Valentine’s Recipes
January 30, 2009 by Lauren · 9 Comments
Whether you share your Valentine’s Day dinner with friends, family, or one special someone, these recipes are sure to send a message of love!
Red Berry Spinach Salad
We’ll start with a simple Spinach Salad, adorned with red raspberries, cranberries or strawberries (that little hint of pink is romantic, don’t you think?). For an added touch, sprinkle slivered almonds on top and drizzle your loved one’s favorite dressing in the shape of a heart!
{Photo by mellowfood}
For sides, put a fun Valentine’s spin on a couple of classics:
Pink Mashed Potatoes
Add a couple of diced beets into a pot with 4 diced potatoes, boil til soft, drain, smoosh, throw in 1 tbsp of butter, a dash of milk and you’ve got Valentine’s Mashed Potatoes! (If you don’t like beets, just put in several drops of red food dye).
{Photo by Olga}
Heart-Shaped Rolls
Buy ready-made crescent rolls dough from the store, stretch them out a bit to fit a heart-shaped cookie cutter, spread them with butter and sprinkle on a pinch of Italian Seasoning and Garlic Powder. Bake as directed and serve up Heart-Shaped Herb Rolls.
{Photo by: ©iStockphoto.com/Maria Zhuravleva, Recipe by TasteofHome}
Incredibly Cheesy Turkey Meatloaf
And as a main course, gourmet meatloaf, Valentine’s Style! This recipe is simple, impressive, and oh-so delish. (Found on AllRecipes.com - I actually halved the recipe so that it would fit in my pan.)
{Photo by: ©iStockphoto.com/Darren Fisher}
- 2 pounds ground turkey
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 3/4 pound colby cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 1/2 cup ketchup (optional)
In a bowl, mix the turkey, milk, bread crumbs, ketchup and eggs by hand (my two-year-old loved getting in on this action!). Season with salt and pepper. Fold the cheese cubes into the mixture. Transfer to a loaf pan (or, in this case, a heart-shaped cake pan). Bake 1 hour in 400 degree oven.
My husband actually said “Wow.” when I served this up. And for some reason, my kiddos were willing to eat the heart-shaped meatloaf they had turned down a couple weeks ago when it was rectangular!
Raspberry Linzer Heart Cookies
Then, after you have dined and Valentined the evening away, you present your loved ones with a plate of these:
(Sigh) Aren’t they beautiful?
I got this recipe from Mary Engelbreit’s Cookies Cookbook, have made them several times over the last few years and they never, ever fail to stun their recipients! Be warned - they are delicate little things, so you’ll want to proceed carefully in this recipe because we all know beauty takes time!
- 1 cup walnuts
- 1 cup almonds
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temp
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, plus a little extra for dusting
- 2 large egg yolks
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 1 cup seedless raspberry jam
Finely grind together walnuts and almonds in a food processor. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and confectioners’ sugar together until fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks. Gradually add in the flour and cornstarch, just until incorporated. Blend in ground nuts.
Divide dough into 4 pieces, shape each into a disk, and wrap in plastic. Refridgerate for 4 hours.
On a floured surface, roll out dough one piece at a time until 1/4 inch thick. Cut out as many hearts as you can with the dough provided and transfer them to a greased cookie sheet. On half of those, punch out a smaller heart in the center and remove carefully with a knife. Bake at 325 degrees for 12-15 minutes, until lightly golden brown. Let cool completely. Dust cut-out hearts with confectioners’ sugar. Spread a rounded tsp. of jam onto plain heart cookie bottoms, and cover with the cutout heart tops.
No matter who you sit down to the table with this coming Valentine’s Day (be it your 8 darling children or a mysterious Latin lover), show them how much you love them with these foods from the heart!
Written by Lauren of Supermom Central
Crafty Ideas for Valentine’s Day Cards
January 21, 2009 by Cassie · 13 Comments
With Valentine’s Day just a few weeks away, cute cards are everywhere! I want to try and make my own Valentine’s Day cards this year, so I have started a file for a collection of my favorites ideas. Many of them are quick, easy and great for an afternoon project.
Kristina Werner has such darling ideas, and I am in love with this adorable button card. You can view her video on how to make it on her blog.
And we couldn’t forget Martha’s cute ideas…this hand stitched card and this quilled card are so pretty and easy to make. Simply follow their step-by-step instructions to make your very own.
Scrapscene displays a card a day, and these cupcake ones would go perfectly with Valentine’s Day cupcakes! Check out the instructions here.
Finally, I can’t get enough of Target’s Dollar Section - they have mini mailboxes right now that would be great for kids’ Valentine’s Day parties. Kasey, on her blog Beautiful Mess, put letters on her mailboxes for each family member and she lists cool ideas for filling the mail boxes too! Do you have Valentine’s Day cards that you like to make with your family?
Written by Cassie of Madison Envy
Valentine’s Day Delights ~ Part One *Decorating*
January 16, 2009 by Lauren · 10 Comments
For me, Valentine’s Day is like a friendly little life-preserver in the middle of the long winter. After the hustle and bustle of Christmas is over, I find myself unwilling to let go of that cheerful holiday spirit! The charm of Valentine’s and the idea of dedicating a whole day to expressing love to others keeps my heart warm during these coldest winter months.
Which is why I’d like to focus my next few contributions here at Little Window Shoppe on the 3 D’s of Valentine’s Day Delights – Decorating, Dressing and Dining!
If you’re anything like me, you’ve just finished packing up all the Christmas decor and the house may be looking a little empty. But all the “merry making” usually leaves me a little cash-poor in January so I’ve come up with clever ways to make my Christmas decor do double duty! These fun ideas are easy, inexpensive and will definitely spread some Valentine’s cheer.
Candle Bling
A quick and cute way to dress up some plain candles (maybe leftover from the holidays?) is to press thumbtacks or brads in them! You can go with the basic red dots (less than a buck at Walmart) or hit the craft store and get creative!
The Year-Round Candy Jar
You’d be amazed at how far you can go with a clear jar w/ red lid from the dollar store! All you have to do to change the look is fill it with seasonal candy and hang an ornament from the lid. Come summertime, this same jar will be all decked out for the 4th of July. During Autumn I tie an orange and yellow ribbon around it to bring out the fall colors. At Christmastime it looks quite merry full of holiday treats and “decked” with holly.
Garlands of Hearts
With just some construction paper, scrapbook sheets and ribbon, you can add a sweet Valentine’s touch to any spot in your home. I selected several different kinds of scrap-booking paper which incorporated the colors of my home, and cut out hearts about 8 inches wide, 5 inches high. After gluing them onto white construction paper, I cut about an inch outside of the hearts to create the white border. Then I hot glued them onto red ribbon saved from our holiday gifts! You can hang them separately throughout your home, or glue several onto one ribbon to make a Valentine’s garland just perfect for windows, doorways, fireplaces, etc.
Hope these ideas bring a little extra love into your home! Next Friday I’ll be showing off great picks to help you dress to impress on Valentine’s Day. See you then!
Written by Lauren of Supermom Central
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