BUTTERY CRUNCHY LEMON VANILLA CORNMEAL SHORTBREAD COOKIES @ BWD

 Buttery and Crunchy together , specially in a shortbread spells pure Joy and happy smiles for me.

Specially more so if they happen to be in Shortbread.

Fair Warning , before ya says , oh no , lemme say , oh yes , there are hearts happening here yet again & i have my baking paraphernalia  to blame for that and happily so...

My fondness for shortbread shines with these and was enlivened when  Rivki  chose these for Baking along for our group Baking with Dorie with these....

Rubbing Zest into sugar , specially Vanilla sugar makes things even more fragrant and the addition of jus a hint of Almond extract , notches flavours to a delightful and heady love ...love for shortbread and all things shortbread.......

U MUST scoop out some butter as it beats with the sugar and the flavours , with the tip of ur little (or middle for dat matter , doesnt matter as long as u do it) , and indulge in how yummy it is and how good a Shortbread this one is going to be.

 And i must , must ,must talk about the crunch , the amazing crunch , that comes from the cornmeal , that also adds texture to the bite which is soo good and welcome.

PASTA with PIZAZZ in INA'S GARDEN

Pasta with Pizzaz , is the theme this fortnight and when i read the theme , it got me excited.

My dear pal Chaya , chose this weeks theme and it sounded so exciting and perfect for the summery days we are seeing.

Im an avid Pasta lover , and if u arent able to see my pasta here , dats coz of some glitches i had and instead of getting those details lemme get into the details of our very wonderful group Ina's Garden and i would love to introduce to u our co-hosts again , we love to join together in Ina's Garden and would love eee to have u over too.

April of The 21s Century Housewife and The 21st Century Housewife’s Kitchen

Chaya of Comfy Cook's Kosher Kitchen and Bizzy B Bakes

Louanne of Louanne’s Kitchen

Peggy of Pantry Revisited

and of course, ur truly...

If ur wondering why there is no Pasta happening here , fret not , we still have a little less than a fortnight for the linky and u and i are going to cook any of Ina's Pasta's or maybe toss this one (oh i loveeee roasting shrimps before i add them to a dish , its makes the flavours better and u happier), and then we will link right here with the rest of the gang shall we?

RICOTTA POLENTA FIG CAKE with WINE HONEY FIG COMPOTE

Polenta has been on my mind, actually a longing on my heart ever since this Cherry cake.

If u have never baked with Polenta , u will love to discover the crunch and jus the right bite it adds to cakes and bakes.

 I dont know if its about the recipes or the Polenta , but whatever have baked with polenta to date has been moist and has had a bite full which i love.

Going straight to this cake , lemme tell u , its one of the very wonderful cakes i have baked and is just what u need with a pot of ur fav brewed coffee.

This is a dessert on its own , and i love it originates from a French magazine.

The addition of Ricotta , makes it even more special and endearing and the honey makes for a wonderful cake that ages beautifully.

Halving the recipe gave me 5 little tart cakes (yeah i cant keep away from all things heart too long ).

The differently textured compote is the perfect accompaniment to this cake, with or without a scoop of vanilla cream or icecream.

HOW TO MAKE RICOTTA CHEESE

"Oh i make cheese at home u know" ...sounds like music to my taste buds and  have been reading Deeba's wonderful posts , i so wanted to try cheese making ever since and at last was pushed into it coz the Ricotta i had sitting in the refrigeration smelled weird enough to make me want to throw it out.
Deeba , thannxx for making me fall in love yet again , with Cheesy delites in a different light!
(i really didnt mean for dat to rhyme )
Cheesy love and some more...

There is no fancy equipment and ingredients u need here and that will make u a happier person as it did make and the end result is still deliciously inviting.

Plus all that u need would be in ur pantry right now and this is something really i would go back to again and again and i am sure so would u.

I mean , how can i not want some fresh ricotta to have to slather or pinch on to sandwiches or salads and enjoy the cream , ever so slightly tangy , fresh flavor.

Do u need any more reasons to get some whole milk , lite cream and yogurt out this evening , this will change the way u look at cheese and u will find urself making this several time over i did.

+ u have the option of making delightful spreads with this , how about roasted garlic and pink pepper , with some lettuce and bits of leftover roast , u will have one hearty sandwich at lunch time.

Or maybe u'd really be tickled pink with some olives and salsa added in , some more fresh basil , egg /any meats and u will soon have another big fat sandwich to make u gay.

Or pesto...so good!

I think of lods of combis galore for spreads with this Home made Ricotta cheese ( and an amazingly awesome dessert one coming soon), but i can assure u even a snip of some herbs fresh from ur window sill and smoked salt will make this more than worth the time (which is barely)

IN INA'S GARDEN with ALMOND BUTTER JELLY BARS

I find myself reaching out for my cake tin all time whole day long , coz there are these really deliciously addictive bars in there today.

As i said in my previous post i along with my co-hosts are baking PB jelly bars this time round and i did so with almond butter for 2 reasons , i had no skippy around and secondly need to use up all that ground almond which i have.

They are buttery , which always has me grinning, + there is lods of jelly in there , actually a nice jelly layer in between.

\And not jus one type of Jelly/jam but there is some  lovely Vanilla Apricot preserve and Goiabada too .

And thats not all , instead of peanuts , one half of the bars are sprinkled with pecans and the other half with macadamia's that with all the baking get well roasted.

Whether i find a silce of one with Macadamia ....

IN INA'S GARDEN w PB JELLY BARS

Its the 5th of May , Cinco de May and a long time since my last post. There is so muc happening ,but more on that later , for now i wanna talk about Ina's Garden and one of the best PB Jelly Bars ever.

This is the first Bake along for Ina's Garden and Yummy C chose this wonderful recipe (which i am yet to bake and i sure want to and will and here is the recipe just for u )

I m baking it with a sub and am looking forward to share the experience with u , and till then if i hop to town and lay my hands on a jar of skippy PB , PB it will be.

And here are we , the co hosts of Yummy C , with this weeks PB Jelly bars.

April of The 21s Century Housewife and The 21st Century Housewife’s Kitchen

Chaya of Comfy Cook's Kosher Kitchen and Bizzy B Bakes

Louanne of Louanne’s Kitchen

Peggy of Pantry Revisited

and of course, ur truly...

We are a new group and for the introductory post we were so so glad to have many of u join in.