valentine banners

My kids have been wanting me to put up some Valentine decorations (they love any festive decor in our house), but wasn't thrilled with anything I'd been seeing in the stores. This week I found some red heart doilies and made a garland with narrow pink ribbon. I loved the simplicity of it and ended up making a few more to hang around the house.

I also made a "Happy Valentine's Day" banner. It turned out to be quite large so I decided to display it on a wall in my entryway. I took down the framed picture that was on the wall and hung it above my settee. Now it's a surprise greeting to anyone that comes inside our front door. On a side note, I looked to see if Pottery Barn still carried this settee but I don't see it on their website. This one is similar and pretty too.

more valentine lollipops

Our friend, Courtney, just made the cutest lollipop Valentines for her kids. I think they are brilliant! Check out the instructions here.

felt valentine projects

I love this felt valentine headband that katiedid made for her daughter. Cute, graphic and relatively simple – just one straight line on the sewing machine (even I think I could pull it off!). My sister-in-law, Natalie, was so inspired last year when she saw Katie's daughters in their cute headbands, that she whipped up a couple for Charlotte and Amelia. They will be wearing them again this year.

 I also love these felt valentine bracelets. Very clever. They are a brilliant alternative to candy.

Hearts for girls and....

...arrows for boys. Check out the details here.

4 days to go and counting!

easy valentine chocolates

When I was a child, my mom always made white chocolate lollipops for select holidays (Valentine's Day made the cut, St. Patrick's Day, for some reason, did not). I loved helping her, using a toothpick to carefully color details on the molds, pouring in the warm chocolate and then waiting anxiously for the chocolates to harden. I also very much enjoyed eating the end results.

All you need is plastic molds, melting chocolates in any color you desire and lollipop sticks. Basically, you melt the chocolate in the microwave, give it a stir and then carefully scoop into trays. Let harden in the refrigerator and voila, instant chocolate goodness. It really couldn't be easier.

I am continuing the tradition with my girls. This weekend, we made a batch of Valentine lollipops and miniature chocolate hearts. Charlotte and Amelia felt quite accomplished with the end results and plan on wrapping their chocolates and giving them to friends this week as they count down to Sunday.

valentine water bottle labels

Are you hosting a Valentine party or cookie exchange this year? Here's a Valentine water bottle label template to make it extra-special. These are also great to use on a small water bottle for a child's lunch. Just click on the link below to print your own labels.

super bowl chicken chili

I won't even pretend to know who's playing in the Super Bowl this year, but I do know that it's coming up on Sunday. While I've never really watched a game, I can appreciate a good excuse to have a party and enjoy delicious food. This chicken chili is my absolute favorite and would be great to eat while you are watching the game (or the just the commercials and half-time show). It's been cold and rainy in Texas this week so I made this chili to warm us up. I took this picture yesterday just before I savored my last bowl. It's best served with grated white-cheddar cheese sprinkled generously on top and this cornbread on the side. It's also delicious to eat with warm tortilla chips (just scoop it up like salsa). Happy Super Bowl weekend!

intense chocolate cookies

I love Nigella Lawson. I love her television show, her humor and just about every recipe I've tried. I especially love laying in bed at night and reading one of her cookbooks – I usually end up chuckling out loud at her tongue-in-cheek witticisms.

My favorite recipe of Nigella's, to date, is this one for Intense Chocolate Cookies (I love the name). They are seriously, intense – 3 different kinds of chocolate all combined into one delicious cookie. You must eat these while sipping an ice cold glass of milk.

Amelia and I whipped up a batch of these last week to take to my brother-in-law for his birthday.

Please note that the recipe does not make nearly enough and I usually end up quadrupling it, leaving plenty of cookies for neighbors, friends and our freezer. There is something infinitely comforting to me when our outside freezer is stocked full of food and desserts.

Hope you enjoy!

Update on 02.12.2010 by Blonde Designs

If you don't have a kitchen scale for the recipe link above, here's the conversion:

4 oz. semisweet chocolate
1 c. flour
1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa, sifted
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. (1 stick) soft butter
1/2 c. light brown sugar
1/4 c. sugar
1 t. pure vanilla extract
1 egg, cold from fridge
2 c. semisweet chocolate morsels or dark chocolate chips (2 bags)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Melt the 4 oz. of chocolate.

