Sour Potatoes

{an old plastic cookie cutter used to cut out heart shaped bread, the heart shaped bread, Lauren in the spirit with heart themed clothes and a great book (Clementine), beautiful, fresh strawberries…always romantic, Sam catching up on some light Superhero reading, a Valentine lunch of turkey and cheese on Hearts, strawberries and Fruit Dip, even water tastes better in a cup covered with hearts, Cooking Class…the kids learned how to make and decorate sugar cookies from scratch (this was super fun!), Laurie sporting her new heart tights, a healthy snack to offset all the sugar)

Well, hello there!

I hope you all had as amazing a day as we did yesterday! It was easily our best Valentine’s ever! Of course, any day around here consists of lots of homemade food but on special days the from scratch goodness just multiplies. With a ton of heart shaped food and enough pink to last us all (especially our Boys!) a good long time, we were certainly feeling the love and you know what the Beatles say, love is all you need. I think I also need Chocolate Lava Cake.

Here are a few of our Greatest Hits from yesterday and they are not just for Valentine’s Day, they can be adapted to any holiday theme…in fact I think I feel a bit of an Irish jig (and maybe some shamrock shaped bread) comin’ on with St. Patty’s just around the corner…

Heart Shaped French Toast-Makes 12 pieces, serves 4

You will need:

~ 8-12 pieces of whole wheat bread

~ 1 large heart shaped cookie cutter or really any shape you’d like to use

~1 cup of milk

~ 3 large eggs

~ 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

~ butter or nonstick spray for the skillet

Using a cutting board, place cookie cutter in the middle of one piece of bread and push down using the same pressure you use when you make cookies. Repeat with the rest of the bread. In a medium sized, shallow bowl, mix together eggs, milk, and vanilla with a whisk or fork. Over medium-high heat melt butter in skillet (or spray skillet with cooking spray), once the butter is melted pick up the skillet and gently tilt in both directions until bottom of pan is coated. Dip bread in egg mixture and place in the skillet. Cook on one side until golden (about 2 minutes) and then flip and cook for an additional 1 minute or until golden. Repeat until all the bread is cooked. Serve warm with butter and warmed (real) maple syrup or honey.

Berry Delicious Dip

~ 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened to room temp.

~ 2 Tablespoons confectioners sugar (you an add more, a teaspoon at a time if it doesn’t taste sweet enough)

~ 6 teaspoons of milk

~ 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

~ the juice of half an orange

~ a few drops of food coloring ( use red if you want it to be pink)

~ 1 pint of fresh strawberries

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix until smooth and creamy (I left mine a bit lumpy this time). Add about 5 drops of food coloring and mix until well combined. Add coloring 1-2 drops at a time and mix until desired color is achieved. Serve with fresh strawberries.

Love Potion

You will need:

~ frozen pink lemonade concentrate

~ raspberry sherbert

~ 30 oz lemon lime soda

Okay, this one is a FULL of sugar so don’t make the mistake I did and serve it with dinner! It was kind of fun and foamy though and the kids loved making it.

Make lemonade as directed. Into each cup, pour about a cup of lemonade and add to it one large scoop of sherbet. Then add soda to taste.

Molten Lava Cake– serves 8-12, adapted from this delectable recipe.

You will need:

~ 1 cup unsalted butter

~ 8 oz semi sweet chocolate squares (or chips) cut into bite sized pieces

~ 5 large eggs

~ 1/2 cup sugar

~ pinch of salt

~ 4 teaspoons flour

~ 8-12 silicone muffin cups

1. Melt butter and chocolate in a medium heat-proof bowl in double broiler or in the microwave. Beat eggs, sugar and salt with a hand mixer in a medium bowl until sugar dissolves. Beat egg mixture into chocolate until smooth. Beat in flour. (Batter can be made a day ahead; return to room temperature an hour or so before baking.)
2. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 450 degrees. Divide batter among muffin cups.
3. Bake until batter puffs but center is not set, 8 to 10 minutes. Mine cooked in about 9 min. 30 seconds. Carefully lift cakes from cookie sheet onto a work surface and let them cool about 2 minutes, then take silicone cups and gently turn upside down onto dessert plates. Cakes should slide right out. Serve immediately, Lava Cake needs to be served warm, with Vanilla Bean ice cream or fresh berries.