Showing My Love Through Carbs

And here I go, posting my Valentine's Day dinner. Again.
Actually, I started this blog six years ago on Valentine's Day. Here's my very first post. Oh, the naivety…

So carrying on with tradition, I made the heart-shaped dinner. And I tried really hard to come up with something that wasn't pizza, but just couldn't get away from the Italian influences. (And I stayed up 'til the wee hours the night before finishing the kids' valentines because there are child labor laws. Didn't get to some of the details. Sorry!)

Main Course: Lasagna

Regular recipe for lasagna, then I used a cookie cutter to make hearts on the top layer of pasta. Easy!

Sides: Garlic bread and Pears 

Usually, I soak the pears overnight in grenadine, which gives them a fantastic color and flavor. Totally forgot about that until about a hour before dinner. Garlic bread was cut with a heart-shaped sandwich cutter before being schmeared and toasted. And there was a salad because I try to eat healthier, but it wasn't heart-ish at all.

Drink: Raspberry Soda with Creamy Ice Cubes 

Since I usually use colored cubes and clear soda, I thought I'd switch it up this year. The ice cubes are made using Horchata, which doesn't actually have any dairy in it, but tastes so creamy. Really nice blend of flavors. Just wish the ice cubes didn't melt so fast.

Dessert: Danish Dessert

I had this at a dinner party years ago and loved the flavor and texture. The conversation hearts were the kind that you write yourself so I had a little fun with personalizing each person's dessert. And it was pretty tasty! But definitely needed more chocolate.

How do you celebrate Valentine's Day?

Pinterest Saves Valentine's Day

I have to limit my time on Pinterest. I get way too many ideas about what my kids should be eating, things I could be sewing, rooms to be painting, and weight loss plans to be following. Then I spend the rest of my time agonizing over the little details and never actually get anything done. Which results in blaming Pinterest for my shortcomings. But recently, Pinterest saved my hide.

Valentine's Day kinda snuck up on me. On Monday, I was completely unprepared. My kids needed Valentines for classmates, boxes for receiving their bounty, and I had a special dinner to plan. I finally got my act together on Tuesday. Wednesday was a mad flurry of gathering supplies, printing, cutting, taping, gluing, blowing on burnt fingers from all that hot glue, and keeping Baby away from the candy. I also found the guts to teach my seven-year-old how to spray paint…

All of the resulting Valentines were found via Pinterest:

Gnomes for Boo's class. These were glued in pairs onto cards that said "Hanging with my Gnomies," Gnome Sweet Gnome" or "Gnome is where the heart is."

Originally, the Boy wanted to make pet rocks. Then I showed him these and he was sold:

Added bonus? I already had the glow sticks so this was super cheap!

Baby's was easy. Since preschoolers can't read, having her write her name on each one didn't make much sense. This way, every kid knew exactly who the card was from:

(I cut off the portion with her real name.)

Da Boo refurbished a monster box from last year (thank goodness) and the Boy was set on this one:

It was actually rather easy! But here's a tip for ya: when the weather outside is freezing, spray paint doesn't dry.

Wordful Wednesday: Heart Dinner

Hey, I'm not exactly known for my ability to keep things short or to the point.

For the annual Love Day celebration, I concocted yet another red heart meal. I think this one might just be my best so far!

The main course was stromboli (which I explained to my kids was just like a rolled up pizza). For the pickier eaters, I had a smaller cheese-only stromboli. And the very pickiest eater got a peanut butter and honey sandwich - heart-shaped also, thanks to a sandwich cutter.

For drinks, we had the usual: goblets of Sprite with frozen juice heart cubes. This year, I used two different ice cube trays that were slightly different. In one, I poured pink grapefruit juice (making a nice soft pink heart) and the other was filled with pomegranate juice. The pomegranate cubes didn't look red but instead a lightish brown color, which actually looked pretty cool with the pinker one. And it was tasty, too.

Instead of the usual molded jello hearts, I made mosaic jello. I love this stuff and may or may not have had some for breakfast this morning. The different flavors/colors of jello were watermelon (soft pink), strawberry (dark pink), and black cherry (dark red). This is sweet enough to be a dessert but since jello is a traditional Valentine side dish, I couldn't save it for last. Besides…I had big plans for dessert…

But before I reveal the dessert, I need to clean my plate. Green salad with heart-shaped strawberries, more strawberries for those who preferred them untainted by green stuff, hearted pears soaked in pear juice and grenadine, and a bowl of conversation hearts just to keep our blood sugar levels peaked.

Then came dessert.