2. Measure dry ingredients into a bowl.

3. Cream butter and sugars and add melted chocolate.

4. Beat in vanilla and egg and then mix in dry ingredients; stir in chocolate chips.

5. Scoop out on cookie sheet; bake for 15-16 minutes.

6. Let cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to wire rack to cool.

lip and moustache lollipops

Around the end of January, my girls catch the Valentine's Day bug. They love the holiday as much as I do, especially their class parties with homemade mailboxes stuffed full of notes and treats from friends.

For their class treats, we always try to come up with something different each year. Last year, we filled glassine bags full of their favorite Valentine's candy and affixed cute foldover labels printed with their picture and a Valentine's message. My friend, Jennie, made clever ones last year.

This year, however, Charlotte informed me that she absolutely did not want a photo of herself on her treats for school. Trying to convince an almost-7-year-old that there is nothing cuter than her photo on candy was fruitless (evidently some teasing boys got the best of her!). We needed an alternate idea that was equally as clever. Thanks to an idea from Family Fun, this year's treats are sure to be a hit.

This project became a family affair. My husband traced the templates (click on the link below for your own) onto the red and black foam paper and the girls cut out the lips and moustaches. I was in charge of affixing the labels to the lollipop sticks (click on the link below to print your own labels on adhesive paper).

I hope you enjoy!

i love valentines

I have a love / hate relationship with Valentine's Day. I loved it as a child, hated it during my teenage years and 20's and now love it again since having children. My birthday is two days before V-Day so when all the pink and red paraphenelia starts to appear on store shelves, I get excited.

I love the color scheme – totally chic and rarely garish; I love the school parties, always signing up to make homemade heart-shaped sugar cookies and convincing myself that my efforts are not in vain (I'm sure the kids would enjoy store-bought cookies just as much!); and I love this wreath that I picked up at Target for a mere $19.99.

A few years ago, Pottery Barn Kids sold the most darling oversized felt envelopes that are meant to be affixed to a child's chair and filled with goodies on Valentine's Day. It seemed a waste to let the envelopes sit with nothing in them until February 14th. Hence, my husband and I decided last year, beginning on February 1st, to write little notes for our girls at night, leaving them in each of their envelopes. I tried to make it as easy on Charles and me as possible by having preprinted business card-sized notes in a drawer in the kitchen ready to be written on – they are small enough to not feel too overwhelming.

What I love is that each morning, Charlotte and Amelia rush to their envelopes to see what we've written. The notes are sometimes a simple observation of a charitable act or a quick drawing to make them laugh. I love that Charles and I force ourselves to take a minute each evening to think about why we love our children. It's my version of Oprah's gratitude journal.

Click on the link below for cards to write notes to your own children.

 

freezer meals

I don't know about you, but from about 2 p.m. until 7:30 p.m, my day is crazy. I leave work to pick up my girls from school and with carpool, after-school activities, homework, etc., preparing dinner is the thing I dread.

I really used to love cooking – perusing my favorite cookbooks as I lay in bed at night, ripping out recipes from magazines that I wanted to try. Now, however, with 3 small children + work, there is little time for me to wax nostalgic on the joys of making my own pate brisee (not sure if I've actually ever made my own pate brisee!).

A life-changing event occurred in my life just before the holidays... my friend, Jen, invited me to be part of a freezer meal group. I was skeptical at first – what if the food wasn't good? I decided to give it a try and, thanks to Jen's exceptional organizational skills, it has been a huge success. There are 6 carefully chosen girls in our group. About every 6 weeks, we decide on a selection of 12 meals, each taking 2 meals and making 6 servings of each.

This month I made Chicken Enchiladas Verde and Cuban Braised Beef and Peppers. Usually, one dish is more involved and the other is a simpler meat marinade of sorts.

Don't get me wrong, it's no cakewalk making 6 pans of enchiladas. However, for the 2-3 days that it usually takes me shop, prep and cook, the payoff is enormous. Each of the meals are stored in either a freezer Ziploc or disposable tray and carefully labelled with the contents, cooking instructions and serving suggestions. Then, we meet on a scheduled morning to divide up the meals and leave with 12 dinners that fill up our freezers. The servings are usually for 4 people but with little children, we always have leftovers.

I love that I can walk to my freezer in the morning, take out a meal to defrost and know exactly what we're having that evening for dinner. The stress relief is unbelievable. Ironically, it is actually motivating me to want to cook again! I suggest you try it for yourself. You'll be happy you did.

If you would like additional recipe inspiration, click on the image below for some of my favorite freezer meals thus far. Do you have any recipes you think our group should try?