Tropical Sugar Cookies - Warmth in Winter!

I started these cookies on the last day of February...it was 85 degrees outside and gorgeously sunny.  The joys of living at the tip of Texas in the Winter.  I felt compelled to make some sugar cookies in tropical shapes so I got busy baking.  I knew this would be a multi-day task...baking one day, base coats the next day, and details on the final day.  I finished up late Friday night amidst a most hectic Thursday and Friday with errands, school meetings lasting until 7:00 at night, an unexpected trip into "town" - 30 miles away - which took most of the day.  All-in-all, it was not what I planned, but still they turned out okay.  I used up all of my royal icing before I got some additional colors for further details I had planned...and some of it wasn't the right consistency...and a couple were sacrificed to the teen-ager (he gets the ones I mess up).  Then, I wake up Saturday morning and a windy "cold front" has blown in...it's 67 now instead of a lovely mid-70s.  However, I feel certain my Northern friends will not give me any sympathy as they are being coated in snow.  News of horrific tornadoes throughout the South and Midwest states also bring a pall to the days.  Still...for us, we are entering the period of time that brings a ton of visitors to the area...SPRING BREAK!  Some of the far Northerners began arriving Friday.  It was noticeable on the road and at the grocery store.  As Winter Texans began their trek home, college students begin their treks South, seeking warmth, sun, and the fun to be had on South Padre Island.  They will come in waves...small wave this week, a monster wave next week, dwindling waves the following two weeks and then it's over.

To celebrate the onset of Spring, despite the blustery winds, I have tropical cookies!  Using my favorite sugar cookie recipe and royal icing recipe, I'll share the progress in pictures below!  Enjoy :-)

Cookies are baked and decorating station ready to rock and roll.  I have said it before and I'll say it again.  Mis en place is important, even when decorating cookies!
Maybe ESPECIALLY when decorating cookies!

The dolphins were outlined, floated, and then happy smiles and eyes drawn with edible marker

The flowers were going to be much more detailed...but I got tired and ran out of icing...
so tired, I didn't have energy to make more.  Still, happy flowers.

Palm trees will be my next task to "make better".  The detail piping on the trumk was done with icing not thick enough to stand alone...and I had some running.  The palm leaf top layer was going to be much different than it ended up with.
My hands were cramping...these were the very last thing I did.  I'd just done all I could!

The turtles take the most steps.  I start with the green base for
the shell, then do the heads and flippers after the shell
is well-firmed up.  About 6 to 8 hours later, I do the shell detail.
The next day after all is very dried and can be handled
easily, I do the eyes and flipper detail with an edible marker.
I do love my sea turtles!

So, there we have it.  I was sad that the sea horse and star fish and lighthouse cookie cutters had not arrived in time for this batch...but I'll be attempting those when I next get the hankerin' to bake and decorate sugar cookies.  This seems to be the season...It starts with Christmas, segues into Valentine's Day (which I skipped this year in the cookie department) and then we have Spring Break and Easter.  After that, I probably won't do any for a while.  Maybe until 4th of July...and then, of course, I have a lot of humidity to deal with so...we'll see!

Thanks for reading along!  Hmmmm. wonder who I will share these cookies with today???  Maybe my friends at Island Wheelies and The Salty Seagull!  If you are Spring Breaking on the island, please stop by their venue in the Palmetto Shopping Center just north of the bridge by a few blocks!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!

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Turtle Cookies and a Book Signing

A couple of weeks ago I received a Facebook event invitation to a Meet the Author Series at Paragraphs on Padre Boulevard.  If you've read my blog for a while, you've picked up on the fact that I love our indie bookstore on the island and am very fond of owners Joni and Griff.   I have, for one reason or another, been unable to attend any function there for several months but this particular event was drawing me in as I am fascinated by Allison the Sea Turtle!  I clicked "yes", I would attend.  I clipped the following from the online event invitation from Paragraphs.

“Allison: The mostly true story of a one-flippered sea turtle”
Book discussion, reception and signing with David Cromwell

Allison is a Green Sea Turtle living at Sea Turtle Inc. on South Padre Island. Greens are endangered. They are considered to be the second-largest ...and longest lived of the sea turtle species. Allison was found on the South Padre beach June 16 2005, one of 73 sea turtles that stranded that year. She was missing three flippers thought to have occurred with a shark encounter. Weighing a mere .73kg (1.6 lbs), she was taken to Sea Turtle Rescue for evaluation and medical care. Her story of survival and rehabilitation is chronicled in this book by David Cromwell. Combining a fictional story and the true rescue of Allison, the book is an entertaining and educational work that is appealing to all ages. 

Event scheduled Monday, 2/6/2012, from 1:00-3:00.  Come if you can!

