Point Isabel ISD 2014 Autism Awareness Walk

Not a great photo - pearlized color was doing odd things
for the camera!  The ribbon stencil was purchased
from SalsaSweets and the cute puzzle cookie
cutter was scored during my visit to Orson Gygi
in Salt Lake City!

It was lovely to see so many old friends and meet some new friends this morning after the 2014 Autism Awareness Walk in Port Isabel.  I have to admit, I slept through the walk, but I scrambled into clothes and flew out the door to be at the finish line to visit with folks, eat a hot dog, and listen to the prize drawings being called out.

For a cloudy, bordering on drizzly, day...it was a really great turn-out!  My offerings this year were puzzle-shaped Marshmallow Krispie Treats - 2 dozen were boxed up for prizes...and some cookies of course!


I scored several fabulous boxes from BRP Box Shop
in my CookieCon swag bag - used them to package
up the door prize drawing I was contributing.
I have collected puzzle ribbon wherever I could
find it for the past two years (because it is quite
scarce during April each year).  The coastal cookies
were wrapped in some beautiful ribbon from
Ribbon by Design - a vendor and sponsor at CookieCon!
Both BRP and RBD are awesome to work with.

I made a box of coastal cookies, some "Light it Up Blue" ribbon cookies, and a couple of boxes of puzzle cookies, stenciled with a puzzle stencil.  It was a lot of fun playing with my airbrush!

I got a new palm tree cutter that is much larger than the
two I already had - they made some pretty palm trees I think!
I'm fairly certain I got those at Gygi as well!



I loved my puzzle cookies - puzzles on puzzles!
Stencil from the great selection at the Etsy shop
Artfully Designed Creations.
One of my suitcases coming back from CookieCon held all
of my cookie goodies and CC swag...
which included (but was certainly not limited to)
five bags of sanding sugar which I knew I would need
for these cookies I was planning to bake.

My hair is frizzy from the humidity but my heart is joyful from seeing so many people out on a sort-of-dreary day to support the hope that our autistic family members become integrated and accepted into local activities, daily life, and are treated just like everyone else.  That's really all we want - for them to be accepted just the way they are.  They are unique and special people with a LOT to offer our community (and communities everywhere).  You can help make it happen.  Just accept them!

 

(an iron-on decal I got from e-bay...it describes my son perfectly!)

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!



 

 









"Standard Deviation" and "Autism Awareness"

I had hoped to write this post after Book Club...but it got rescheduled...and I'll be out of town on the rescheduled date.  So.... this will be on-the-fly and slightly short, but sweet!


January's Book Club selection, Standard Deviation's, primary character is a young man with Asperger's Syndrome.  Many of my readers know I have a deaf son who hears with cochlear implants...and he also has Asperger's Syndrome.  As a result, Autism Awareness is a cause near and dear to my heart.  I am also a huge fan of the author, David Harry.

When I first met David, I had engaged in a conversation with his wife at a book signing event at Paragraph's on Padre several years ago.  David was not the author for that particular event, but had recently published The Padre Puzzle.  Since I had instantly bonded with his wife, we started talking about kids, and teen-age problems, and it circled around to autism.  She told me I had to meet her husband as he was writing a book where the character has ASD.  She brought him over to meet me and I ended up, after chatting with him, having the opportunity to read a draft of his new book a couple of years ago.  I love all of David's books - but Standard Deviation is particularly near and dear to my heart.

Book Club on Tuesday was not only featuring Standard Deviation, but the icing on the cookie was that David Harry was going to attend!  I decided to make some puzzle shaped cookies with some new cookie cutters I had obtained last year and never had the opportunity to use.  I wanted to take them to Book Club and share as we talked about this wonderful book.  I started on them a couple of days in advance and ended up with a simple Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookie top coated in white royal icing and then outlined and sugar dipped in primary colors, representing the "Puzzle that is Autism".  Why a puzzle piece?  the Autism Society's website describes it well.  "The puzzle pattern reflects the mystery and complexity of the autism spectrum. The different colors and shapes represent the diversity of the people and families living with the condition. The brightness of the ribbon signals hope — hope that through increased awareness of autism, and through early intervention and appropriate treatments, people with autism will lead fuller, more complete lives."


David, unfortunately, was quite ill so Book Club was rescheduled and I had a couple of dozen decorated cookies, representing the puzzle of autism, sitting in my car as I headed away from Paragraphs.  What to do?  What to do?

As I headed back towards the causeway, I picked up my phone and found a number for a friend I knew to be on the Autism Awareness Walk's planning committee.  I left a voice mail telling her to call me if they were going to meet this week and I'd supply some cookies. These cookies really needed to be eaten in the next couple of days because I didn't individually wrap and seal them (which makes them taste fresh much longer). She called me back in less than 5 minutes saying they were just walking into that very meeting.  "It must be meant to be" she said - and I agreed.  I headed to the Point Isabel ISD offices where they meet and crashed their meeting with cookies.  I ended up staying through the meeting so I could find out a bit of info for a future blog post.


