Valentine's Day Guide | Crafts, Desserts, Recipes, Iced Cookies & Homemade Gifts

Get all of my Valentine's Day ideas, recipes, crafts, DIY gifts, sugar cookies and downloads in one spot... my Valentine's Day Guide!

Vanilla Bean Paste | This will change your baking!

Vanilla Bean Paste, $12
a whole new level of vanilla

If you are like me and have been swooned by the warm, seductive flavor of real vanilla beans, then this will change your life - available in my store for $12.  Well, at least your baking.  It is a thick, gel syrup that is packed full of real vanilla bean seeds - you can use it in the place of Vanilla Extract in any recipe.  No scraping, no cutting the beans in half, these seeds are already harvested.  At $12 for the entire bottle you can use all you'd like.  Add the power of real vanilla beans and those luscious black specs of vanilla beans to coffee, whipped cream, sugar cookies, custard sauce, cheesecake, brownie mix... whatever will make your day! 



Some of my favorite Vanilla Bean Recipes :

Meringues on Warm Vanilla Bean Custard

Vanilla Syrup | Vanilla Bean Simple Syrup

Vanilla Bean Cheesecake

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House and Home Giveaway

Need help with a room in your home?

My blog buddy Carol Beck, interior decorator and window treatment expert from House and Home Defined is having a giveaway of a design board custom made for your home.

We all have a room that needs a little help so head on over and sign up!

Mailbox Makeover

Behold our white plastic dinosaur mailbox:

We have been living with this rust bucket since day 1 and I finally decided something had to be done. Aside from that, we had removed the outdated house numbers plaque from the top of our garage and never got around to replacing it with something more modern (I wonder if this is why some of our packages never made it to our house... hmmm...)

We were procrastinating because our house is entirely brick and stucco, and there's really no decent spot to drill numbers into. So I figured I'd knock both projects off the list by combining them somehow.

Step #1: Get a new mailbox:

I realized when mailbox shopping that these things are quite costly. I didn't want to use a standard wood post, so I did some bargain hunting and found this nice black post here for around $45 shipped, which I thought was a great deal compared to similar looking products. Then I picked up a matching black mailbox at Lowe's for around $15.

Next it was time for the house numbers.

I didn't want to just slap some vinyl numbers onto the side of the mailbox, so I had to get a litte creative.

I grabbed a leftover piece of trim (from our foyer board & batten) and decided it was the perfect size to make my own plaque.

After trimming the wood to size and painting it a bright white, I carefully chose my font and printed out two copies onto sticky-back paper (one for each side):

 Here is where a Silhouette machine would really have come in handy. Unfortunately, I am sans Silhouette, so I grabbed an Xacto knife and got to work the old fashioned way.

All done... wasn't so bad.

Then I carefully applied my template to both sides of the plaque and gave them a few coats of ORB spray paint (sorry, no pics of this step).

Once dry, I peeled back the liner to reveal my numbers.

It worked!

Finally, I gave the plaque a couple good coats of poly to weather seal it.

Once it was dried and cured, I put four screw eye hooks (2 for each side) into both the wood and the bottom of the mailbox. Then I used some simple S hooks to hang them... and voila!

For under $60, our mailbox is no longer the embarassment of the neighborhood. And now the UPS man can't miss our house, which is a good thing because our kitchen cabinet handles are scheduled to arrive any minute. And you know what that means.... kitchen reveal soon!

Chicken Tortilla Soup | Healthy Chicken & Vegetable Packed Mexican Soup

Chicken Tortilla Soup

a healthy, veggie packed recipe

There are many different versions of Chicken Tortilla Soup out there.  Most versions are called Chicken Tortilla Soup because the soup is thickened with corn tortillas that are softened in the broth, then pureed... my Chicken Tortilla Soup is not one of those versions.  Not because I don't like those versions, but because I didn't want to get my blender out and because I was looking to make a healthier version.  So... I'm calling my soup Chicken Tortilla Soup because it reminds me of those soups, but in reality it is more like a Mexican Chicken & Vegetable Soup.  And it is good.  Really good.