Much of what I've come to love about living on the bay and near South Padre Island, are the wonderful people who love the wildlife and sea life of the Gulf of Mexico, the Laguna Madre, and the land between and around.  Whether it be sea turtles, our tribe of dolphins, year-round shore birds and sea birds, the migratory birds who stop for a breather and renourishment on their way south or north, the butterflies, the fish, and the plants and flowers....it all bonds together to make an amazing interdependent ecosystem that has grabbed my heart and held firm.

I've visited the Sea Turtles, Inc. facility many times and enjoy watching the rescued sea turtles via the live cam powered by the wonderful folks at South Padre Travel Lodge and SouthPadreLive.com.  I have that one and the live cam at The Sea Life Center on my favorites bar.  The teen and I enjoyed to the depths of our souls observing a hatchling release of sea turtles.  A great pleasure of mine is viewing the birds on the bay and the lovely flora outside my door, but equally so at the South Padre Island Convention Center's walkway.  I get to enjoy the lovely butterfly garden there as well. Not much beats the beaches here.  The waves and solitude of off-season are glorious.  The tourists and happy families of high season bring financial sustenance to the island and the Winter Texans bring their enjoyment of the sub-tropics and birding during the winter months. 

We moved here to facilitate the teen going to a small high school where he could grow more independent... and found, in addition, a place that makes my heart sing with joy. I don't know if I'll live here forever...but my heart tells me that it wants me to.  I hope it is what my future holds...but who knows?

So, anyway, I really digress sometimes!  I decided to make some turtle sugar cookies and take them to the book signing.  It's been lovely the past few days.  I baked two dozen cut-out turtle cookies on Saturday and prepared to lower my a/c thermostat to clear out the moisture on Sunday so that I could get the royal icing to dry appropriately.  The weather ceased cooperation Saturday afternoon when the big rains began to fall and by Sunday morning the cold front moved in and the temperature dropped to the upper 40's (brrr, not very tropical) and the rain continued to fall.  Hmmm...I was not going to be able to use the a/c to remove the humidity and my well-insulated home was maintaining a low 70's temp, so I couldn't really turn on the heater to accomplish the humidity removal.  I think that makes it the cross-my-fingers-and-say-a-prayer play.  So, here goes the tale of my frustrating attempt to decorate sea turtle cookies to take to the Meet the Author event!

From the beginning the royal icing thumbed its nose at me...first too thick, then little clumps of stuff clogging my tips, despite well beaten, well sifted, and appropriately covered at every point.  Grrrr, the frustration mounted.  The green icing separated to different shades on several cookies - the colors not consistent. Dang humidity.  Big sigh...but, I told myself, turtle shells aren't a smooth consistent color either.  The brown was lighter than I thought it would be when it was time to use that color - it became more "tan" than brown.  Again, I gave the "oh well", it is what it is talk to myself.  Overall, they still turned out "okay".  Not my very best work - but not my worst!  Here are pictures of the process - warts and all!

Baked 25 cut-out sugar cookies.  The teen ate one.
First, outlined the green and filled.  Allowed to dry several hours.
Then, outlined the head and flippers in "brown".

Filled in the head and flippers and allowed to dry

Drew my interpretation of the shell markings on the green surface

Finished up with an edible food marker and gave some eyes and flipper detail
(none of the markings are anatomically correct just fyi!)
The turtle on the left shows the mottling that occurred on some of the cookies.

A few of the turtles I'll be taking to Paragraphs on Padre today - I ended
up with two dozen and expect most of them to arrive intact as
my offering at the event!

BON APPETIT, Y'ALL!

Tuddles...just love them.  Sea Turtle, Inc. does good work - rescue, rehabilitate, release when they can.  Educating the public and helping to conserve these glorious creatures - all started by The Turtle Lady, the late Ms. Ila.  It's a wonderful thing to see her work continue.  If you have spare dollars - a contribution to their cause would be awesome.  They have cool things in their online shop as well.  Take a look - order the book, a calendar, or other cool turtle themed items.

Kemps Ridley Hatchling Release June 2011 - it was awesome!
Maybe one of the most moving events of my life...
certainly an unforgettable highlight!

Update after the book signing event.

The staff and volunteers from Sea Turtle Inc. brought a pool and Allison to visit at Paragraphs.  It was wonderful to see her - it's been over a year since I last saw her and I swear she has grown a lot.  I realized that the first time I saw her was the year she was rescued when she was so small she would have fit in both of my hands together.  Look at her now!  Her prosthesis has evolved and they are planning a new pool for her which will help the staff get the prothsesis on in shallow water and allow her to have a few hours of swim time in deeper water with the prosthesis on.  Good folks at Sea Turtle, Inc.  I enjoyed visiting with the author, David Cromwell, and the others from Sea Turtle, Inc.  It was a great afternoon.  Here are a few photos of Allison in her portable pool!

Thank you Sea Turtle, Inc. and all the many volunteers and financial donors who make the work they do possible!

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