Teacher Retirement Party: Nerdy Apples

I met April on the first day of school in 4th grade.  If ever there was a "meet-cute" made for the movies, it was ours (on a side note- I hope "meet-cute" doesn't refer only to romantic couples or you might think this post is headed in a very different direction...). 

Anyhow, we were sitting near each other in the "morning room."  I had that mixture of excitement/anticipation of the first day back, before all the monotony of a school year sets in.  I heard someone call my name and whipped my head around to see which of my friends I was about to be reunited with after the long summer.  My hair has almost always been long and my ponytail smacked April right in the face.  It was a great ice breaker and we have been friends ever since!

She contacted me about making cookies for her mentor teacher's retirement party.  April surprised her teacher not only by being at the party, but also by bringing cookies.  I recently saw these cookies on Sweet Sugarbelle's blog and thought they would be perfect for the party.

That's April on the far left surprising her mentor teacher!

I now know you had so much fun surprising your mentor teacher.  I look forward to getting together this summer and letting our little guys meet!

Happy Birthday, Tara: Kentucky Derby Cookies

Right around the time we moved from Houston, our good friends Steve and Tara moved away as well.  Their move was just slighty farther than ours and they ended up all the way in Minnesota! Tara saw my cookies on Facebook and wanted to know if I could make her some cookies for her birthday.  They are doing a birthday party/Kentucky Derby party. How fun is that?!

 

When I heard Kentucky Derby, I immediately thought horses, roses, and big hats.  Tara sent me a picture of some other cookies she found through a Google search.  The picture she found just happened to be cookies done by Ali Bee's Bake Shop, a blog I admire and follow and aspire to be as good as someday. So I used the picture she sent me for inspiration (and a direct copy in some cases J ) and here is the result!

 

Royal Icing Roses on a horseshoe

The horses of course 

Jockey Silks

Roses are a must since it is "The Run for the Roses" after all.

Hats - the bigger the better!

One of these days, we will have to make the trek up to Minnesota to see y'all.  Hope you have a wonderful time at the party this weekend and sip a Mint Julep for me!

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!