Whilst ignoring the heaping pile of dishes diligently cleaning my house, my laptop magically opened and started searching the web for new and spectacular desserts. Completely by itself, the browser landed on a show-stopper of a dessert featured on Hungry Happenings.

These are actually mini cheesecakes although they totally look like chunks of luscious frosting. And since it goes against my nature to bake anything without adding almond flavoring, these are vanilla almond cheesecakes. Beth from Hungry Happenings gives excellent tips on getting these perfect without losing your mind in the process. Mine look funny different because I decided to use what I thought was an easier method to add the wording. It wasn't.

Hope you had a loving Valentine's Day!


And if you haven't already, go enter my giveaway for the MyMemories digital scrapbooking software!

Valentine's Pre-Game Planning

I love Valentine's Day! Sure, it's a Hallmark-created holiday that obligates everyone to show their love/affection/tolerance of others in a materialistic and frequently gaudy manner…

Around here, we make it about the family, not just the married ones. The kids are completely involved and feeling downright smothered in love by the end of it. But the best part? Dinner.

Dinner on Valentine's Day takes days of planning, searching, and prepping. See, I get a little obsessive about having everything heart-shaped and in the appropriate color range. I try things a little differently each year because I be crazy just for fun but some items stay on the table, like my soaked pear halves and goblets with heart-shaped ice cubes. Also, if there isn't jell-o in some form, the kids tend to mutiny. However, I've given up on attempting to make carrot slices look like hearts instead of an orange Pac-Man and eating chicken hearts is a bit too literal for me.

2007  2008  2009  2010  2011

For six years, we've done this. The first year, I made a heart-shaped meatloaf (and I didn't have a blog then, so no pictures). While it was easy and tasty, it didn't look so great. Ever since then, we've gotten into a pizza rut, which I managed to change last year, but might pay homage to this year with a Stromboli. I'll have the pears, jell-o, and ice cubes, maybe even the salad with heart strawberries. But where I'm really stuck is dessert. I wanted to make a cake with a heart in the center but the pan is backordered and I don't think I can manage to do it myself. My second choice is to bring out the chocolate fountain again, but alas…it has gone missing. (And I'm offering amnesty for it's safe returned! Really, I'm not mad. I just want it back.)

Any suggestions for dessert?

Also? Valentine's Day was when I first started this blog! And since my blog will be turning five years old, I thought a giveaway was in order. So be sure to check back on Monday, Feb 13th. I'll post a review of a pretty snazzy piece of software along with the chance to win it for yourself.

Because I Love You, Dang It!

Sorry this took me so long. Lots of pictures to go through. I really need to take a photography class...

This year for Valentine's Day I continued my masochistic tradition of serving a heart-shaped dinner. We've been stuck in a pizza rut for too long so this year I didn't give the family a chance to pick that again. Democracy is over-rated when I'm the one that has to do all the work.

Last year, I used heart-shaped cupcake liners to make individual cakes. They were cute so I put them to work again this year as liners for sloppy joe buns. I call these "sloppy kisses."

And I had to include pears.

These I soaked overnight in pear juice mixed with grenadine and red food coloring. Not only did they have a gorgeous red color but they had a spectacular taste. Probably could have heated them up, added a little chocolate syrup, and had dessert.

While I'm not exactly the salad eating type, we needed vegetables on the table. I briefly considered beets. Very briefly. I stuffed veggies into a heart-shaped bowl and called it good. Instead of Sprite with heart-shaped fruit juice, I made sparkling pink lemonade and used black cherry for the ice cubes. A little too much on the sweet side. When the ice cubes melted, the darker color stayed on the top and looked pretty cool. The jell-o was a big flop this year...I thought I had a good idea but was attempting to multi-task and that's just not smart for airheads.

And now for dessert. My favorite part.

Cupcake, heart strawberries with cream, and heart candies. I couldn't stop myself. The cupcake was really the star of the show. My pictures were horrible so go check out the site where I got the recipe for the magic: Bake it in a Cake. And yes, I made the Laffy Taffy frosting.

But I wasn't finished yet.

You might remember that the Boy is quite the picky eater, even turning up his nose at kid-staples such as mac n' cheese and pizza. Still, he couldn't escape my madness:

Heheheh...I am evil.

Can't Buy Me Love

So...I'm kinda in charge of a party. It's a daunting task, with the participants having high expectations and not being the easiest bunch to please. There's an intense time frame that I have to work in, not to mention the fact that I really need to find some additional bodies to help me.

It's the Valentine's Day party for Boo's second grade class.

The teacher would like me to have different stations, with at least one adult per station. One station should allow the kids to pass out their valentines, another to make some sort of snack. The rest of the details are left to me.

