Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day is upon us, and heart-shaped treats are a must! As for me, I've started my externship (very much like an internship but it comes at the end of the program) and will be working all day, decorating and boxing cupcakes for people to bring home to their sweethearts. Oh, the glamour of it all!

We learned to make homemade marshmallows in class a couple weeks ago. I have been meaning to post the recipe, but it's all in weighed in grams - which is a pain in the tush. Instead, here's a great post on another blog (with pictures!) that shows you how to make your own marshmallows. One thing I would do differently - if you're going to dip them in chocolate, don't coat your pan in confectioner's sugar & cornstarch. It makes it hard for the chocolate to adhere. Instead, spray your pan with cooking spray. Also, no worries if you don't have vanilla paste. Just add vanilla extract once you take the pan off the heat.

http://www.heatherchristo.com/diary/415/chocolate-covered-vanilla-marshmallows

Valentine Breakfast

I don't have a Valentine this year but didn't let that stop me from making a special meal. I really hate to see a holiday (aka reason to cook special foods/decorate/make things) go to waste. Here's a pic of the V-Day breakfast I made for my sister and me: Egg in a Hole (heart-shaped, of course) and apple-cinnamon baked oatmeal (sprinkled with sugar on the top and put under the broiler, similar to our friend creme brulee).

Below is a picture of fruit spring rolls with cranberry coulis and strawberry yogurt dipping sauces. This was an experiment and the texture of the spring roll wrappers was off-putting. I guess I'm not a huge spring roll fan.

Pretzel Turtles

I made these treats for my friends for V-Day. They are super easy to make and I made two batches in about a half hour - and most of that time was spent unwrapping the rolos!

I got the instructions from here:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pretzel-Turtles/Detail.aspx?prop31=1

Watercolor Wednesday - Valentine Edition