Valentine’s Day Game Plan… do you have what it takes to melt her heart?

Yes Men, Super Bowl Sunday is upon us and right after that comes Valentines Day.  I know what your thinking ‘ ugh, not this again – romantic bs ‘.  But it doesn’t have to be painful.  Here are some ideas to get your GAME ON:

– Traditionalist:  making dinner reservations and bringing her flowers.  Yes, this is the safe strategy…..but yawn boring.  Surprise her by wearing the apron. Cooking her a nice meal at home, trust me she will be head over heels.

– Cooking Class:  you enjoy cooking together but need a little inspiration.  Sur la Table is the place for you, register now as spaces will fill up fast.

– Sweet Tooth:  Your girl likes chocolates?  Surprise her by hand delivering to her office with a nice box of chocolates from La Maison du Chocolat  (my fav).  Her cheeks will really flush if you are the one delivering instead of a service and her colleagues will be giggling like lil’ school girls.   Or does she like the quirky kind of sweets, check out these rice krispie treats at Treat House.

Yes, I truly LOVE Pumpkin pie!

I could eat one all by myself in a course of a week.  YUM!  But what if you have friends or family attending your holiday feast?  Gluten free pie crust may not please the entire crew.  So make something new and different, along with the traditional pumpkin pie.

Pumpkin Panna Cotta with sauteed Pears.  Click on the recipe below, Enjoy!

Congratulations You Got Married!       

You had an elaborate cake with beautiful handmade sugar flowers…now what to do with the flowers?  

Ask your reception site to keep the flowers from your wedding cake so you can use them to make gifts for your mother and mother-in-law or a keepsake for yourself. Sugar flowers will keep for a lifetime as long as they are not exposed to extreme humidity and a plastic display case will keep them dust free.  A common misconception is to store the sugar      flowers in the refrigerator.  This is not the case since sugar flowers are dried and storing in the refrigerator will cause them to collect condensation.

Step 1:  Find a nice size display case. I like the doll exhibit box at Container store for $10.

Dimensions:  10″ L X 5 2/5″ W X 6 4/5″ H

Step 2:  Cut a styrofoam block to fit inside the box, but leaving ample room for the size of sugar flowers to fit in the box.

Step 3:  Cover the top portion of the base and styrofoam with fondant.  You can use a light mist of water to allow the fondant to stick to the styrofoam.  You can add a stamp or design to the top portion if you like or leave smooth.  Allow to dry overnight so that when pushing the sugar flowers into styrofoam the block does not move around.

Step 4:  Arrange flowers, checking frequently to make sure the plastic box will fit properly over the flowers.

Step 5:  Personalize the gift and you can add ribbon around the box once the plastic cover is fixed into place.

Now that the kids are out of school – think about spending some quality time with the kids in the kitchen by making some old family recipes.  My favorite cookie that my Great Aunt Amelia and Grandma Landini use to make were Apricot Fold Over cookies.  Not too sweet, just right – I LOVED THEM!

Recently, I made these delightful cookies to thank a Landini family for their hospitality over Memorial Day weekend and shared the recipe so they could pass on to the next generation.  I was thinking of my relatives as I was making these cookies.

With all the processed foods out on the market, please don’t let family recipes die when your loved ones pass.  Keep them alive by making them with your kids so the recipes can be passed on from generation to generation….

Magnolias are beautiful – but they only come once a year.  A fun way to incorporate your favorite flower into your wedding is not only including them on your invitations, but with the wedding cake.

Magnolia

Why do I provide a 1st Year Anniversary Cake?
As traditions continue, you probably ask yourself…do I really want to eat a cake that has been frozen for a year? For me the answer would be NO!
I offer a 4″ First Year Anniversary cake either as the cake topper to give more height or I package, wrapped in plastic wrap in a small box. Often at weddings the couple is too busy to sit down to eat food or cake. I recommend that you take that little box of wrapped cake on your honeymoon. We all know you will be burning calories from all the extra curricular activities and you will be hungry…
If you choose to freeze for a later occasion, please follow the steps below to ensure proper storage to avoid freezer burn:

Freezing – Place cake in refrigerator to harden the icing, Wrap tightly with plastic wrap a couple times, place in freezer bag and press as much air out of it as possible, put in a box just big enough to hold the cake, wrap the box with aluminum foil and make sure to label (you don’t want to forget about it).

Defrosting – Defrost your cake by pulling it out of the freezer and into the fridge the day before, unwrap the layers as the cake defrosts and pull from fridge 1-2 hours to bring the cake up to room temperature.

Even after taking all precautions, you must remember that you are eating food that is a year old so there is no guarantee as to the taste. You can ask your baker to recreate a small cake or they may even share the recipe with you….if you ask nicely 😉