I need your help! What are some really good games/tasks/treats that your kids/neighbor's kids/cousin's sister's brother's kids have done in the past? Ideas, please!

Here's what I have so far, with the kids divided into five groups of six kids, with about eight minutes per station:

1. Group gets to deliver cards to their classmates. Not sure this is going to fill the allotted time...any suggestions for filler?
2. Valentine Bingo. Everyone gets conversation hearts to use as markers.
3. Some sort of treat...I'm thinking sugar cookies because those are easy, decorated with candies that I'll ask the parents to send to class. One of the kids has a pretty intense set of allergies so not sure what to do here.
4. A craft. The kids will have their valentine boxes made before the party. I'm thinking I'll get some pompoms, pipe cleaners, wiggly eyes, and have them make warm fuzzies. That's kinda lame. I'm sure someone has a better idea.
5. Another game. I don't know what yet. Yikes!

Any suggestions, links, or detailed descriptions are most welcome! (And helping me might just get you a couple extra entries into my next giveaway...)

Do-It-Yourself Valentine's Day

While I worked hard at not dying this week, the impending holiday snuck up on me! It's a very good thing that I obsess over Valentine's Day and already have supplies and ideas. So no hand-cut heart-shaped pepperoni or pink pancake breakfast but there was plenty of love. This year was simplified. And you can be sure that next year, I will pull out all the stops (provided I am able to breathe.)

Since my family insists on pizza every year, I stuck with it. It's my own fault, really. If my homemade pizza wasn't so good, it wouldn't be like this. However, since I was barely able to breathe without a coughing fit, I set out the balls of dough, sauce, and toppings.


This is Boo making her pizza (I learned the individual foil sheets tip from a toddler cooking class years ago - and names were written with a permanent marker because once they're baked, pizzas don't look the same). There were some adorable heart pizzas...except for one. Someone - and I won't say who but his initials are The Man - went for a normal circle. Geesh.

Along with pizza, we had fruit salad, chips (not heart-shaped, sorry), jell-o, and special drinks.

I really need to take a class on food photography. I take boring pictures. The jell-o was two different sizes and flavors: cherry (a nice deep red) and watermelon (soft pink). This year, the ice cubes in the drinks were made with Ruby Pomegranate juice, which was a lovely shade of pink and made the Sprite taste fabulous. It was my favorite part.

Dessert was also hands-on. I found little heart-shaped cupcake liners, so I baked our favorite chocolate cake. After dinner, I set out bowls of pink and chocolate frosting, along with decorator bags of the same frosting (HINT: When letting kids use your decorator bags, use a twisty-tie on the end, or be prepared to clean up huge drops of frosting that gets squeezed out). There were plenty of candies and sprinkles.


Lots of fun! The Boy was particularly pleased with his creation.

P.S.
I'm still thinking about hosting a swap. I thought we'd do a package consisting of things in your swap partner's favorite color. What do you think?


P.P.S
Happy 3rd Birthday to my Blog! Oh, they grow up so fast...

I Pink-Puffy-Heart Food!

Valentine's Day! Some people hate it but I think it's fun. I didn't always feel that way. In fact, it wasn't until I was dating the Man that I had someone special on Valentine's Day. And that first one was not what I expected (I cried). The next one - our first as a married couple - was equally as disappointing (I cried, this time locked in the guest bedroom, not speaking to him). But he's gotten better! MUCH BETTER! And I've loosened up, too. We've started celebrating it as a day to spend with the people you love instead of purchasing over-priced flowers or an expensive dinner (but I still demand a box of nice chocolates).

Three years ago, I started the tradition of a heart-shaped dinner with the family. That year, we had a heart meatloaf and heart carrots (which actually didn't look at all like hearts, more like an orange PacMan). Last two years (here and here), we've had heart pizzas.

In my efforts to improve on the year before, I decided to tap into my Type-A personality and do everything in hearts.
Or pink.
Or with pink hearts.
And we started with breakfast: pink chocolate chip pancakes. I didn't take pictures because I was too hungry.

Here's lunch:

That's a peanut butter and Nutella sandwich made into hearts with a sandwich cutter I got at Wal-Mart (we also have a dinosaur one). It about blew their minds that the milk was pink. Boo kept asking me how I did it. I told her I was magic. Somehow, she didn't believe me.

Since we were once again having pizza for dinner, I made it more Valentine-y.

I folded the pepperoni in half then used my kitchen shears to trim out the hearts. It actually went pretty fast (and the pepperoni under the cheese is the normal round stuff but don't tell anyone). And that's not grease glistening on there...it's love.

