Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Brisbane Flood, plus Animals and Ark Cookies


My baking is often influenced by my moods, thoughts, emotions, it’s a way of telling a story.At the moment the story of my city and state is rather sad, with serious flooding effecting three quarters of Queensland. My thoughts go out to those people that have lost homes and loved ones.

I consider myself very lucky not to live in a flood threatened area, although damage can be seen as close as the suburb next to us. Yesterday I was one of hundreds on central Brisbane workers being told to leave work early and get out of the city. Today people not immediately effected are being urged to stay in their homes, I spent most of the day watching the news coverage on TV, sometimes hardly believing what I was seeing.

Along with a lot of the Brisbane, we had no choice but to sit and watch as a rising tide of water overtook a lot of inner city and surrounding areas. It is expected to be much worse tomorrow.

While there was a lot of devastation, there were also many stories of people really working together and helping others out.

People were not only looking out for each other but pets and other stranded animals, this story is what inspired me to bake today. These cookies brought smiles to a number of worried people, with uncertainty and not knowing quiet what to expect being some of the scariest factors. While I hope not to seem insensitive, frankly the city could really do with an ark.


To make the ark and animals I used the same recipe as my Bride of Frankenstein Cookies, made for a Halloween guest post on Pink Little Cake. I found that I didn’t have as many animal cutters as I thought, so I just picked my favourite three. We don’t have squirrels in Australia, but I really love them and wanted to use my cookie cutter.

6 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness! I had no idea you lived in Australia/QLD/Brisbane too!! My Dad was sent home from work too and has stayed at home again today. Luckily our home is fine too. But you're so right, it is unbelieveable to see the images on TV. Have you seen Suncorp Staduim? It's like a pool now! And even Paddington has gone under which is not too far away from our home. I'm in shock.

    As for your biscuits, they are absolutely gorgeous and such a sweet gesture. I can see why they'd console the people around you. I love the ark idea.

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  2. Your post has given me goosebumps!!! Even over here the floods are on our news but we aren;t getting the same kind of coverage as back home, Mum is keeping me updated though. Lovely idea to bake the cookies, they look so sweet too. Stay safe (and dry!)

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  3. I am so sorry to hear the news, I am from Costa Rica and I remember that when I was little we experienced the same situation.Even my granpa almost lost his house due to the flooding.
    Your cookies came out really adorable.

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  4. Cute cookies and good to hear you are safe. The floods are so devastating and I feel guilty that I have access to fresh food, electricity and a warm, dry house when a few km's away others are not so lucky.

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  5. I'm in much the same situation as you and many others and am thankful that my home wasn't directly affected by the flooding. But we all have the same sense of wanting to be able to assist those who were not so fortunate.

    Those black & white kitties are beautiful! And it's a beautiful gesture that you were brightening these people's days with them :)

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  6. I love those kitty cookies! Great job!!

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