Pipe A Small Army of Shamrocks Today.

Have you ever said or written a word over and over again and then suddenly realize it's not a real word anymore? It's not even made up with real letters. It is just symbols and the sounds you are making come from an entirely different language that they don't even speak on this planet. You know, like the word "COUCH." Say that 10 times in a row and see how you feel about it. Once, I said it like 27 times in a row and it has completely ruined that word for me. I just have to SEE it and I start thinking in an alien dialect.

These shamrocks were just like that. (I practiced on wax paper before putting them on my cookies. Practice is good. Don't be afraid of it.) I started out piping this little trifoliate plant that has come to symbolize St. Patrick's Day and they morphed into some kind of rocking chair for frogs. I am at a loss.

I made some wet-on-wet shamrocks last year that I loved. This year I wanted to go completely crazy and make some wet-on-dry shamrocks. I think I succeeded in the first part. You can come crazy with me if you want. I'll skootch over and make some room.


I used green 12-15 count icing, but I suppose you can make any color of shamrock that you want. I start each leaf with a dot of icing that I pull toward the center, making a "v" shape for each leaf. If it helps, put a tiny dot of icing in the middle before you start so you know where your middle point is. Keep the leaves separate, but parallel. The stem is what really pulls it all together. I do a small line at the bottom and then pipe from that line to the top leaf. If the other leaves don't immediately flow in to touch the stem, I draw them in gently with my piping tip. Don't be intimidated by my excessive picture taking. Technically, it takes 6 steps, but in reality it all happens so fast you won't remember what you are doing until you've created a little army of shamrocks that somehow resemble amphibian furniture.

Georganne
Georganne

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