Drinks were the same as last year (Sprite) but this time I made the heart ice cubes with pomegranate juice. It was rather tasty but not as pretty a color.

The pears had to be improved, too. I soaked them all day in pear juice with food coloring. This picture is actually rather deceiving; they were more pink than it shows. Next year I may try to get them soaking overnight for better color. And the Boy would have mutinied if I didn't have jell-o. These were made using the "Cool Layers" recipe from the side of the box (basically you mix in Cool Whip and it separates out as it sets) with raspberry jell-o.

For dessert, I used a silicone pan I got on clearance last year. I used my favorite brownie recipe but the details didn't quite come out so it's hard to see. It's mini loaves made to look like Hershey's bars. There was strawberry ice cream with chocolate sauce and piped chocolate hearts. The dessert plates were a clearance item from last year, too, for a quarter each.

While the dinner was tasty, it was also really fun to put together. I don't think I could have gotten everything done if it hadn't been a Saturday when the Man was home. It helps to have an extra set of hands to put kids in time out.

Winners!

Have you been checking my blog every hour? Are you one of the three people who have emailed me and asked when I would announce the winners? I guess I had better get to it, eh?

For my first giveaway, I had a total of 59 entries...


I lovingly wrote each one on little strips of paper and then stuffed them into my daughter's Valentine box. I had some entries with the same name so I distinguished between them by adding the name of their blog. Both of my kids helped me pick the winners. Here they are!

Winner of the $30 gift card to Target is:

Mary! Congratulations! Please email me with your address so I can get that out to you.

Winner of One Dozen Cupcakes:

Congratulations, Diane! I will bring those over hopefully in the next week. Let me know what flavor you would prefer.

And since the second place winner was local, I decided to go ahead and give out the fancy M&Ms, so that winner is:


Congrats! Amanda (from Moving Forward), you need to email me your address, okay?

Thanks to everyone for playing! This was a lot of fun. I will have to find another reason to have a giveaway. Hope y'all had a good Valentine's Day. Our heart dinner was pretty great...of course I took pictures and I'll get those up for you soon. Be sure to wish my blog a happy 2nd birthday.

**You may have noticed that there was no Foto Friday this week. I had planned to post pictures from Baby's photo shoot. The experience was so unpleasant that my eye still hasn't stopped twitching...perhaps - once I've doubled up on my happy pills - I will be able to tell you the horror story that is Kiddie Kandids.

I Heart Dinner Parties!

For Valentine's Day, we had our traditional heart-shaped dinner. Now, last year, I made a heart pizza. I wanted to try something different this year but was vetoed by the Man, who happens to be addicted to my homemade pizza (See? He didn't just marry me for my good looks). The Co-ed quickly sided with the Man so I was out-voted. Our guests included Aunt Denise, the Co-ed and one of her roommates.

The Main course:

Made two because there were more people this year:

And the heart pears:

Drinks were in my new goblets, Sprite with cranberry ice cubes (got the tray from Ikea) As they melted, they turned the soda a really pretty pink color. The Boy spilled his after 2 minutes, which is why the kids got plastic cups. Here is how they looked at first:


For dessert, the kids had Cupid Cups. Mine did not turn out nearly as cute as the ones on the Kraft Foods website...dang chocolate hearts:

And the adults had this for dessert:

And no, those flowers are not rising from the top of the fountain...

We went between snacking on melty chocolate to playing on the Wii, to making the Co-ed feel uncomfortable...but I'd getting ahead of myself. Let me back up.

After dinner, we exchanged cards and small gifts. Then the kids got into jammies and we had family prayer. While I was getting the kids in bed, the Co-ed's phone rang. It was a boy she has been "just hanging out" with for a couple weeks. While she's trying to explain to him where she is at the moment, we're all shouting out that she should invite him over (so we could check him out, of course). She invites him. He accepts. Directions are given and the giggling commences. He arrives. We crank up the chocolate fountain and hand him a Wii remote. While the Co-ed and this poor guy play tennis, the rest of us are giggling at the table. Eventually, we change positions and everyone gets a chance to play (for the record, I totally smeared the Co-ed at bowling). After most of the goodies are gone, I turn off the chocolate fountain. With chocolate no longer freely flowing, our guests gather their coats and cards. Being a gentleman, he drives the Co-ed and her roommate home. But there's more...he may be back here with her for dinner on Sunday! Stay tuned!

**Edit...
I will have to ask the Co-ed's permission to post a picture.

Happy Day!

Today has been pretty dang good! I will recount for you the many reasons why this day rocks:

1. Made a cinnamon braid for breakfast. Those are just really tasty.
2. Delicious breakfast puts everyone in a good mood so the kids don't fight (much) until lunchtime. Because pb&j just isn't as good.
   
