Beat the butter, 1 3/4cups powdered sugar, the vanilla (or peppermint) and egg with electric mixer.

Add in flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Mix until the dough is about pea sized or well incorporated.

Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for about 2 hours, or until firm.

Pre-heat oven to 375°F.

Working in small chunks, 1/2 to 1/3 of the dough, roll out to 1/4 inch thickness on lightly floured surface. Cut out the hearts (see note) if you are not going to frost them, you can add decorating sugars now (the small cookie in the front-center of the picture) before they go in the oven.

Place these about 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet, and bake for about 8 minutes or until they turn golden.

Divide your frosting into smaller batches. One for white (or plain) one for pink (just a few drops of red coloring) and red (hope you have a ton of liquid food coloring or paste food coloring). Mix in your colors and have fun! In the second row from the front, there is a frosting "sandwich", and a cinnamon candy laced heart for starters. Another idea is to use the liquid from that jar of maraschino cherries you've got in the fridge. Mix it into the frosting to add a nice cherry flavor to the cookies. About a teaspoon into half a can of frosting (i know... store bought frosting....for shame) will make the pink you see above and is really tasty.

A Note on cutting hearts from dough. As we know, repeatedly rolling out dough can make for a tough cookie because the glutens in the flour get developed, and you are adding more flour to the dough from the rolling space. To reduce the amount of cuts you make, cut out your cookies as shown here.

He Said...	She Said...
A very nice little cookie, that is perfect for men beginners to make for their sweeties. Since MY sweetie is the resident master decorator, she was a good sport and didn't laugh at my efforts. Not out loud anyway. Unfortunately, she is not a fan of frosting. Oh well...more cookies for me!	These cookies themselves were light and not too sweet. Personally, I liked them better plain with just the sugar on them. It was just the perfect touch to a good cookie. Why ruin it with a sugary frosting? I always preferred plan sugar cookies opposed to the frosted ones anyway. These would be great a great base for stained glass cookies too (see the recipe in our Christmas section).