Yes, I know Valentine's Day is over. And that's great if you are already looking forward to St. Patrick's Day.
However, after all the long labors of "Love" and the work that it represents, I'm interested in leaving things up for awhile and getting some mileage out of them!
So here's some pictures of our cookie decorating!
Julia's favorite cookie
Everyone has a few creative juices...
After the cookies were done, we moved on to house decorating. We copied a project Lucas had done two years ago and covered a piece of paperboard in foil to make a candy kiss. Each kiss does have a paper tag with a message, it's just blown out in the photo. You can see them in pics farther down.
We made little heart people with curly arms and legs and of course, decorated hearts.
Very festive! A little curl or two of ribbon on the chairs and the ambiance was set!
This year, we decided to stay home and have a family dinner by candlelight.
The kids were so excited, and couldn't wait to "make it dark".
I decided to try the pioneer woman's quesadilla's and it's going to go down in history as a family fave! We had some fruit salad(local organic farm) and lots of gingerbread cookies.
Simple, but hit the spot. We were supposed to have sparkling berry juice, but I forgot to get it out of the fridge. Tsk!
One of my Valentine projects came to me on the morning of Vday: a quick little table runner! I thought I'd roughly quilt on a few hearts and zip up the sides and have it on the table for our supper.
Turns out, it just stressed me out and I spent my time rushing, being frustrated, harping on my kids and never actually finishing it that day.
Little reminder to self, no projects the DAY OF! If it isn't done by the day before, it stays undone! So I finished it the day after Vday, and we are enjoying it now. And it is now ready in plenty of time for next Vday.
Little reminder to self, no projects the DAY OF! If it isn't done by the day before, it stays undone! So I finished it the day after Vday, and we are enjoying it now. And it is now ready in plenty of time for next Vday.
So that is what we did, and we had fun doing it! I can't believe how much I like to stay home in my own house. I get out more than I used to... but I sure love to be a homebody! And this Valentine's Day hit the spot for us all. =)
Melita, sounds like such a fun valentine's day. The cookies look yummy, the kids are cute, and I love your table runner. It looks like a labor of love... and if it were mine, I'd keep it on the table because I LOVE it. :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful cookies! We stayed home too and had a candlelit dinner. I even let the kids drink out of champagne glasses, which they loved. Glad you liked PW's quesadillas. I have her cookbook and I've also made a few things just from her blog and I've never been very impressed. I'm starting to think I'm not nearly as good of a cook as I think I am (it's either that or PW is overrated). Have you made anything else of hers?
ReplyDeleteIt looks fun! I love the table runner and I want one of those cookies....
ReplyDeleteBetween you and Calysta, I am feeling distinctly uncreative! :)
ReplyDeleteLove your posts and I hope to give those kids some squeezes this year!
Kristy, about PW, I've made a few things. My sister has her cookbook (weigh in anytime, Calysta!) and raves about her recipes. I've loved the "best chocolate sheetcake, ever" recipe, it's a Texas Sheetcake made mostly from butter. I love the quesadilla's, but that's really all I've ever made. I wasn't impressed with her cinnamon roll dough, I thought it was too sweet, but that's all I've tried. I like her Homeschool section and her tone in general, and her kitchen in particular. ;)
ReplyDeleteGlad y'all liked the runner, and it has come out from time to time already! I think it might work for birthdays, too.
Adorable table runner!! And Gina, you, with your sock monkey stuff have no room to feel uncreative!!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, sweet cookies too! I agree about the cinnamon roll dough. Mike's beats hers out any day. AND she calls for so much butter that it makes the finished cinnamon roll wet with grease. (While we were in NM Mike didn't use as much as she called for, but I tried it according to her after we got home and it was too much.) Mom tried her Migas this weekend while we were gone and she said it was so good I think I'll try it tonight.
Melita and Calista,
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure I would like almost *any* of her dessert/sweet recipes. Those are pretty hard to mess up. I've tried her mac-n-cheese and it was WAY, WAY bland. Did the chkn fried stk (b/c Josh loves it) and it wasn't any better than any other cfs I've made. What else? The french puffs were good, but the texture of all that cinn and sugar on the outside was not so good. Umm, MMan's sandwich was good, but so! much! butter! and I overcooked the meat. Cowboy Calzone was DELISH! Comfort Meatballs was just okay, Olive Cheese Bread was way, way heavy. So there. They only thing I've liked so far was the Cowboy Calzone and my kids didn't like it, so there ya go.
Wow! Kristy, you've tried way more than I have and I have the book! I have doctored the MacNCheese - less ground mustard and added FINELY diced caramelized onion. I never used to love onions, but in this recipe it's TO DIE FOR. I also use plenty of salt and some pepper.
ReplyDeleteI tried the french puffs but they fell apart and I had to coat pieces of them.
MM's sandwich is much better when you do it PW style with some yummy cheese, some green peppers, etc. There IS a lot of butter - especially when you fry the buns.
Now I have to try the Cowboy Calzone!! On the menu for this week! Oh, and the Migas was really good; I put my own twists in it.
A little late, but my two cents anyway:) I've tried two things - stuffed mushrooms (which I didn't get to eat- for a dinner party I couldn't attend b/c of sick kid but everyone said they were good- were they just being nice? I don't know) and chicken parm. Didn't like it that much and it was a TON of work... All of her recipes are entirely too fattening- how does she maintain any sort of figure? she's cute though and I like some of her stories. Also like her photo section on her site. I've read some of the tutorials. Anyway, cute runner and I empathize with something turning out to be harder than expected. Also with the last minute thing. But, I love that you all spent the evening together. Very cool. k
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