Well, I made royal icing for the first time last night...it was antonia75's recipe.
When I first mixed it up, it seemed awfully thick....So I put some into some bottles and added some water and food coloring gel...Then it seemed to thin..so I added powdered sugar. It never seemed to get thick enough so it didn't spill over the edges of my cookies.

Then, when I get up this morning to check on them, there are some discolored patches, almost like grease stains, on the dried icing. What could cause this? The only thing I added to the original recipe is a few teaspoons of lemon juice.

It was a horribly humid day for South Florida yesterday. Would that have an effect?

I also got a alot of air bubbles.

Help!

I'm not sure about your other problems, but here's a link to bubbles in royal icing.
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-546223.html

Thanks for the link. I did come across that and will sift the next time.

Anyone else have any ideas about the discolored patches once dried?

Maybe (and in no way is this an "official" observation ) your icing may have been a little too thin. I remember reading somewhere that if the royal is too thin then parts of it will dry kind of transparent. It's best to add water a drop at a time since it makes a HUGE difference in the consistency of the royal.

Royal can be tricky. I agree with Tayesmama that it may have been too thin. Be careful as she said with the water. Maybe you didn't mix it well enough. I haven't had a good experience adding water to the squeeze bottles. I would try mixing it with the gel paste, extra water first then putting it into the squeeze bottle. That way you can tell if all is incorporated. I think that it is difficult to tell when it is already in the bottle. Try that, plus make sure you sift. I think it makes a very big difference with the bubble issue. Good luck.

Susan

I think the patchiness may be caused by grease in the icing, causing it to separate. I keep a bottle of diluted vinegar handy and wipe my mixer and paddle with it before I start mixing RI, and since I started doing that I haven't had the problem you describe.
Agree with pp that you should mix to required consistency before putting it in bottles. Partly to get the colour right, but mainly to ensure you add the right amount of water. You want to watch it closely - you should give it a good stir, then count how long it takes for the ripples to smooth out completely. It should take 10 seconds - any more and it will be too thick, any less and it may run off the edge of the cookie.
Hope this helps.
Natalie.

Thanks so much for all of your help. I won't give up on royal icing yet....

Tubbs- where is your avatar from? That picture has been trapped in my head since I found CC a few weeks ago.

British TV show (not for the faint-hearted).