School Break

After all that whining about the gloomy and miserable weather we've been getting, yesterday's was glorious with lots of sunshine, blue skies and temps in the 90s. Phew! I thought the rain was never gonna stop! Sunny means hot and hot means quick drying time for royal icing and minimal colour bleeds. I am doing the happy dance!  So I seized the chance to bake more cookies before Mother Nature changes her mind.

Here's to blue skies and sunshine!

School is out for our mid-term break and this blog is taking a mini vacation.

Teddy Bear Cookies

Just a couple of months back, I was begging for rain when we were hit by the longest drought ever. The monsoon season finally came and it has been raining every single day since. The wet and gloomy weather is kinda depressing and though I know the sun will shine again, I couldn't help but wonder what if the rain keeps falling and never goes away? I am thinking of the song by Bonnie Raitte from the movie "Home On The Range".

Rain is pourin' down like the
Heavens are hurtin'.
Seems like it's been dark since
The devil knows when.
How do you go on, never knowin'
For certain,
Will the sun ever shine again?

Feels like it's been years since
It started to thunder.
Clouds are campin' out in the valley
And glen.
How do you go on, when you can't help
But wonder.
Will the sun ever shine again?

What if the rain keeps fallin'?
What if the sky stays gray?
What if the winds keep squallin',
And never go away?

Maybe soon the storm will be
Tired of blowin'.
Maybe soon it all will be over, amen.
How do you go on, if there's no way
Of knowin'?
Will the sun ever shine?
Wish I could say.
Send me a sign-
One little ray.
Lord, if you're list'nin', how long
Until then?
Will the sun ever shine again?


Baking these bears cheered me up instantly.

Yes, Lord - send me a sign, one little ray. And if you're listening, how long until then? Will the sun ever shine again?

Teachers' Day

Malaysian schools celebrate Teachers' Day on the 16th of May every year. It is not an official school holiday; celebrations are usually held earlier if it falls on a Saturday or Sunday.

I come from a family of teachers and my dad was a Math and History teacher. Most of my aunts and uncles were in the teaching profession  and both my sisters are teachers!
I strongly believe that teaching is a vocation, not just a job and some people are just not meant to be teachers. I can still remember a couple of nasty teachers I had in secondary school who still petrify me whenever I bump into them. The worst of them all was Miss H, our Math teacher and disciplinary mistress. She slapped my face hard when I didn't submit my Math homework! And she was always yelling at us throughout her class. She once threw the chalk duster at us when one of us yawned during her class! I can still recall her wearing very high stilettos and we would tremble at the sound of her footsteps when she walked towards our classroom for Math lessons!
The school I attended was a convent school and tyrants like her were lauded. I am quite sure the nuns delighted in seeing us tormented!
The last I heard, she was transferred to another school, infamous for its unruly students and large number of dropouts. Unfortunately for her, her tyranny didn't quite go down well with them. They punctured her car tyres and a couple of them even tried to beat her up. Karma, I say!

Wise Owls

I made these owlies as tokens of appreciation for my boys' teachers. I have Callye to thank for the inspiration. Would you have guessed that a fish cookie cutter was used to make these!!!??

FYBF (Flog Yo Blog Friday)

Wanna connect with some awesome bloggy buddies from down under?  I have just discovered this fun Aussie blog hop created by Brenda Gaddi who is also the founder of Digital Parents.

FlogYoBlogFriday or FYBF is an initiative of Digital Parents and hosted by our Linky Love Goddess Grace. It's one of the longest running blog linkies in Australia. It's a wonderful opportunity to get to know bloggers in the Aussie community whilst promoting your awesome posts. Think about this - if you are a night owl like me, you can still blog wayyyy into the night with your sisters from the southern hemisphere while our sisters from the north are in slumberland!



Let's get flogging and add your post to the linky here.

Happy Mother's Day, BTW!

Mother's Love

Mother's Day is nearly upon us and my head is swimming in images I want to cookify. I wanted to make something special for my 90 year-old mom. Mom's fave animal has always been the giraffe and I thought these cookies of a mother giraffe nuzzling her calf are just perfect for her. I used Mom's fave color, rose, for the background and a swirl rose to adorn the mama giraffe's head. My mom's name is Rosa - rose in Latin.

Mother's Love

And I made these daisy bouquets for my buddies

Wedding Bells

It has been a long time since we heard wedding bells in the family and if I'm not mistaken, the last wedding I attended was my brother-in-law's and that must be more than 10 years ago. My cousin's daughter will be tying the knot soon and we are all looking forward to the wedding. I love weddings. With everyone all wrapped up in our busy schedules, a wedding seems like the only occasion that we are forced to make our obligatory appearance and break out of our shells to reach out and reconnect with family and friends. Besides, it's a good excuse to dress-up and splurge on a nice evening dress and yes, show off my cookies!

I made these kitties for my cousin's bridal shower.

A Tribute to Budgie

When her pet bird Budgie passed on, food stylist Anna Keville Joyce turned to art therapy to deal with her grief, creating these delightful bird  illustrations as tribute to her beloved feathered friend. Her creations are made up of 100% food elements which are displayed around the dishes for viewers to see exactly how each bird was created.

He Is Risen!

I find it sad that the true meaning of Easter seems lost these days with the over commercialization of this sacred holiday. This year, armed with my newly acquired and very limited cookie-decorating 'skills', I am giving out these Christ-centered treats to my sons' classmates as visual reminders of the resurrection of our Saviour.

Happy Easter, pallies!

Songbirds

Visions of Spring are dancing in my head thanks to the many gorgeous images of pretty blooms and singing birds that are popping up everywhere! I am guessing that spring has finally sprung.
It's the monsoon season over here on our side of the pond which means it has been raining almost daily. I'm enjoying the cooler weather especially after that dreadful, prolonged drought we've just been through. It was our worst water crisis ever.  Hopefully, the rain will fill up our dams.

Cookiefying my vision of Spring

Embroidered Microbes by Alicia Watkins

Fancy adorning your walls with these quirky cross-stitched microbial reminders of deadly bacteria and viruses  by Alicia Watkins?
The artist says, "GERMS! They're everywhere. You can't avoid them, not entirely -- though one would hope you'd avoid syphilis, of all things -- so why not incorporate them into your decor? If you're into science, or just germs, or cleanliness, or if you're a hypochondriac, you might like to see your interests/worst fears immortalized in stitchwork. Luckily, now you can."

I must say, these are  great conversation pieces to hang in your home.

From to Herpes to Gonorrhea, you can find lots of embroidered germs at her Etsy shop.

Easter Baskets

I've been practicing the basket weave technique on my cookies but somehow it just doesn't come out right. It'so very frustrating!  After many catastrophic attempts. only these three baskets made it to my cookie jar. The swear jar was full though! There goes my commitment to abstain from swearing this season of Lent.

Imagine having to make a dozen or more of these!  Ugggh!  I would probably end up bald from all that hair-pulling each time I get it wrong!

Food Maps

I am loving these fun maps of several countries illustrated with the food each country is known for. They are the collaboration of food stylist Caitlin Levin and photographer Henry Hargreaves, inspired by their passion for travel.

USA - Corn

Italy - Tomatoes

Australia - Shrimp

China - Noodles

France - Cheese And Bread

Japan - Seaweed

Africa - Bananas And Plantines

India - Spices

New Zealand - Kiwi Fruit

South America - Citrus

UK and Ireland