When I am making an effort to be healthy I don't like to limit myself from things I like (dessert, cheese, chocolate, pizza, pasta...), instead, I add things that are more healthy like extra fruits and veggies.   This soup helps me do that.  It is full of vegetables (carrots, tomatoes, spinach...) and roasted chicken, but it still has a just enough of the 'good' stuff (and by 'good' stuff I mean 'not-so-good' stuff : sour cream, avocado and cheese) to make it satisfying.  It is a chunky, vegetable packed soup that is full of flavor.  If you do want to make it really healthy, skip the garnishes.   

Chicken Tortilla Soup

a healthy, veggie packed recipe

1 pound of chicken breasts
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of taco seasoning

2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
4 carrots, large dice
1 (10 oz.) can of Rotel (tomatoes with Green Chiles)
1 (32 oz) can of whole tomatoes
1 quart of chicken stock
4 cups of spinach
4 green onions, diced
Sea Salt & Cracked Pepper
1/4 cup of heavy cream (optional)

Garnishes :
Sour Cream
Avocado
Tortilla Chips
Green Onion

Roast Chicken :
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  On a baking sheet, place chicken breasts, then drizzle with olive oil.  Season all sides with taco seasoning.  Bake for 20+ minutes, depending on the size and thickness of the breasts.

Soup :
In a pot, cook garlic and carrots on medium heat for a couple of minutes.  Add tomatoes, rotel and chicken stock.  Season with salt and pepper, if needed.  Bring to a simmer.  Add spinach.  Cook the soup for 10 minutes until the flavors are well combined.  Finish the soup with heavy cream to add richness (optional).

When the chicken has cooked completely, shred it with a fork.  Place the chicken into the soup.  Serve hot with garnishes.

Paperwhites and Gin Experiment

Nothing pleases me more than to hear from people who read my blog and feel inspired to comment.  I like getting e-mails with questions or people who want to share their experience in renovating an old house.  But I was more than excited to get an e-mail from a follower named Ruth who performed an experiment with paperwhites using gin to keep them from getting too leggy.  The left pot received just water; the pot on the right got an application of gin as described in the Yankee magazine article.  As you can see, the right pot is nice and compact while in full boom.

As impressed as I am with the paperwhite experiment, can we just talk about this vignette?  As eager as I was to see the result of Ruth's experiment, my attention was almost immediately drawn away to the composition of this grouping.  I love how the textures of paperwhites, the fossil and the animal print book (I Married Adventure by Osa Johnson) all work beautifully together.  The small frame and what I would guess is an antique compass complement the theme.  And how perfect is the grasscloth?

I want to thank Ruth for sending the photo and for agreeing to share it with everyone!

Valentine's Day Sugar Cookies | Heart Cookies for Emma's Baptism

my cookie decorating helper... snoozing on the job

Emma's Baptism Cookies

Emma is making her first trip back to Kansas City next week... on the outside, anyway.  While we are there she is going to be baptized at my family's Church in Lexington.  She'll be wearing the same Christening gown that my Dad, my sister and I wore - in the same Church at which we were baptized.  It is a beautifully simple gown that was handmade... by someone.  I'll have to find out who - I'm sure my Grandma will be able to fill me in.

After the service, we will be hosting a brunch for our family.  I'm thrilled to actually get to plan a party!  Since we've moved to Boston I've done a lot of writing about planning parties, but I haven't gotten to plan nearly as many as I did when I was an event planner and caterer in Kansas City.  While I don't miss loading and unloading platters, flowers and linens from my car, I do miss the excitement of envisioning then executing an event.  Anytime I start to plan a party my head starts spinning with florals, whimsical desserts, linens, color schemes... really fun for someone like me.  There is nothing that quite gets me going like planning a party.