One of the things I found out, is the date is April 5th, 2014.  There is to be a walk and a 5k fun run.  Most of the rest of the meeting was "planning" and details not finalized.  I'll just ask you to mark your calendar if you are a local, or live close enough to participate.  It is a huge community event with the funds raised going, in part, towards paying for sports programs for all disabilities in our district.  I remember the first year, we just wanted to raise awareness and it was tremendously successful - more than we ever dreamed.  I didn't help last year because of family issues, so it was interesting to see how they have grown and become more organized and efficient in the planning.  I just know the 2014 event will be a huge success.


I had gotten  "out of touch" with the autism community in our area because my son had headed to college and I sort of disconnected from the group.  I am currently seeking out new resources for my son and I hope to share that information with other parents in the near future.  I spent quite a while after the meeting catching up with one of my favorite people in the world, Elsa Garcia.  She cares so deeply for the special needs students at PI-ISD and it was good to see her again.  My friend, Stephanie, is right.  Sometimes things are just "meant to be".  This is one of those serendipitous events that allowed me to share cookies and reconnect.  It turned into a really wonderful day!  Who could ask for anything more?


Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

Lighting It Up Blue - in my kitchen!

I really don't have time to post today...but thought I'd share the 250 mini cupcakes I made for after our community's Autism Awareness Walk.  Nothing special - used a cake mix for expediency - fudgy dark chocolate so they would stay moist...and a delicious buttercream that I needed to "crust" so I could cover them for transport to the after-walk event area.  When you have that many, you don't want your frosting sticking to the plastic wrap!  There are 200 in the photo below...the rest are in my kitchen...and you really don't want a picture of that right now!  It looks like something blew up in there!

I made 3 batches of the buttercream frosting and tinted it blue with Americolor's Sky Blue.  Did a simple swirl piping using Wilton tip #1M with a large coupler.  Here's the frosting recipe I ended up with...took a little from the Wilton website and a little from here and a little from there.  This turned out just right and tastes pretty darn good too (albeit very sweet).


Blue Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

1 cup salted butter, softened to room temperature
(if you use unsalted, add a pinch of salt to the mix)
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
(I use the Crisco sticks - 1/2 stick)
3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 drops Sky Blue Americolor gel paste
2 pounds confectioner's sugar
4-5 tablespoons Half and Half

Method:

You really need a stand mixer for this....if you use a hand mixer, need to halve the batch.

Add butter, cream cheese, and shortening to bowl of a stand mixer.  Using paddle attachment, beat until creamy.  On low speed, add the vanilla extract.  Mix until totally incorporated.

Add 1 pound of confectioner's sugar and beat well.
Add 2 tablespoons Half and Half and beat well
Add second pound of confectioner's sugar and beat well...your mixer might be groaning - so add the rest of the Half and Half.  Mix until well integrated.

Add 3 drops of gel food coloring and mix on medium until combined.  Kick it up to medium high and beat until fluffy.  I used a large piping bag with a large tip - I put half of the batch at a time into the bag so it was manageable for my small hands.  While I was piping, I covered the mixer bowl with a damp cloth so the remaining frosting didn't start crusting before I was ready.  This was very easy to pipe.

So, what's the blue all about?  Autism Speaks, an organization supporting Autism Awareness, has held the Light It Up Blue initiative for 3 years now.  Their web site says it "is a unique global initiative by Autism Speaks to help raise awareness about the growing public health concern that is autism. Iconic landmarks around the world will Light It Up Blue to show their support on April 2, 2012 - World Autism Awareness Day."  We didn't quite make it by April 2nd...but our community did join the initiative by lighting up the Port Isabel Texas lighthouse with some fabulous blue lights.   Isn't it pretty?  Thanks Mayor Vega...we love the effort by you and your city staff...awesome job!

Photo Credit:  Silvia Cesenes

The walk is tomorrow - and I'm a tired little camper...Saturday night I'll be putting my feet up and hoping that I'm looking back on a successful walk with fond memories!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

Shared With:

Autism Awareness Treats

OK, I'll apologize in advance because I'm mounting my soap box....no wait, I don't apologize.  This is part of my life and I do not apologize for supporting it.  I do eventually wind around to a food-related item...so stick with me if you can!

My son is deaf - which I've talked about before.  He is also diagnosed with several other "things"...I refuse to call them disabilities.  He doesn't see himself as disabled, and he is slowly becoming comfortable with being identified as autistic.  It has been a long row to hoe my friends!  He is an awesome human being and has taught me much.  However, he did not equate Asperger's Syndrome with Autism...and when he did...yikes, the fur flew!

So, anyway, April is Autism Awareness Month.  The newest Centers for Disease Control study indicate 1 in 88 children in the United States are being identified as autistic.  Something is freaking wrong with our world for this to be happening.  Five times more of these kiddos are boys.  Is it better identification?  Is there something in the chemicals we use or our food?  Vaccines?  I really don't pretend to know.  I don't get on a bandwagon against anything specifically...because we really don't know.  It's a true puzzle.  Hence, the puzzle piece as Autism's logo.  Since 1963, the interlocking, multi-colored puzzle piece has been the international symbol of Autism. 

