Recipe - Lemon Poppy Cookies

My friend, Angie, from The Purple Poppy asked me if I could make cookies for the 1-year anniversary celebration at her store.  I said, sure.  But not just any cookies - purple poppy cookies.  I said, sure.  A recipe from Martha Steward.  Again, I said, sure.  I crossed my fingers and knocked on wood that these cookies would come out the way she wanted.  I made a tester batch and everything seemed ok.  So, it was a go!
The recipe, from Martha Stewart's website, was actually pretty simple and easy to follow.  And if you don't look at her photo too closely, mine look pretty good.
I am delivering the cookies today.  If you want to try them out, go to The Purple Poppy anniversary party tonight.  The shop is located at the corner of 95th and Arapahoe Road in the Atlas Valley shopping center in Lafayette, Colorado.
So, I would consider this baking adventure a success.  Will I consider a career change, I am not so sure.

I made these!

Martha Stewart’s Poppy-Shaped Lemon Cookies
Ingredients
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest, plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
Salt

For Decorating the Cookies:
Royal Icing, plain and/or tinted (below)
Poppy seeds, for sprinkling

Directions
1. Beat butter, sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest and juice until combined. Beat in flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Wrap dough in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.

2. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface, and roll out to a scant 1/4-inch thickness. Cut out about using 2 sizes of flower cookie cutters. (It is helpful to place only one size on a cookie sheet for even baking.) Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3. Bake until edges just start to brown, 14 to 18 minutes. Let cool completely.

4. Decorate the cookies: Transfer each batch of tinted icing to a separate pastry bag fitted with a small round tip (you can use as many colors as desired). Pipe an outline of icing around the edges, then "flood" each cookie with more icing to cover. Immediately pipe a circle of small dots in the center of each cookie using a different-colored icing. Drag dots to outer edges using a toothpick to create thin lines. Repeat with remaining cookies and icing. Transfer cookies to parchment-lined baking sheets, and let dry completely, about 30 minutes.

5. Once cookies are set, pipe a large dot in the center of each cookie using the same tinted icing as the small dots. Gently sprinkle poppy seeds around large dot. Let dry completely.


Dani Fiore’s Royal Icing
Ingredients
1/2 cup meringue powder
2 pounds confectioners' sugar (8 cups)
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions
1. Using a hand mixer with the whisk attachment, mix together meringue powder with 1 cup water until soft peaks form, about 1 minute. Using the beater attachments, add sugar and lemon juice; continue mixing until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

*tip- do not over whip the meringue powder, or your icing will be too fluffy and will never dry. The finished product should have a matte-finish, dry and crisp icing topping.

Enjoy!

Collage - Flower

This collage was an experiment - it is one that sat, partially finished, for months.  I liked it, but wasn't sure how to finish it. It is feels so different from some of my other work.

I experimented with paint and color

With materials and technique

With words and composition

In the end, I like the overall effect.  I like the use of words, the overall theme, the brightness and color.  But this one seem more of a struggle for me.  I don't think it's really my "style." 
It was bugging me that it sat unfinished for so long, I couldn't totally abandon it.  So I added the back, used more brightly colored patterned paper on the sides and call it complete.
Now, I can move back to some of my other work.  Stay tuned for more collage...

Art Every Day - Day 19

Art Every Day # 19 comes from a recent trip to the Denver Botanic Garden, where I was inspired by the fall colors and unique plants.

Art can be found in the garden

Look at these crazy flower stalks,

the stems run through the center of the blossom-

 and the bloom appears to be upside-down

and if you look closely, the petals are fuzzy.