A LITTLE ROMANCE SALAD & COOKIES FOR VALENTINE'S AT IHCC

LETS TALK ABOUT LOVE...SHALL WE...I LOVE LOVE TOO!!!!

Love floats my boat...rocks my life....has me cheerfull and joyfull all day....

Love keeps me on top of the worls and makes sure i stay there full of the joys of spring....

Love meets u up with 7th heaven on cloud 9,till ur jumping w glee n joy and stay right there * 365

Love makes me happy....love makes me gay and wipes all the tears away........

EVery body in love * 365 right from Winnie DE Pooh and gang(see tigger and eeyore below.....)to snoopy and the tweety and the whole disney gang...cheerssssss.....

I love the month of love...the month of hearts and the month of joy and to me its by 365 times coz i feel this way all the year thru....

Dont we all feel tickled pink or like we are floating in air.....and can i link that only to a romantic love....

no the love my parents shower

 AND so do my siblings   

 

and close frens

and all the happy pals i meet here

and all the lovely farmers n local ladies i meet selling produce...

Yeah Valentines is a time which has me giddy and has me high and i try more than ever to do something with love for everyone in our lives....actually u dont try ....the high of the season jus makes u do it allright.......

 



or all the people that cross my path many a times to make my day happier and many more than that a time for me to make their world happeir.....

or they all make my world go round....
beautifully round....

And to begin with am taking a batch of these cookies to our local farmer where part of our veggies come from,the prev ones(not posted yet)goes to our other veggies supplier and a few more around for everybody......

Enter Romance.....and u'll be giddy and high and love will fill the air again for 365 days.........

YEah romance and somebody really special to that and u have a world that not only goes so round but sprinkles fresh rose petals on u as u do......

after all LOVE IS IN THE AIR W LOADS OF ROMANCE N DONT WE ALL WANT THE MOST OF IT..........

If u havent guessed it by now a LITTLE ROMANCE is plying via IHCC this week and with loads of plans that i do so hope to continue next week too........

And now its that time of the year for the EAT UR WORDS CHALLENGE......co-hosted by the lovely gals of TANGLED NOODLES and SAVOR  THE THYME .............

And to have Andrew Zimmern to judge....wowowowowwAAAA.....I JUS GOT  to know about this fun challenge today (and its already the 31st now)....

So here i have V FOR VALENTINES ....and X for the ''x'' part OF ''XOXO"".....for u gals and Andrew too.....oh dont we love the universal language of love............ 

This isnt my first time with these cookies,2nd actually,awhile back hAd tried em out....would love 'em to be a little more buttery though but the buttery cookie glaze did balance 'em out.....

wanted to try these little ideas pooping in my head on some butter cookies and though these would be perfect......

 LETS BEGIN WITH.....

A DELIGHTFULL HEARTY SALAD....

A  "V''  FOR VALENTINE

But to begin with we have a real healthy salad with everything in that ur heart loves or rather loves ur heart....after its the only sweet heart we have to love ...love...and love......

ADAPTED FROM NIGELLA EXPRESS VIA KAHAKAI KITCHEN

ALL U DO IS TOSS ALL OF THIS IN ANY ORDER OR JUS PICK THE STUFF U LOVE...JUS ADD IN ANY QUANTITY AS PER THE FLAV U WANT...IT ROCKS AND IS QUITE FILLING TOO....

 Nigella says, "This has always been the Italian antipasto but although traditionally you are more likely to come across it as the combination of tonno and cannellini, I love the flecked terra-cotta of cranberry beans, giving you the colors of Tuscany on a plate. And if you are feeling less formally Italianate in mood, then this makes a simple speedy supper for two; all I'd want alongside is some good bread."

Actually with such a fantastic filling salad u need nothing on the side...and u dont need to toss all the ingredients....jus toss what u have in the veggie tray and ur ready to go.....

1)4TBH OF RED BEANS SOAKED IN WATER(changed water many times in between whenever popped by) OVERNIGHT AND PRESSURE COOKED TILL SOFT.
 alonwith a handfull of soaked almonds(leftover from brEakfast actually) ...

they are amazingly soft and lovely this way-if u want a crunch then go for toasteD flaked almonds or nuts or u can leave 'em out.

