Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Valentine Tricks and Treats



Valentines Day was always a big deal at our house. My Dad would bring home boxes of Sees Chocolates for his 5 daughters and my mom would give something comparable to her 5 sons. I loved having my own box of chocolates. I would take tiny bites out of the bottom of each chocolate to see what it was and then ration the box so it lasted until Easter. I always ate the caramels first. My Dad still sends flowers to his daughters and granddaughters every year.






My mother-in-law, Donna made hand cookies with her children. They would cut around their hand on rolled out sugar cookie dough then bake and frost. Great project for little hands.




My Mom makes the best Queen of Hearts frosting. Think seven minute frosting (the white, glossy kind) with applesauce and red hots. The red hots make the frosting turn bright pink and it's so yummy with chocolate cake in any form. Very Valentiney.

Queen of Hearts Frosting
1 egg white
3/4 c. sugar
2 T. heart shaped candies (red hots)
dash salt
1/2 c. applesauce
1 t. light corn syrup

Combine all ingredients in top of double boiler. Beat 1 minute, then place over boiling water. Beat constantly until mixture forms peaks - about 4 minutes. Remove from boiling water. Beta until spreading consistency - about 2 more minutes. Frost tops of 24 cupcakes, a small cake or top of a dripper (13x9) cake. Dot with additional red candies.






Tania makes different flavors of homemade suckers every year. They are beautiful and so yummy. I'm hoping she posts the recipe and instructions on her blog.






I love Design Mom's idea of a Valentine breakfast. Milk turned pink with blended raspberries and sweetened sounds too perfect.






This year we are giving our kids nice (award winning, classics, pass down to your children), hardcover books. We did this last year and had so much fun picking them out and enjoying them together. They get so many treats and sweets that I like giving them something that's not. This year Roxcy is getting The Happy Prince (picked out by her Dad), Jonah is getting The Biggest Bear and Colin is getting Here Come the ABCs DVD (I broke the rules a little on him).

What are your Valentine Traditions?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Love the idea of a non-treat gifty; I agree on keeping it simple. Holidays have a way of escalating beyond pleasant, ie.,too much work, stress, money.