile helps to heal every bit as much as modern medicine!

I wanted to make Jennifer some special cookies as she was awaiting a round of test results once again, and I chose a classic ribbon-shaped cookie. However, I went with a non-traditional decorating technique. It’s simple, and the results are unique & stunning every time – marbling! 🙂

My oldest son, A.J., was in on the action. He’s in the 8th grade, and his English teacher had just finished treatments for breast cancer as well. A.J. wanted to take some cookies to her at school, and I thought that was a great idea!

You can find my sugar cookie & icing recipes here, and once you’ve got both of those, you’re ready for the decorating!

You’ll need the following:

– ribbon-shaped cookies
– “9-second” icing in at least 3 colors (read more about “9-second icing” in this post)
– piping icing in 1 color (if desired)
– a shallow plate

I like to use every last drop of icing, so I tend to use more decorating bags than bottles. The glasses you see in the back of the photo are for after I’ve snipped the tips of the bag, to keep them upright & from spilling everywhere. 🙂

To start, squeeze out copious amounts of icing onto the plate, making sure to overlap some sections of different colors.

Next, carefully dip your cookie front in the icing, and pull it gently straight back up, allowing the excess icing to drip away.

Once the cookie has stopped dripping, flip it over and place on a rack to dry. (Be sure to pop any visible air bubbles right away!)

Because of the way the icing pulls from the cookie, the surface in which you dip the next cookie will vary greatly each time. Each cookie will be completely unique!

These cookies take NO time at all, I promise. You can whizz through a few dozen in just minutes!

By the time you’ve finished dipping all your cookies, your very first ones will be “set” enough that you can pipe on a border, if you choose. (They are pretty even without one, too!)

And that’s it! Leave your cookies to dry completely, and then pack them up to take to your amazing, three-time cancer-fighting friends! 😉

One last picture, if only because I love it so very much, and because I’m so proud of Jennifer & how hard she’s fighting. She IS a survivor, and I love that spunk! 😀

(Pictures of Jennifer generously provided by © Nelly Hernandez Photography. All rights reserved.)