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| Holiday |
2/1/2010 |
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| Simple & Sweet Valentine Treats |
| Written by: |
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Sharon Cindrich |
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A dozen red roses? Reservations at a fancy restaurant? A heart-shaped box of expensive chocolates? Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to show your family how much you care. However, you don’t have to count on expensive gifts or exotic plans to make things special this year. Playing cupid doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, some of the simplest touches can actually be the sweetest.
Whether you’re looking for a personalized card for that special someone, a few sweet decorations or a surprise dessert for the whole family, we have some quick and simple ideas to make your Valentine’s Day extra-special.
A sweet holiday
Tasty treats and sweet concoctions are a traditional part of every Valentine celebration. But you don’t need to buy fancy chocolates or spend hours cooking a gourmet meal to make your Valentine’s Day sweet. Check out a few clever culinary shortcuts that will satisfy your sweetheart’s appetite, as well as your own timetable and budget.
No-bake chubby cherub cake
If you’re short on time but big on sentiment, this is the perfect dessert solution. Using a store-bought pound cake, some pink cherry icing and a few sprinkles, this cake takes just minutes to put together.
To make the chubby cherub cake, use a store-bought pound cake (or bake one of your own in a loaf pan according to your recipe and cool completely.) Cut a triangle slice out of the center of the cake and set it aside (or gobble it up). Close the triangle gap between cake halves by sliding remaining halves together to form a heart shape. Use one can of pink cherry icing or tint a can of white icing pink with a few drops of red food coloring and use to generously ice the top and sides of the heart-shaped cake. Decorate to your liking with extra icing or sprinkles, and enjoy!
Tickled pink
Valentine’s Day is about showing your true colors — in this case red, white and pink. With a few drops of red food coloring, even the most mundane menu can look perky. Start your Valentine’s Day off with a cleverly colored breakfast buffet featuring morning mainstays with cupid’s touch.
• Pretty in pink pancakes — add a few drops to pancake batter and try pouring them in a heart shape. Substitute usual maple syrup with whipped cream and red sprinkles or strawberry-flavored syrup.
• Positively pink milk — a few drops of red food coloring added to your kids’ milk glasses or the cream for your spouse’ s coffee will tickle them all pink.
• Cheesy valentine bagel — add a pink punch to ordinary cream cheese with a few drops of red food coloring and spread on your favorite bagel.
• A Valentine’s Day toast — Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut regular bread slices into heart shapes. Pop in the toaster and spread with raspberry jam or butter and red decorator’s sugar.
And don’t forget about the other foods whose natural colors lend themselves to the festivities, such as pink grapefruit juice, berry yogurt, strawberries and cherries.
Setting the Mood
Want to add a little atmosphere? No need to load up on expensive store-bought decorations. Decorating for Valentine’s Day can be a simple as a few paper heart cut-outs hung in the windows or a couple strands of white holidays lights strung around the stair banister.
Add a little romance and cheerfulness to your Valentine’s Day celebration with a couple of these easy ideas.
Fuzzy Valentine garland
Use fuzzy red pipe cleaners to make a super-simple garland to string across a doorway, around your dinner table or up a staircase. Fold a full-sized pipe cleaner in half and then wrap ends around and twist in the center to create a heart link. Cut pipe cleaners in half and twist ends together to make single circular links. For even more variety, make links out of purple, pink and white pipe cleaners. Warning: The wire pipe cleaners can be sharp on the cut ends, and parents should help younger children when twisting pipe cleaners.
Red-and-white Valentine table setting
Gather your favorite red-and-white checkered picnic table cloth, your ordinary white napkins, a few red and white votive candles, and plain white dinner dishes to create a festive Valentine’s Day table setting. Cut small square confetti out of red and pink construction paper to scatter on plates, tie napkins and stemware with leftover red holiday ribbon, and make heart-shaped place cards using red and pink markers.
A little ‘light’ decorating
Reuse those white holiday lights to create a warm and cozy Valentine’s glow in your dining room, family room or entrance way. String lights in house plants, along window sills or doorways to add a festive glow to your Valentine’s Day.
Valentine greetings
Special Valentine’s Day cards may be the hallmark of the holiday. Make it a family affair by scrounging up scraps of fabric, buttons, tissue paper, glitter and glue and spend a special afternoon creating personalized Valentine greetings. Looking for a fresh idea? Have the kids try the fun, hand-traced card featured below to surprise parents, grandparents or a special teacher.
Gotta hand it to you, Valentine ...
This is truly a handmade card created by tracing your child’s hand in a way that delivers a “hearty” message. Start by folding a piece of construction paper in half. Lay your child’s hand down with his or her thumb and index finger on the folded side. Trace the hand lightly on the paper with a pencil and cut out the hand shape, leaving the thumb and index finger fold intact. Hold the card with the fingers pointing down and open it to reveal a big surprise, a heart-shaped cut-out between the hands.
Need a few Valentine slogans for your creations? Try these messages:
Outside: I have to hand it to you, Valentine ...
Inside: You have my heart!
Outside: You’ve won me over, Valentine ...
Inside: Hands down!
Outside: I have something to give you, Valentine...
Inside: My heart belongs to you.
Sharon Cindrich is a mother of two and author of “A Smart Girl’s Guide to the Internet” (American Girl, 2009). Her new book, “A Smart Girl’s Guide to Style,” debuts in March. Learn more at PluggedInParent.com.
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