happy valentine's day!

nothing says 

i love you

like

chocolate dipped oreos

except maybe

chocolate dipped oreos

in bed

conversation hearts

valentine's day

wouldn't be complete

without a conversation

through

candy hearts

i remember the days

when hearts were carefully shared

making sure

i love you

didn't get inadvertently passed

to a

4th grade crush

also important

sharing only

the good flavors

anyone would shudder

to see

the object of her affection

chewing up and spitting out

her heart

ten years old

is too young

to fully understand

foreshadowing

this year

i am confident 

that hubster

will appreciate

an 

i love you

or three

in such flavors as

orancello

coconut

green tea

almond

anisette

coffee

and

vanilla bean 

 conversation hearts
(printable recipe)

1/4 oz gelatin

1/2 cup water

2 tsp light corn syrup

2 lbs powdered sugar

cornstarch

flavorings

color

rubber stamp kit or food color pens

place water in a bowl and sprinkle gelatin over.  let bloom.  add the corn syrup and gently cook in the microwave until the gelatin and corn syrup have melted.  do this in 20 second intervals. mix the gelatin mixture into about 2/3rds of the powdered sugar.  knead with your hands, adding more powdered sugar as necessary until the dough is satiny and doesn't stick to the counter.  divide the dough into 6-8 pieces, coloring and flavoring as desired.  keep tightly wrapped in plastic wrap, as this dough will dry out quickly.  keep some powdered sugar on hand, in case adding color and flavor makes the dough sticky.

  roll the dough out and cut with small heart cutter. 

 place on a cornstarch dusted sheet pan and let dry a minimum of 48 hours.

when ready to decorate, use food color based pens, or brush food coloring directly onto a rubber stamp with the words spelled backwards.  press the heart onto the stamp and let dry about 15minutes.  you can also paint food coloring directly onto the heart as well.

i used this stamp set for most of mine

these are so much fun to make

i think 

a robin's egg blue box 

full of 

marry me hearts

would be a darling

proposal

or

a love poem

stamped out

word by word

heart by heart

snaked down

the dining room table

as a simple but thoughtful

centerpiece

the possibilities are endless

Just. Like. Love

i am linking this up to
rook no 17
a little birdie told me

gum wrapper wreath

i'm probably aging myself

by admitting

that a favorite past-time of mine

as a kid

was making gum wrapper chains

i just loved it

sadly

sticks of gum

are not easily found anymore

but

colorful paper is

and

it works just as well

for a tutorial on how to fold

click here

i cut the heart shape from a box 

and wrapped it in pink ribbon

then wrapped it again

in gum wrapper chain

rather loosely,

to give it a "bubbled" effect

this is not a quick craft

i folded about 5000 papers for this wreath

i suggest

getting the whole family involved

c is for cadeaux {valentine s'mores}

ha

you might think i speak french

but i don't

although i do subscribe to some frenchy magazines

like marie claire idees

because they are so clever

and appeal to my desire
to surround myself with perfection

until i realize 

that perfection is a moving target

that i am too lazy to get up and chase

so

the real reason i know what cadeaux means

is because i went to school with a guy whose surname is cadeaux

and he told me that it meant gift

and it wasn't even a pick up line

but it would have been a good one

that i might have fallen for

better than

i have a tape in my car...wanna go listen to it?

and here we are

it is officially february

which means

 valentine's day is around the corner

and i have been a busy little cupid

working on my valentines

but

 instead of penning heartfelt poems

and loving prose

i'm

 giving gifts

petits cadeaux, if you will

of sweets

graham cracker and gooey marshmallow treats

graham cracker and gooey marshmallow treats swathed in chocolate

okay

smores

but valentine themed smores

with pink marshmallow

they will be individually wrapped 

and sent on their way

to be enjoyed

while holding the hand of a loved one

or a stranger

if that's your thing

Graham Cracker Cookies

(printable recipe)

from Carol Walter's great cookies

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon*

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly firm

1/3 cup brown sugar, lightly packed**

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

3 tablespoons honey

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine flours, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in a bowl and whisk well. Use electric mixer on medium-low speed to beat butter until softened. Mix in the sugars. Add honey, egg and vanilla extract, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add dry ingredients to butter/sugar mixture in three parts, mixing only enough to blend ingredients after each part. Remove dough from bowl and divide dough in two. Flatten each half into a rough rectangle, wrap with plastic wrap and chill for at least two hours.

* i think the recipe could do with less cinnamon

**i used dark brown sugar to good result

Roll and cut into desired shape.  Put on lined cookie sheet and bake at 350 until starting to brown around the edges, about 12-14 minutes

let cool

tempered chocolate

you can use dark or milk chocolate. i happen to be partial to dark

dip or "frost" the cookies before making the marshmallows

allow to fully harden before adding marshmallow filling

Okay--

i want to tell you

these are really good 

if you stop here

and fill with a bit of raspberry jam

or

peanut butter

but if you want to make them into smores

you need  marshmallow

I used my tried and true recipe that I made far too many times this past christmas...

really, 

i make other things

i promise

rainy day crafting {wreaths}

i have a compulsion

and it is making things

it could be food

it could be a craft

it could be trouble

today

i am sharing some of my rainy day projects 

during the holidays

jen at tatertotsandjello

made an adorable marshmallow and gumdrop wreath

which i shamelessly copied for a valentine wreath

substituting conversation hearts for the gumdrops

Marshmallow Wreath

Fabric Wreath

Embroidered Gift Bag

i used a piece of linen

from the remnants pile

i wanted it to look a bit

like it had been sitting in the bottom

of a civil war widow's hope chest

it is a gift

for a yet to be born

little wonder

named Ruby

it will hold baby essentials

and then it can be easily transformed

into a small pillow

whipped again

nothing shows that you are

 "whipped" 

better than

meringue hearts

easy  to make

but not easily forgotten

whip some up 

 your

valentine

will be ever so pleased

(for the meringue recipe click here)

this is how i plan to deliver 

to my 

valentine

please don't freak out. 

this is very old, from england

in the victorian style of taxidermy

and while a bit

macabre

reminds me of

my childhood collection

of

beatrix potter books and figurines

which have found a new home

in my memories

here is a pic of how I managed to make all my hearts uniform

I used a heart cookie cutter, and traced onto a piece of kitchen parchment. I then turned it to the reverse, and spread (although you can pipe) the meringue to the reaches of my outline

I then sprinkled with colored sugar in the colors of february

whipped heaven

i found myself wanting to play with meringue today

which might seem silly 

because it was raining 

 and

"they" say you shouldn't  make meringue when it is raining 

i think "they" are wrong

and

 i couldn't shake the slideshow in my head

 of fluffy, sugary-white meringue

it billowed in my mind

and melted like spring snow on my tongue  

I just love it

and you can probably expect quite a few posts about it  these next few days

especially since valentine's day is rearing its

darling little head

upon our days

cupid's wings

Meringue

(printable recipe)

3 large egg whites at room temperature

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

pinch of salt

Make sure the beater and bowl are extremely clean and free of any oil or fats.  Beat whites on low until foamy. Add salt and then kick up the speed to medium. Add cream of tartar.  Begin to slowly add the sugar "raining" it into the egg whites.  Continue to beat until soft peaks form, then add vanilla.  Beat to stiff and firm peaks.

If you over-beat, you will see moisture starting to "weep" from the whites.  If this happens, start over!