Battle of the Flowers Cookies

Every time I make cookies, I always end up with tons of extra icing.  I normally try to either use it to create come other cookies or unfortunately, it goes down the drain.  After this happened several times, I went to the internet to search something useful to do with the extra icing.  I realize I could just figure out how to not make so much icing, but that's another story... Thanks to Sweet Sugarbelle's tutorial, I decided to make lots and lots of roses. 

The end result was this:

Now to some, this may look like a boring, monotonous, burdensome task; however, to me, it was bliss.  I loved tuning out the world, burying myself in the task, and just piping for days... maybe just an hour or two.  Ok, on to the cookies!

This time every year in San Antonio, it is time for FIESTA!!! As a non-native San Antonian (not sure if that's a word), I had no idea what Fiesta was and I asked people about it.  And I found out most people didn't know and it got simplified down to just being parades, music, a drunken festival, and getting a day off of school for the Battle of the Flowers.  After this, I decided to look into it and see what Fiesta is really about. From the Fiesta website:

"In early 1891, Mrs. James Slayden, the wife of a congressman, began a campaign suggesting that a 'Flower Parade' be staged based on a parade she had observed while in Spain. Wanting to honor the fallen heroes of the Alamo and the Battle of San Jacinto, Mrs. Slayden concluded that April 21st would be the best date for the parade...  Today, the Battle of Flowers Parade holds the distinction of being the first celebration held in Alamo Plaza and is considered the founding event of Fiesta San Antonio."

In a nutshell, Fiesta began a with the Battle of the Flowers Parade to celebrate and honor the lives of the brave men who fought and died at the Alamo and San Jacinto, but now it has transformed into also celebrating the rich and unique culture of the city of San Antonio.  Hope you enjoyed the little lesson, but seriously, on to the cookies!

 

 

You may recognize these cookies from Reese's Rainbow Party.  The extra icing was from her cookies, but I thought these were the perfect complement to the Battle of the Flowers cookies, especially the lace ones that reminded me of papel picado.

I'm so happy (and relieved) that I finally know what Fiesta is.  I've always been proud to be a Texan and I am now also proud to be a San Antonian (again, not sure if that's a word)!  If you're in town, hope you can make it to the parade tomorrow!