Guest: Madeline Iva

The beautiful and charming Madeline Iva is my guest today. She's sharing her own recipe for heart shaped cookies called LINZER HEARTS.

Please be respectful of this personal recipe. If you share it, please be sure to credit the generous Madeline Iva! And if you make these cookies, please share your results with us in the comments!

LINZER HEART COOKIES, image and recipe (c) Madeline Iva

LINZER HEARTS
(recipe copyright, Madeline Iva)

I made these cookies for my then-boyfriend now-husband on our first Valentine's Day together. :)
They are delicate and melt in your mouth, so take care when baking.  Surprise! This recipe is vegan. But I swear you won't be able to tell...

Ingredients

3/4 lb. Earth Balance (or margarine)
1 3/4 C confectioner's sugar
2 C flour
1 C arrowroot power
2 C shelled walnuts, processed until small crumbles
1 C red raspberry preserves

You will need a large heart and a small heart cookie cutters for the cookies.

Method

    * Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

    * Cream the Earth Balance and 1 cup of sugar until light and fluffy, add 1/2 C raspberry preserves.

    * Add flour, arrowroot powder, and walnuts and blend -- dough will be very sticky-wet

    * Shape into two discs on saran wrap -- each disc will be one to two inches thick.  Chilling dough in fridge 3 hours is key to keeping cookies in their shapes.

    * Spread confec sugar/flour on surface--be generous. Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness, cut out shapes -- and CAREFULLY lift cookies and place on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.

    * Bake cookies 15 min. or until just starting to brown on edges.

    * Remove from oven, cool on sheet for 5 min. then CAREFULLY remove from sheet onto cooling rack.  Spread with jam preserves, top each bottom heart with a top.  Before serving, sift confectioners sugar on top.

LINZER TART
(bonus method)

I won't lie, making these cookies is work.  Lazy folks can make this recipe into a tart and it's just as good.  Roll dough into a pie tin, put in a thick layer of preserves (blackberry jam is also good), cut out circles of dough or hearts and scatter across the top. Bake until edges start to brown--about 30 minutes.  Then cover with foil and bake another 5 min.

• • •

Madeline Iva

Madeline Iva writes romances about smart women, men who aren’t intimidated by them, and the hot feisty sex that follows. She loves cray-cray contemporary, paranormal & fantasy romances, and sometimes she likes mixing them all up together.

Book Blurb: THE LADY SMUT BOOK OF DARK DESIRES -- Four paranormal stories of erotic temptation and paranormal thrills!

My novella in this anthology is called SEXSOMNIA. Here's the blurb:

Jenny needs to unravel the mystery of what she does at night and who she does it with in order to subdue the sexual demon inside her.

Grab this book on Amazon in digital and print:

   

Heart Shaped Country Fried Potatoes with Rosemary and Garlic

Whoever doesn't love country style fried potatoes, raise your hand. Yep, thought so. Not a hand in the air! There's something comforting about hot potatoes with herbs that goes straight to the . . . well, heart. In this case, literally.

Why not try something different the next time you're making country style fried potatoes. Cut the potatoes in thinish, but not too thin, slices and break out your heart shaped cookie cutter. Just use the little one and press away. As you press out each heart, be sure to put them into a bowl of cool water to keep them from turning brown until you're ready to cook. This also rinses off some of that starch which can make potatoes gluey. Before you know it, you'll have loads of little hearts ready for frying.

What you'll need --

about a pounds of waxy potatoes (no need to peel as you won't be using the skin)
1-2 cloves of fresh garlic, finely minced
1-2 teaspoons of fresh rosemary, finely minced
2-3 tablespoons of good olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Pretty easy.

Prepare your potatoes as above.

Preheat a heavy skillet on high and pour in half of the olive oil and heat.

While the skillet is heating, pull out the potatoes from the water and pat dry on some paper towels. You don't want excess water to splatter when you put the potatoes in the hot oil.

Just as the oil starts to smoke, place half of the potatoes into the skillet and spread out in one layer on the bottom of the skillet. This will help all the potatoes to brown evenly. Sprinkle with some of the rosemary and garlic.

*Resist the urge to fiddle with the potatoes. Let them cook until they're golden brown and THEN flip them with a spatula. Spread evening to brown on the other side now.

When this batch is done, repeat until all of your potatoes are cooked.

