Day 114: Heart Manicure (success).

Pinterest pin and website link.

Even though Valentine's Day has already passed, I thought this was cute to try -- and it worked!  Instead of taking my own "how to" pictures, I decided not to reinvent the wheel and instead, simply borrowed the original blog author's photo below (website link above).

Materials: Toothpick, nail polish & a piece of tinfoil.

Instructions:
Pour a small amount of polish on a piece of tinfoil; refrain from using a quick-dry polish, as it will get sticky very quickly.  Let the polish sit for one minute to thicken up just a little bit, which will make it easier to work with.  Using a toothpick dipped in polish, make a dot on the nail.  Make a second dot next to that.  Using the toothpick tip, drag one of the dots down at a 45-degree angle.  Drag the other dot down at a 45-degree angle to meet the other side.

My finished nail -- I love it!

Verdict: SUCCESS!

Day 45: Heart Pancakes (success).

Pinterest pin and website link.

Happy Valentine's Day!  I made these today, and they were a hit (as you know, I am not a professional baker, photographer or food artist, so these wouldn't win any awards for perfection, but my kids and husband thought they were fun!).

First, mix up a few batches of your favorite pancake mix.  We were gluten free for a few years and discovered this mix.  It tastes amazing, is very filling, and, although we no longer need to be gluten free, is still our go-to pancake mix.

Then, put some of the batter into a separate bowl to color pink with food coloring.  When it's the pink color of your liking, spoon / pour into a squeeze bottle.  If you don't have a squeeze bottle (like me!), feel free to get creative by dumping out a squeezable food item already in your fridge and filling it with the pink pancake mix!

Add the batter to the griddle / pan and then use the squeeze bottle to draw a heart, to the best of your ability.

 Ready to eat!

Verdict: success!

Day 44: Cheesecake Mousse (fail).

Pinterest pin and website link.

I was excited to try this out as an early Valentine's Day treat -- but I'm glad I didn't surprise the kids with this on actual Valentine's Day.  It would not have gone over well, and they would have been disappointed :(

Ingredients:
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup milk or cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 small container (8 oz.) Cool Whip, thawed

red food color (I used more for the red color and less to make pink)

candy corn (for garnish)

Directions (from website link above):

Beat cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer until fully smooth.  Slowly add powdered sugar, then milk (or cream).  Add vanilla.  Continue mixing.  Beat about 1 minute on medium to medium-high speed.  Fold cool whip into cream cheese mixture, and stir until fully combined.

Scoop about 1/3 of the Cheesecake Mousse into a bowl, and color red.  Color another third of the mixture pink.  Leave the remaining third white.  One color at a time (starting with red), scoop mixture into a piping bag or large Ziploc bag, and squeeze a layer of the Cheesecake Mousse into small dessert dishes of your choice.  Repeat with pink and then white Mousse.

Refrigerate 30 minutes (or up to 1 day) before serving.  Garnish with candy corn if desired.

Verdict?  It was a presentation fail (ours looked nothing like the pinned picture; it was really difficult to squeeze the mousse into the glasses while making it look presentable!), plus the actual mousse taste wasn't a big hit.  My kids love dessert and didn't like it much -- and my husband didn't even want to try it. 

Day 31: Hidden Heart Cake (success).

Pinterest pin and website link.

I recently purchased about a dozen cake mixes on sale, and decided I needed to start baking today -- and I love how this heart cake turned out!  I followed the website instructions exactly, and think this would be a perfect Valentine's Day dessert!

Cake Ingredients:

2 boxes Pound Cake mix

1/2 cup Butter softened
4 Eggs
1-1/3 cup Milk
Red food coloring

Glaze Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup Powdered Sugar2 tbsp Milk

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350 and spray loaf pan with cooking spray.
• Prepare your first pound cake following box directions. Add food coloring to get a good pink color in batter.
• Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes, which is about 10 less than box directions (I actually used two smaller pans, so I cooked mine for about 33 minutes.  Part of my cakes were a little undercooked, so the next time I make this, I'm going to cook it for the full amount stated on the box).

• Let cool on rack for an hour.
• Remove cake from pan and refrigerate for several hours.
• Slice cold cake into slices no thicker than your cookie cutter.
• Use cookie cutter to cut heart shapes from each and stack to side.
• Prepare the other box of pound cake mix following box directions.
• Spray loaf pan with cooking spray.
• Pour 1/4″ of batter in the bottom.
• Place your heart cut-outs down the middle, keeping them straight and together.

• Pour remaining batter over the heart cut-outs in the pan. Ensure it gets down the sides and covers the top (There will be a lot of batter left -- unless you make this in two smaller cake pans like I did, and then there won't be much at all leftover).
• Bake according to box directions.
• Let cool on rack for an hour.
• Remove from pan and place on platter.
• In a medium bowl, put powdered sugar and slowly add milk until desired consistency is reached.
• Drizzle icing over cake and serve.

Verdict: This is a little time consuming, but well worth it for the cuteness factor!  Plus, I'm going to try this with the modifications for making a boxed cake taste like a bakery cake the next time I do it, and I know it will taste so much better!

Day 23: Felt Wreath (success).

Pinterest pin and website link.

I love having a wreath hang from my entryway mirror most of the year, and decided to try this red felt wreath (in a traditional circle shape versus the heart) so that I could use it for Christmas, Valentine's Day, and the 4th of July.  I followed the tutorial exactly, with the following two changes:

1) I went to Ben Franklin and used the die-cut machine to cut out my circles.  It takes a TON of felt circles to complete this wreath and I didn't have the energy to cut them all by hand!
2) I lined the back of my wreath with red felt, as part of the back can be seen since I display it against a mirror.

I love the end result, and I simply change out the ribbon it's hanging from based on the holiday and loop it over the upside down command hook on the back of the mirror.  Easy!

Verdict: success!

Day 21: Making Heart-Shaped Cupcakes with a Regular Muffin Tin (success).

Pinterest pin and website link.

We're getting in the mood for heart month around here!  I don't have a heart-shaped muffin tin, so I've been wanting to try this method of making heart-shaped cupcakes using a regular muffin tin.  Throw in a marble, fill liners halfway, and bake!

As in past posts, I overfilled most of the cupcake liners -- and that didn't work in my favor.  Just as the blog author said, the least-filled liner (above, far left) will look most like a heart (below, far left).

Verdict: success!  I'll be using this marble trick to make muffins for my kids' breakfast on Valentine's Day!

Day 15: Molded Chocolate Tutorial (success -- with modifications).

Pinterest pin and website link.

My son loves cars, and (spoiler alert!) we're making molded car chocolates for his preschool Valentine gifts.  I've used these molds once before for his birthday party, and they turned out really cute as party favors:

The only problems with the instructions I found online are that they're missing a key ingredient and an extra step -- I've found that the chocolate is much easier to pour into the mold when a small amount of vegetable or canola oil is added pre-warming in the microwave, plus they seem to harden better when cooled in the fridge.

My modified ingredients. car molds, Wilton candy melts & vegetable oil.

 My sweet helper hard at work.

Finished Valentines for my car-loving boy!

Verdict: success!