For Emma's Baptism Brunch, I'll have limited time and resources as it will be held in the church... and I will be jumping from Moo-Moo's to Mi-Mi's (the grandmas...) so, I've prepared some sugar cookies ahead of time.  I decided that a heart theme would be appropriate since it is so close to Valentines Day.  Still in the 'hand-stitched' mode from the Holidays, I made the cookies to look like an embroidery sampler with an eclectic mix of shapes and patterns.  I modeled the different patterns off of the various dresses and outfits of hers that I love. 

Here's a link to my Sugar Cookie (and more Valentine's Day Cookies...) recipe!

My decorating area... when I decorate sugar cookies it takes over my entire kitchen.  It is quite the project.

I just made 'dots' to form the clusters of roses, then used a pastry bag snipped at an angle to create the leaves.  I think this is a cleaner, more modern way of creating that classic rosebud icing decoration that we're used to seeing on cakes.

I packed up the cookies in ziplock bags for the freezer to keep them fresh.  I'm going to check them in my suitcase at the airport... fingers crossed that most of them will arrive in one piece!

Here's a link to my Sugar Cookie (and more Valentine's Day Cookies...) recipe!

For simple packaging ideas and Free Downloadable Labels and Tags, click here!

Friday Favorites

I'm switching things up again by introducing a new series I call "Friday Favorites". There are so many awesome things I come across on a daily basis (most of my day consists of being at the computer, so I can't help but run into stuff!) and I thought I'd share some of my favorites with you from time to time.

Today's favorite has been something I've almost purchased a few times...

How great are these?! They are the work of Liz and Rick, from OldNewAgain on Etsy.

They have everything from carved state key organizers:

to napkin holders:

and plenty of words and letters...

The best part: you can customize everything!

I want everything in this shop. All over my walls in every room.

I had my eye on this sign for my kitchen, actually...

But at the last minute I changed my mind and made my own sign.

Sneak preview:

That's all you get for now (step by step tutorial coming next week).

Speaking of the kitchen... there was a minor setback. It appears the cabinet handles won't arrive until Monday now, so you should expect the big kitchen reveal on Tuesday. I know, I'm bummed about this too. But the wait will be worth it, I am just loving how everything is coming together.

In the meantime, I have some other fun projects to keep me busy this weekend... like a DIY chalkboard... perhaps some bathroom mirror framing and crown molding? We'll see. I might even have the big kitchen AND master bath reveal next week.

Meringues on Warm Vanilla Bean Custard with Raspberries | Valentine's Day Dessert

The obvious choice for Valentine's Day is chocolate.  Creamy, smooth and fluffy meringues served on warm Vanilla Bean Custard will be a welcome surprise to your sweetheart.

Meringues on Warm Vanilla Bean Custard
with Raspberries


2 egg yolks
1 cup of light cream
1/4 cup of sugar
1 vanilla bean
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

2 egg whites
1/2 cup of sugar
1 pinch of cream of tarter

1 pint of Berries for serving

To make vanilla cream, whisk together egg yolks, cream, 1/4 cup of sugar, seeds from one vanilla bean and vanilla extract.  Cook over low heat for 8-10 minutes, stirring constantly until it thickens slightly.  Remove from heat and set aside.  

To make meringues, in the top bowl of a double boiler (glass bowl sitting on a sauce pan with simmering water), whisk together egg whites, sugar and cream of tarter.  Cook mixture in the double boiler over medium low heat for 3-5 minutes, or until sugar has dissolved.  If you rub the mixture between your fingers, you should be able to tell if the sugar has dissolved.

 
Transfer the mixture to your mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Whisk on high for 7-10 minutes.  The mixture will cool and froth into a thick meringue as it whips. 

Dollop a scoop of the mixture onto each dessert plate shaping them into hearts.  You may use a pastry bag to make the heart shapes more perfect.  Toast the meringues with a mini torch, or place them on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven under the broiler for 1-2 minutes.  Pour vanilla cream (still warm, or heated in the microwave) around clouds and top with berries.