March 14th 2007 made Explore #312. Baileys-flavored shamrock sugar cookies, coated with a Baileys glaze and decorated with Baileys royal icing. For each petal on the shamrock This brings a wish your way - Good health, good luck, and happiness For today and every day. Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! 1 cup (2 sticks) sweet butter 1 cup sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 3 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup Baileys Irish Cream liqueur 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking powder 3 cups all-purpose flour Baileys Icing Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add egg, vanilla, and 3 tablespoons Baileys. Sift in salt, baking powder, and flour and mix just until incorporated. Roll dough in two batches flat onto cookie sheets or cake board and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350°F and remove one batch of cookie dough from refrigerator. Cut and remove shamrock shapes, transferring to cookie sheets to be put in oven. Reroll scraps, switch to second batch of cookie dough, and repeat until all cookies are baked off. Bake for about 10 minutes, just until cookies begin to turn brown around the bottoms. Edges will not brown as much as normal sugar cookie recipes, so watch them carefully. Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes on cookie sheets then remove to racks. Immediately brush remaining 1/2 cup Baileys over warm cookies with a pastry brush (will take 3 to 5 glazings of each cookie to use the entire 1/2 cup). Cool completely and frost with Baileys Icing. Baileys Icing 4 cups powdered sugar 4 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream liqueur 4 tablespoons meringue powder green food coloring paste * Mix sugar, Baileys, and meringue powder together until all ingredients are well incorporated and no pockets of sugar remain. If icing is too thick, add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached. Mix in food coloring paste for desired color. Use immediately or store in airtight containers or under damp paper towels while working. * I used a mixture of Kelley Green and Leaf Green pastes by Wilton to get the ideal color for shamrocks.

For pca78 – Food WIT: I knew this was going to be a challenge, a fun one. For some reason, when it's time to eat, and everyone is hungry and getting ready to sit at the table, I don't have much of a brain for photography. So after one lousy attempt at photographing a meal, I went back to this shot, which I actually took a day after I had made these cookies. I set it up in the kitchen, natural light, handheld. I wanted background blur, but in hindsight I think the dof is a tiny bit too narrow. I tried a few angles and liked a low viewpoint better than a higher one. The light seemed a little cold, so I balanced it slightly. The usual contrast and sharpening. Mild crop. My kids and husband enjoy these cookies. They're meringue-based, with chocolate and almonds. Fluffy at the top, soft and chewy at the bottom. In case the photo hasn't scared you off: Meringue Cookies 3 egg whites 250 g caster (= very fine) sugar, or put normal sugar into a chopper for a minute 2-3 tsp cocoa powder, unsweetened Dash of vanilla extract 100 g dark chocolate (ideally containing about 70% cocoa), chopped up 250 g chopped almonds Beat egg whites until very stiff. Gradually add sugar, cocoa powder, and vanilla extract. Fold in chocolate pieces and chopped almonds. Using a 2-Tbsp scoop, scoop mixture onto baking tray lined with parchment paper. Leave space between scoops so they don't run together. Bake at 325° F for 25 minutes. Store leftovers in a tin. I think these would be good with a dash of rum, too. Haven't tried. Not sure how my kids would respond. :) 85mm prime, f/2.8, 1/60, ISO 200