Jeweled AIDS Ribbon Cookies For World AIDS Day

Even thought it’s a holiday weekend, I am skipping my usual end of month post where I publish a round up of all the funny blog posts that made me laugh this month and posting this in honor of World AIDS Day on Sunday December 1.

A freaky thing keeps happening to me on my weekly visit to the costal Long Island town where my mother lives. Every time I drive by the store front that used to by my childhood dance studio, the song Bad Bad Leroy Brown comes on the radio.

The first time I got chills because right before the song came on, I was thinking about my  wonderful dance teacher who owned the studio and died of AIDS. How much fun I had studying and performing with him for years. 

The second time I heard the song driving in the same vicinity, I just smiled.  The third time  it happened I teared up and just knew it was a sign from him. One of my favorite dance routines he choreographed for us was to Bad Bad Leroy Brown. I still remember some of the moves. 

I remember clearly how devastated  I was when my mother told me he had died of AIDS. This was at the peak of the crisis and I was in the middle of muddling through it with friends and colleagues. One more beloved person to add to that horrendous body count.

He was an incredible teacher. Wonderful with children, so theatrical and always had a mischievous sparkle in his eye. His dance studio was a magical and fun place. For our dance recitals, he always ordered the most fabulous sparkly costumes. I could hardly wait every year to see them.

I made these sparkly jeweled cookies for my beloved former dance teacher dedicated to his love of glitter and the twinkle in his eye. I still see him clearly when I drive by the ghost dance studio of my childhood while singing the lyrics of that Jim Croce song at the top of my lungs. I no longer shutter, just smile.

For the sugar cookies:

I used this recipe from Bake at 350

For the royal Icing:

I used this recipe from Bake at 350 and tinted it red.

For the Candy Jewels:

I used a corn syrup based version with a large jewel size mold and tinted them red. Excellent detailed recipe and instructions found here.