I am working with a fabulous group of parents of autistic children (and young adults) and administrators in our community to bring some awareness to the autism issue.  These little guys and gals are growing up to be autistic adults.  It's a problem - and we need to address it.  Three of our town councils as well as our school board have announced proclamations that April is Autism Awareness Month in our area.  The teen has gone to one city council meeting and to the school board meeting.  He's taking Government in school, but going to a meeting where governing bodies "do their thing" is quite the learning experience.  He seemed particularly pleased that the Superintendent of our district called out his name and asked him to stand up....mostly was surprised she remembered his name I think.  It's the benefit of living in a small town...one of the reasons we moved here!

So, Saturday is the culmination of our hard work - the first Autism Awareness Walk down Highway 100 from our high school to a park near the center of town.  It's a 2.2 mile walk and we thought we MIGHT have 50 people show up.  We've had over 200 pre-register...we've got water stations, police escort, banners, posters, ribbons, 50 high school students volunteering along the way, drum line members from the high school band, teachers from all the schools helping, town folk joining in, mayors speaking... it's so much more than we ever imagined.

That's just the walk...then we get to the park where it ends and we have hot dogs, more water, snacks, face painting, coloring table, service providers distributing info, posters of historically famous people thought to have had autism or currently famous people who admit to being on the Autism Spectrum.  We're having more speakers there and drawings for some incredible prizes donated by community businesses....and I mean GOOD stuff!

So, as part of the snack table, I decided I would make puzzle shaped Marshmallow Krispy Treats.  It sounded like a fairly simple thing when I started (she laughs maniacally).  How many things could go wrong in one long 6 hours?  A LOT.  I didn't measure correctly, it's humid, I accidentally used spray olive oil instead of vegetable spray (caught that quickly), and the white chocolate I melted and colored to outline the puzzle pieces - every single one of them seized and clogged my tips.  It was just one of those days.  Used the same procedure and product I used for making pastel chocolate chips for my Easter cookies...but this time - opposite reaction.  Very frustrating.

Nonetheless, I finished about 4 dozen of these - I'll wrap them individually and tie with the blue ribbon I bought to coordinate with the Light it up Blue of this year's Autism Awareness theme.  I need to hurry and finish writing this because I'm heading to the Port Isabel Lighthouse to see the new blue lights the city got to Light It Up Blue for Autism Awareness.  Yay!  More good stuff in our community!

Here's how I did this labor of love.

Autism Awareness Treats

Ingredients

3 tbsp butter
4 cups miniature marshmallows
3 cups crisped rice cereal (I used Rice Krispies)
3 cups fruity crisped rice cereal (I used Fruity Pebbles)

Method:

Melt the butter in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over low heat.  In a separate bowl, combine the plain crisped rice cereal and the fruity crisped rice cereal.  Stir until evenly distributed.  Set aside.
Add marshmallows to melted butter and stir until marshmallows are coated in butter.  Continue stirring until completely melted.  Remove from heat.
Add the combined cereals to the marshmallow pan and stir until all cereal is coated in melted marshmallow mixture.

Pour out onto 9x13 pan which has been pre-sprayed with vegetable spray. (I used a sheet pan because I made double recipes and didn't want really thick treats)

Use a buttered spatula or waxed paper to push the treats down into the pan.  Be firm with it.
I buttered my hands and smoothed the surface making sure they were compressed as I knew I would be using a cookie cutter to cut out shapes.

Allow to cool completely. 

Using a cookie cutter dipped into melted butter, firmly press into krispy treats, wiggle a bit and lift out - removing to wax paper or other lightly sprayed baking sheets. 

Gather the bits and re-compress them or you'll be throwing away a lot of treats!  I rolled the remains that couldn't support another cutting session into a ball, thinking I will dip them into chocolate coating for Krispy Treat Balls!

Yeah, that's probably not going to happen at this point.  My luck with chocolate today has been really bad.  Something for the teen to snack on I guess.

I then melted and colored white chocolate chips into red, green, blue, and yellow - the 4 colors associated with the autism logo.  Place into piping bag with tip of your choice.  Well, some were fat, some were skinny, all clogged every tip I tried - regardless of size.  My hands hurt so bad after struggling with this part for two hours that I just gave up.  They are not consistent...but they taste good!

I'm glad I heeded the suggestion of a blogger somewhere (sorry I can't find it again) who recommended mixing half and half on the two cereals because the Fruity Pebbles are so sweet.  They gave the color I wanted but not so sweet that it hurts your teeth to eat them!

If you've stuck with me...well, bless your heart.  I can only say...

Wish us luck on a successful walk - we'll be walking into the sun, but we should have pleasant temperatures and maybe the wind will be at our backs :-) We can only hope!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

SHARED WITH: