I am a big believer in the concept of spirit animals. Perhaps you are familiar with the idea as well.

According to intuitive and Shamanistic healer Colleen McCann, “A spirit animal is characterized as a teacher or messenger that comes in the form of an animal and has a personal relationship to an individual... It is believed that you do not choose the animal, rather it chooses or has already chosen you. The animal is there to provide ‘medicine’ to the recipient in the form of guidance, lessons, protection, power, or wisdom” (Guide to Spirit Animals, A. www.goop.com).

If you’re interested in finding your spirit animal, I recommend the following method:

• Lie down and relax, but don’t fall asleep.
• Try to clear your mind and get into a calm state.
• Whatever animal comes to your mind is your spirit animal.

It’s interesting to note that you probably won’t have just one steady spirit animal throughout your life. Different animals embody different spirits, so there will be changes as you need them.

You may also have more than one spirit animal at any given time. I have more than one myself. They include raptors, big cats, bears and wolves. But my favorite is the turtle.

“When it comes to animal symbolism, the turtle is a great example of persistence, determination, endurance and more,” writes Avia in “Animal Symbolism: Turtle Meanings.” “By very design, the turtle is a survivor. It has the ability to protect itself against harsh predators. This is a great lesson for us. The turtle is a great guide to call upon when we need to shield ourselves from oncoming attack” (www.whats-your-sign.com).

These are marvelous properties to embody.

So powerful is the turtle as a symbol that a number of cultures depicted the world as being supported on a turtle’s back.

“In the creation stories of the Lenape and Iroquois people, the Earth is created as soil is piled on the back of a great sea turtle that continues to grow until it is carrying the entire world,” explains Eric Grundhauser in “Why Is the World Always on the Back of a Turtle?” “Many indigenous tribes in North America refer to the continent as Turtle Island to this day” (www.atlasobscura.com).

Given the symbolic power of the turtle, I thought this project would be ideal for us this month. And how cool is it to have a surprise hidden in the turtle’s shell?

To be fair, the Sea Turtle Surprise Cookie is a bit complicated. But if you’re patient—like a turtle—the results will be well worth your efforts!

Melt the white chocolate in the microwave for 30 seconds.

Continue melting white chocolate in 15-second intervals, stirring in between, until melted.

Spread melted white chocolate in silicon mold. Place upside down on parchment paper. Refrigerate until hardened.

Remove white chocolate shell from mold.

Use your favorite recipe to bake cookies in a silicone mold.

Bake cookies at 375F for 11-12 minutes.

Let cookies cool, then remove from mold. Pipe buttercream onto top of cookie.

Fill the white chocolate shell with sprinkles.

Attach shell to cookie with buttercream.

Crush cookies for “sand,” and add to exposed buttercream.

Fill sea turtle mold with tan fondant. Add details with edible markers. Add color with edible paints.

Kim M. Simons is an award-winning artist, food artist and cake artist. She and her team—The Bah Hum Bakers—were crowned champions of Food Network’s “Holiday Wars” in December, 2019. More recently, Kim competed on Food Network’s “Cakealikes,” which can be streamed on Discovery-plus. Kim’s cookbook of gluten-free recipes—“Get All Cook-Y With Kim”—can be purchased on Amazon.com.