ALL THE ''X'' & ALMOND ''O'' FOR UR HUGS N KISSES

2) FRESH AMERICAN CORN,POTATO & 

SOME SWEET POTATO STEAMED.

3)PORTUGUESE SARDINHES OR ANY OF YR FAV(would try this with fresh flaked fish next time round or maybe grilled chicken bites)

4)RED,GREEN,YELLOW PEPPER CHOPPED.
FEW SWEET LIMES N APPLES CHOPPED.

5)ZUCHINI n SPRING ONION n  RED ONION CHOPPED.

6)GREENS CHOPPED

 (spinach.cilantro.parsely.)

7)DRESSING OF VINEGAR,NATURAL SUGAR,LIME JUICE &SALT.

 (the sardinhes were in oil so i left out the olive oil)

A FANTASTIC ,ABSOLUTELY HEARTY SALAD THATS FATASTIC...WOULD LOVE TO TRY THIS WITH SHRIMPYS OR MUSSELS OR CALAMARI/SQUIDDYS OR OYSTERS OR EVEN FRESH FLAKED FISH...........

DELIGHTFULL HEARTY COOKIES

NOW LETS BEGIN WITH HEARTY COOKIES SHALL WE......

A CUT OUT COOKIE N A FEW HEARTS FROM NIGELLA'S FANTASTIC KITCHEN....

6 tablespoons soft salted butter(90 grams)
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg(i used only half-i tend to use half the desired amout coz i usually find it a wee bit too eggy)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt(only if using unslated butter)

A VALENTINE ANGEL....A VALENTINE MASCOT

Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and moving towards moussiness, then beat in the egg and vanilla.
(i love the mousiness part which actually heightens with the addition oF the egg)

In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. (honestly i jus tip it into the butter mix :-))) )

Add the dry ingredients to the butter and eggs, and mix gently but surely.
 If you think the finished mixture is too sticky to be rolled out, add more flour, but do so sparingly as too much will make the dough tough. 

Form into a fat disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and let rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.(i did overnight).




Let sit a little in room temperature before rolling to avoid too much cracking...

Sprinkle a suitable surface with flour(i tried icing sugar this time round...works well), place disk of dough on it, and sprinkle a little more flour on top of that.
Then roll it out to a thickness of about 1/4-inch and i hardly need any coz i roll between parchment paper.

Cut into shapes, dipping the cutter into flour/sugar as you go, and place the cookies a little apart on 2 parchment or silpat lined baking sheets.

Now the fun...i had my VALENTINE ANGELS-THE MASCOT FOR VALENTINE,

...

THUMB PRINT A FEW CUT OUTS....THIS STRAWBERRY PRESERVE N U HAVE THESE CUTEY HEARTS....DOUBLE LAYERED WITH DIFFERENT SIZED HEARTS

 THUMB PRINT A FEW OF THOSE DOUBLE LAYERED HEARTS,FILL WITH THIS CHUNKY STRAWBERRY PRESERVE  N U HAVE A FEW JAMMY BITES.......

LAYERED HEARTS IN DIFFERENT SIZES GALORE TOPPED WITH A CHOCO BUTTON AND DRIZZLED WITH A BUTTERY COOKIE GLAZE(not buttercream)

DO I CALL THESE JAMMY SANDWHICH COOKIES OR HEART LINZERS....OR MAYBE HEART CUT OUTS SANDWHICHED WITH THIS ELICIOUS CHUNKY STRAWBERRY PRESERVE

HEARTS LAYERED IN DIFFERENT SIZES AND DRIZZLED AGAIN WITH A BUTTERY COOKIE GLAZE......

AND A FEW HEARTS UP CLOSE....

MINI LAYERED HEARTS ......

A COLLAGE OF HEARTY DELIGHTS....INSPIRE ME TO POP A FEW RIGHT AWAY....

MINI TRUFFLE HEART COOKIES.....

UTHAT ARE PERFECT FOR UR VALENTINE HAMPERS PLACED IN LITTLE TRUFFLE CASES OR MINI CUPPY CAKKEY CUPS...

AN ARIEL TRUFFY LITTLE HEARTS VIEW BECKONS....

OH THE QUEEN OF HEARTS SHE BAKED SOME TARTS....

mR. & mRS. COOKIE TRUFFLE HEARTS....