Happy Valentine’s Day! For this sweetest day of the year, I couldn’t resist capturing some photos of our two girls’ first Valentine’s Day together. I’m giving you fair warning that I went a little shutter-happy at the sight of how adorable they looked! I have a feeling these will only be the first of many more sweet sister pictures to come! Hopefully they’ll sweeten your day as much as they did mine. ♥
Mio: “Just wait, Mirei… we’re going to have so many fun adventures together!” Mirei: ::nervous gulp:: We melted when Mio held Mirei’s little hand… she did it on her own, without being told to. Sweet sisters! Mirei is uncertain about what’s going on… and whether she likes it or not. I got these adorable Valentine’s mailboxes embroidered with Mio and Mirei’s names.
They have a slot on top for love letters and open up for little gifts… too cute! Will be using these for many Valentine’s Days to come! Mio trying to hold Mirei’s head up… I think Mirei’s had enough with the sister pictures…
Enjoying a sweet treat on Valentine’s Day. Love this Valentine’s Day dress! When I saw it, I couldn’t resist getting it for Mio. Jumping for joy! She melts my heart! Love you Mio ♥
I was in for a treat this morning, too! I didn’t expect that I’d get any Valentine’s gifts because we’ve been snowed in since Wednesday night, but apparently Dan was well-prepared and got everything ready on Wednesday, before the snow started… I was impressed!
A dozen red roses, macarons, and a wooden heart-shaped card he custom made with a laser cutter (so very Dan!). Thanks hubby! ♥
A couple days ago, I made whoopie pies for the first time. I’ve always loved stuffing my face with this New England treat, but this was my first attempt at making them. I found a random recipe online at Epicurious, but instead of using the filling recipe listed there, I opted to use the frosting recipe from my s’mores cupcakes. I also put my own twist on them by making them heart-shaped! (Everything is heart-shaped these days….) What I really wanted to make were these lovely red velvet whoopie pies, but I visited three grocery stores and red food coloring was sold out everywhere. I blame Valentine’s Day.
The results were satisfactory. They came out cute and the filling was delicious, but I felt like the chocolate cake portions could have been sweeter. But this may be because I have an extra-sweet tooth. What was good about them was that they were not too rich — light enough to eat a few without feeling guilty afterwards. If anyone has a whoopie pie recipe they swear by, please share! 🙂 We love this stuff.
heart-shaped whoopie pies
All laid out. I need to work on consistency of shape and size.
We both brought some back to our companies to share with coworkers. Dan took about two dozen to his workplace and they were all gone within an afternoon. I’m glad his coworkers liked them! We even got a request for seconds… maybe when we improve the recipe. 😉
And a bonus! Dan tried making some quiche! (Once again heart-shaped.) It ended up tasting more like a pizza pie but it was still pretty yummy. Good job hubby! 😀
For Valentine’s dinner on Sunday, I made spinach artichoke ravioli and for the special occasion, I made them heart-shaped! 🙂 They were large, but turned out pretty well!
They’re actually quite easy to make. Just follow the steps below:
Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut hearts out of wonton wrappers. If you have the time and resources to make homemade pasta dough, even better!
Brush the edges of the hearts with a beaten egg, and place another heart on top.
Continue sealing the ravioli in this manner.
Ready to be boiled! Super easy and very cute.
Bring water to a boil and boil the ravioli for 4 minutes. Drain and top with marinara sauce. I made some tomato basil sauce to go with the ravioli.I made cupid's hearts from grape tomatoes as a little side dish.
Jumbo heart-shaped spinach artichoke ravioli, accompanied by tomato cupid hearts and Dan's salad. (He helped with dinner, too!)
