Spring Cookies

Y'all, I can't even describe how great the weather has been here in the last couple of weeks. Spring arrived about a month ago and so far has stuck around in grand form. This is what we Houstonians love about Houston. Friday, driving home around 5pm, my car thermostat read 92 degrees, which may sound sort of crazy hot, but it was a breezy, clear, extremely pleasant 92 degrees.

All this Spring weather turns a girl's mind to Spring cookies, so I made some. About 2 weeks later, I finally got motivated to go ahead and decorate them, which was nice, because I got a lot of freezer space back. 

I planned to mail most of these cookies to an assortment of fantastic people, but I underbaked them somewhat, and they're quite soft and would likely crumble to mush if packaged, which is sad. Sorry, fantastic people. You really deserve cookies. I'm still going to try, with great trepidation, to pack up some of the smaller and tougher cookies.

Some of 'em turned out kinda cute. I stole virtually every design idea (except the bad ones - that was all me) from people who post their cookies on Flickr. This is not the first time (and surely won't be the last ) that I will sing the praises of Flickriver. Such a cool toy. So thanks, Flickr posters. I promise I won't sell any of these cookies or otherwise benefit financially from their distribution. I might get a thank-you or two, so I hope my thanks here will be a cut of the profits, so to speak.

I'm pretty sure that I've peaked in terms of cookie decoration. I've reached the limits of my artistic ability and I can't make my hands less unsteady. Now it's about improving technique - making the icing the right consistency, avoiding sticking my hands in a cookie that's not dry yet, cutting down on the sailor talk...

At first glance, it might seem that a snake doesn't quite fit the theme - but anyone in Houston knows that along with new growth and sunny skies come water moccasins and garden snakes. Actually, I should have made some mosquito cookies, since that's what Spring really means to sweet people like myself. As I'm typing, I can count 7 distinct itches originating from different parts of my body. Anyway, the snake fits, okay? It's also something of a signature cookie for me. I love it - snakes don't need a cookie cutter, so you just take the extra dough and roll a couple of flattened ropes. So efficient. And cute, right?

Watch out for these guys as you trip lightly through the meadows!

I shouldn't even post this - disaster cookie - but now he's a disaster with a mohawk. He makes me laugh. Hungrily.