Valentine's Day

Keeping up with a blog is exactly what I thought it would be...difficult.  Taking time for myself is something I need to work on though, so I'm going to keep trying.


So Valentine's Day has come and gone and I made some new things this year!  The block "love" letters was a super easy project and can be used throughout the year. I used double sided tape so I can change the scrapbook paper with the changing seasons or holidays.

I also found a heart whoopie pie pan and made strawberry whoopie pies with cream cheese icing filling.

GO RAVENS!

Last night, my dad and I watched an entire football game together.  This may seem normal to some of you, however, it is a rare occasion for my dad to watch football, much less a whole game.  I'm not a closet Ravens fan either.  Both sides of my family are from Baltimore, MD.  Papou (grandfather in Greek) was a die hard Colts fan until they disappeared into the night one year.  The Ravens became his team when they took over in 1996.  He was always proud to be a Ravens and Orioles fan.  Papou passed away on January 3, 2010.  Ever since, my dad has become a little more of a football fan with each season.  He calls me to tell me the score instead of the other way around.

Back to the game...The Ravens played the Patriots last night for the ultimate rematch (they defeated us in the playoffs last year 23-20). It was a nail-biter at first, but Baltimore stepped up in the 2nd half for a glorious 28-13 defeat over New England.  I had a feeling this was our year!  Ray Lewis is retiring, we got our revenge from last season, and John Harbaugh (Ravens) gets to coach against his brother Jim Harbaugh (49ers) for the Super Bowl!!!

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/superbowl

Pretzel Bites for Valentine's Day

 
Valentine's Day is quickly approaching!  Pretzel bites are an easy and festive treat for your kids, their teachers and your co-workers!  The M&M colors can be modified for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, etc.

Ingredients:
*bite-size waffle pretzels
*1 bag Hershey's kiss and/or 1 bag Hershey's Hugs
*1 bag of festive M&M's 

Instructions:

*Heat the oven to 200F. Set the pretzels (one for each treat) in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, then top each pretzel with an unwrapped Hershey’s Kiss or Hershey’s Hug. 

*Bake 4 to 6 minutes (the white chocolate will melt more quickly), until the chocolates begin to just melt. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and quickly press an M&M’s candy into the center of each Kiss. 

*Allow the treats to cool for a few minutes, then place the WHOLE SHEET PAN  in the refrigerator to set, about 10 minutes. Take the pan out, transfer pretzels to cooling rack. If they are not set, put pan back in fridge. 

Once cooled, they are ready to enjoy or can be placed in holiday bags for the kiddos to hand out at school!

Why not?

After much consideration, I've decided to give blogging a shot.  I've been on Pinterest for almost 2 years and have received many requests to put what I've made into a blog, so here goes!  Maybe writing and posting will encourage me to make and bake more and be a stress reliever!

Multi-colored cakes and cupcakes seem to be the thing lately so I made some for a co-workers birthday.  I used an easy French Vanilla box cake mix with 2 drops food coloring.  Use a toothpick to create your own swirl pattern.  The color doesn't sink all the way through the cupcake so next time I'll try filling it halfway with batter, adding a swirl of color, filling again, and adding the top swirl of color.