Serve immediately, salt and pepper to taste.

Some people like finely chopped onion in their potatoes, some also add in chopped cooked bacon or chorizo. A fried egg on top with a fully cooked liquid yolk is also wonderful.

However you serve yours, enjoy. And next time you make these potatoes, try some other cookie cutter shapes. And let's face it. Potatoes are just a bit healthier than cookies but pack a similar comfort factor :-)

Heart Shaped Dedication

How could I not blog about this?!

Back in 1995, a South Gloucestershire man called Winston Howes lost his beloved wife, Janet, to heart failure. She was just 50. They had been married 33 years. That's right. They married when she was just 17!

So in love with Janet and so beside himself with grief, Winston struggled to find a way to honor Janet's memory.

What did he do?

He planted trees.

Not just any tree and not just a few trees. But over a thousand English Oaks!

A farmer with 112 acres, he planted his oaks in a six-acre field. It took him a week to plan on his own, which included marking out a lovely heart in the center of the field, the tip of which points toward the town where Janet grew up.

If you can imagine what a heart meadow in a grove of a thousand oaks looks like, just check out Google Maps. There it is at the one o'clock position from the town of Wickwar in the heart of South Gloucestershire.

I don't know about you, but that's what I call love!

You can read the article here.

(click to enlarge)

Heart Shaped Scones

I keep saying I'm going to post a photo of my heart shaped scones and get sidetracked with other things. But I made scones last night and thought I better do it now or live forever with the nickname The Procrastinator! (said with a really bad Arnold accent)

These scones seem appropriate to me in so many ways. Firstly, every time I make them I'm reminded of my recently released book, A Piece of My Heart, and I have to wonder if Kate ever made these for Mick. I'm sure she has!

Also, and it can't be missed...heart shaped stones...scones. Get it? OK, that was lame, but it's cute. Admit it!!

But really, most of all, when I'm making scones I'm usually doing it for company or my dear husband. I'm rarely known for being overly traditional, so cutting the scone dough with a round cutter is just borrrring! And what better way to say 'I love you' to someone than with fresh, home baked scones shaped like hearts? They're something to share...take a big heart shaped scone and break it in two, sharing one side with your lover. And yes, having more than one between you is totally allowed! ;-)

Recently, some of my family came to Ireland for a visit. They arrived on American Mother's Day (Irish Mothering Day is exactly three Sundays before Easter Sunday). Because my cousin's mother-in-law was in the group and they arrived early in the morning, I decided to make a batch of heart shaped scones for their arrival to say, 'Welcome to Ireland, and happy Mother's Day!' Let me tell you. They went over so well I was making scones for breakfast every morning. But it was worth it to see the joy on everyone's faces.

OK, so you're asking for a recipe. I have to admit, I'm a lazy baker, and the Odlums company has made it SO easy for me to bake. They have a wonderful Quick line for making various breads, including scones. Simply dump the contents of the package into a bowl, add 250ml (1 cup) of milk, and mix. Don't over mix. I prefer plain scones, but dried fruit can be added into these very easily, and/or nuts. Whatever you like. This is a great basic scone and very adaptable.

When I do make home made scones, the Joy of Cooking website has a great recipe for Basic Scones.

One tip I must share about baking scones. If you're never sure if they're done, even if they've browned on top, is to use that little bit of dough left over after cutting them out as a timer. Roughly shape it into a slightly flattened round, something about the same height as the cut scones and place in the center of the cookie sheet. When your timer goes off, break open that leftover bit. If it's done inside, the scones are done. If it still feels tacky or looks undone, leave the scones in another couple of minutes. That's the best timer you'll ever need!

However you make your scones, be sure to serve them warm with clotted cream or real butter and homemade jam. Shown here is Ireland's own brand by Folláin's Blackberry Jam. Yum!!

Must mention Folláin jams. They're located in the country village of Ballvourney in West Cork, the village behind our property in the townland of Macroom. Folláin makes their james with 100% fruit, no preservatives, no added colorings, nothing artificial. It's pure fruit, some sugar and a lot of TLC. Folláin is actually the word for wholesome so they have a lot to live up to.

If you'll excuse me now, I'm going to pour myself a glass of milk and have one of these little lovelies!

Goile maith agat! (Irish for bon appétit...and you know what that means!)