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!

Art with Hearts - another collage



"An understanding heart warms all that are graced with its presence."

 Another collage with a prominent heart, paper mounted on foam core to add elevation.  The piece is on a flat canvas, but I didn't like the flat look, so I built a box from scrap wood and placed that behind the canvas.  I painted the wood to mimic the design on the paper.  I also used metal objects, shiny red brads, a Chinese fortune, and a wooden piece with the words "care more"

Side view - showing you my handi-work with the painted wood behind the canvas.

Project - Scary Centerpieces

Today's daily double is...............A Skull Centerpiece.  Project after project, recipe after recipe, that is what this season is about. 

This project was adapted from one I saw on Martha Stewart.  She puts her elegant glittered skulls under glass.  I have given it my own creepy twist, making creepy centerpieces with gross skulls and crawly creatures.  With a little hot glue, and some ghoulish imagination, the results can be stunning.

Materials:

Glass cake plate or large vase
1 bag Spanish moss
1 block green florist foam (optional)
1 fake skull
Assorted small bones
Assorted plastic bugs
Dry or fake leaves
Hot glue gun and glue sticks

Process:

• Glue the foam block on the cake plate. 
• Cover the foam with the moss, using hot glue.
• If using a vase, fill the vase with the moss (no glue, no foam needed)
• Arrange the skull, bones and leaves randomly around the moss.  Attach with glue if needed.
• Use hot glue to attach additional spiders and bugs to the outside of the glass vase or cake dome.  Hot glue can be removed from glass easily.
• I usually make several of these to place around the house for Halloween parties.
• You can remove the arrangement from the glass and store in a large ziploc if you want to use them from year to year.

Halloween is nearly here, and soon the decorations will come down.  What will I do next?  Look for me to post my first attempt at hand rolled chocolate truffles and kale chips.  I wonder how those will turn out (separately, not together!)

Enjoy your Halloween!

Project - Halloween Pumpkin Candlesticks

I got the idea for these pumpkins at a chain store.  Their version was cutesier than mine.  Theirs was also pretty cheap looking.  I wanted to make a pair of pumpkin heads that would look a little vintage and a little spooky.  I like the dark effect of my two pumpkin heads.

Materials:

2 fake pumpkins

2 metal candlesticks

2 cardboard cones

black spray paint

orange and black lace and trim

tiny pumpkins or orange pompons
old buttons
hot glue and glue gun

Exacto knife

Process: 

• Paint the pumpkins, the cones, and the candlesticks black.
• Using hot glue, attach lace above or below the candlestick plate. Layer two laces or trims for extra interest.
• Using the Exacto knife, carve a face into each pumpkin.
• Attach the trim and buttons to the hats with hot glue. Again, layering works well.  I used buttons and pompon trim on one hat and layered two types of trim on the other hat. Top with tiny pumpkin, tassel or pompon.
• Assemble the two candlesticks with hot glue.

I like how mine turned out.  I wanted them to be a good pair; I like that one is happy, but wacky, and the other sad.   We will put battery operated candles inside on Halloween.  (you can find  mini battery lights to put through the mouth or eye hole, or cut a larger hole underneath to accommodate a small battery candle)

 I wonder how I can adapt this project for other holidays?  What can I use instead of pumpkins.  Good luck, and let me know if you try this one out.