3. So far, the Man has given me flowers last night, a cool silicone oven mitt at breakfast (just in time to use !), a set of goblets at lunch, and a box of chocolates after dinner. I just love having gifts spread out all day! And he's hinting at gifts still to come...
4. It is very unusual for the Man to give me anything for Valentine's Day so being showered with gifts is really amazing. Our first Valentine's Day, we were dating but on the verge of becoming engaged. In fact, we had a camping trip planned with some good friends to Zion's National Park for the weekend. He was going to propose to me on top of Angel's Landing on Valentine's Day. How romantic, right? Well...long story short, he didn't get the ring in time and instead did absolutely nothing for me. Yeah. I cried. Then the next year, as newlyweds but still in college, he took a test until 9 pm that night. And he wondered why I locked myself in the spare bedroom and wouldn't talk to him! He's gotten better over the last 10 years. And this year? The best one so far!
   
5. Went shopping. That's always fun, even if I don't get anything.
6. I almost got a nap. I was exhausted, laid down, and just as I drifted off, the doorbell rang. So I felt better and then had other people in the house to keep me on task for getting dinner ready.
7. I found out I won a prize! I never win anything! This is very exciting...
   
8. One year ago today, I started this lovely blog. Back then, three people read it. Now, I can say that I think as many as eight might stop by on occasion...if they are looking for poems about ducks.

We make Valentine's a family affair, with handmade cards and small gifts to exchange. Like we talked about earlier in the week, this holiday is for showing our family how much we love them. I showed my kids some love by constantly slipping them pieces of chocolate. Because I'm cool.

It is our tradition to have a heart-shaped dinner. So dinner tonight was all hearts and lots of fun. We invited Aunt Denise, the Co-ed, her roommates and a "special friend." I must say, we had a lovely time embarrassing the Co-ed to no end. I shall have to give details tomorrow, along with pictures from dinner. But seriously? I'd be surprised if she ever talks to us again. hehehehehehe...

Average, ordinary post...with LOTS of pictures.

I've decided trying to sleep in is a lost cause. It not going to happen. I need to accept my fate and just get out of bed. Couldn't have a better alarm clock, though. When the Boy is ready to get out of bed, he sings what we call the "Mama Song." It's basically him saying Mama in various manners and frequencies. It's actually kinda cute...until he's been singing it for too long and then it starts to take on a decidedly irritated tone. Some days, I'd consider putting him in a big kid bed if it meant I get a few more minutes of snooze time. Other days, I decide that would be terrible considering what I discovered when I got out of the shower the other day. The Boy had decided to redecorate the toy room...

Today was a bright sunny day. The snow and ice that's been hanging around since before Christmas is finally melting away. So I did what every mother wishes she could do on such a day: I sent the kids OUTSIDE! Ahhhh, blessed fresh air! And no couch cushions to be strew across the floor.

And since I forgot to post earlier, here is our Valentine's dinner! Note to self: make more jello molds next year or again face the Boy's dramatic disappointment when he discovers it's all gone.

Move over, geese! Here come the cows!

Afternoon, folks!
Well, I've been told by many people that I should have a blog. So I was goofing off on the computer (like usual during the kids' naps) and I decided, why not? I like talking about me. In fact, me is my favorite topic. And some things happen that are just too good to keep to my journal and a few long-winded phone messages.
Today is Valentine's Day! The man and I decided that we would not exchange gifts. Instead, we are giving each other a list of 10 things we love about the other person. I had to narrow my list down to 10. I mean, have you met my husband? He is pretty perfect! Well, he is NOW. I've had to work on him a little but I am pleased with the results. And I am pretty sure he broke the "no gifts" rule which is another reason why I love him!
Also, for dinner, we are having a Heart-Shaped meal. I tried this last year and it was pretty fun. We had heart meatloaf and heart biscuits. I tried to make heart carrots slices but to be honest, they looked more like a carrot Pac-Man. So this year we are going for heart pizza, heart pears, heart jello (if I can get them out of the mold, that is), and of course, a heart dessert. I will try and get pictures.
This morning I went with da Boo to preschool. Thought I ought to brush up on my alphabet. Oh, and they were having a party. And I had offered to make a cake (because I ALWAYS offer to make a cake - "Oh, your sewer line just broke? That's too bad, but I have a really great idea for a cake! We could use chocolate pudding and tootsie rolls..."). Here's a picture (of the preschool cake! Not the sewer one, silly!):

Just so ya know, I didn't decorate the cookies...