Valentine's Food Ideas 2012

Today's blog is about Valentine's Day food. Sue and I had a great dinner on the weekend and made some very cute and very tasty Valentine's dishes. I also went through our past blogs and thought I would post some of the pictures (and links) I thought might work for Valentine's Day.

The first photo (above) is of our Conversation Heart Cheesecakes. Sue made these ones from a no-bake cheesecake but, if you click HERE you can visit the Hungry Happenings blog for a fantastic baked cheescake and full instructions. Photo below is of more Conversation Heart Cheesecakes.

Below is a photo of our Beary Cute Taco Tart. Again, this was inspired by Beth over at Hungry Happenings. The woman is a genius! Seriously. Sue and I have made a few of her dishes and they always turn out great. She provides really clear step-by-step instructions. Click the link HERE to her blog and check out her amazing work. I will be devoting a full blog to this tart shortly but just wanted to post a quick sneak peek photo here. (Update: Click HERE to see our full blog)

Okay...the photo below is supposed to be a heart shaped mini meatloaf. As you can see it lost most of its shape during the cooking process. Just use your imagination. :)

I loved making the sweet potato and potato hearts below. They were so easy. I just used a cookie cutter to cut the potatos and then roasted them. Voila! A perfect Valentine's side dish.

Potato hearts and meatloaf hearts. See how cute they look. Really simple and yet so tasty!

Below is Roasted Beet Hummus with heart shaped tortilla chips. I found the recipe for the Roasted Beet Hummus HERE. The Beantown Baker is another blog that is full of some really cool recipes. Each year she hosts a Pink Challenge to raise awareness for breast cancer. Her blog has a million pink recipes that would be great for Valentine's Day. Check it out! Stay tuned for our blog about this interesting and very pretty Humus recipe coming soon. :) (Update: Click HERE for full blog.)

Here is another pic of the beet hummus. It's one of those dishes that will start a conversation at the dinner table.

This garnish was Sue's creation. It was sooooooo easy and really looks good on a plate. It's just the ends of a weiner and a bit of cheese and strand of raw spaghetti. So cute!

This next photo below was probably my favorite new dish for Valentine's Day. It is Roasted Beet Bread Garlic Bread. I got the idea from HERE. I could have eaten the entire loaf. Seriously. It's addicting. I will be doing a separate blog about this very soon. I'm sad that my photos don't show the amazing color that well. It looked really pretty. You can pop over to Cooking Bread to see their great how-to instructions. (If you like trying new things with yeast bread then definitely go see the Cooking Bread blog. They have the coolest recipes) (Update: Click HERE for more pics and full blog)

My mom wanted me to make her something to take the Senior's Center for Valentine's Day. I figured some Berry Scones with Berry Honey Butter would do the trick. I adjusted one of my scone recipes to include berry puree and then whipped up some berry butter (Yes, I will be doing a separate blog about this one too.) It turned out very pretty and purplish. I think if I had only used strawberries it would have turned out pink instead of purple BUT mixed berries was what I had so that's what I went with. (Update: click HERE for full recipe and blog) 

I will be doing a separate blog for the next photo as well. Strawberry Coconut Candy. It's so pretty, and girly, and tasty, and cute, and...well...the list goes on for quite some time. I will save it for the Strawberry Coconut Candy blog coming soon. It is a recipe that is near and dear to Sue and I.
(Update: click HERE for full blog)

The next square is a Strawberry Lemonaid Square that I found on Pinterest and thought sounded interesting. It is very tart and refreshing. I got the idea from KandKtestkitchen.blogspot.com. It was very different and would make a good addition to a plate of squares. (Clear HERE for full blog)

Next up is the Beet Cake Sue and I made a while back for Thanksgiving Dessert. It is like a carrot cake but pink. Click HERE to see our blog about that and to get the recipe. Cute for Valentine's Day dessert.

Here is our Raspberry Cheesecake Donut Cake. Why a donut cake? I thought it looked like a Simpson-style donut. Again, this would make a cute (and tasty) Valentine's dessert. See our blog about it HERE for how-to and the recipe.

One of my favorite ice creams of all times. Blackberry Ice Cream. Our dad's recipe is the best in the world. It's true. See HERE for the best recipe EVER. You can't beat the color of this! (Once again my photo does not do it justice!)

I just recently discovered the joys of Pavlova. Delicious and, as it turns out, very Valentine's-y when served with a berry compote. I blogged about it HERE if you want the recipe.

Here is a photo of Sue's Valentine's dinner table. She made those pretty paper flowers. I thought you might be having a Valentine's food overload. Catch your breath...enjoy Sue's crafty flowers... then carry on. :)

Okay...we aren't back to food yet. Sue made these cool, puffy flowers to hang as well. How crafty is she? The answer would be - VERY. She is a girl of many talents.

Now, back to some deliciousness. These are one of our mom's favorites. Neapolitan Squares. Want the recipe? GO HERE. You won't regret it.

Oooooh...back to ice cream. How many pinky colored ice creams are there? A lot. This one is Blood Orange Ice Cream. It tastes like a creamsicle / Orange Julius. So good. And easy!. Check it out !

I almost forgot about these little devils. Devilled Eggs, that is. Sue dyed them in beet juice and was also able to shape some into hearts using a technique she saw on Pinterest. If you haven't been to Pinterest you should check it out. It's addicting. Plus, it makes you look like a genius if you steal the ideas from there!

This torte I made some time ago for an office get together. It looks really pretty and would be a great dessert to take to a Valentine's gathering. See our blog HERE for the recipe.

I still can't believe Sue isn't fond of crumbles/crisps. They are my favorite. Well, one of my favorites. they just go so well with ice cream or whipped cream and are so warm and gooey and good. This one (Rhubarb & Strawberry) is unbelieveably tasty. Don't believe me? Check this out.

What? More ice cream? Yes....I know it is February and ice cream is a little chilly. It's hard not to count it for Valentine's Day though because it is soooooo pretty. Here is where you can find the recipe for our Plum Ice Cream. It's really, really easy!

Well, that is all the Valentine's food ideas Sue and I have for now. Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays. I know some people are anti-Valentine's day, and that's okay.

I love the thought of having a day devoted to love.

Especially if it gives me a chance to experiment with new dishes.

:)

 

Be sure to stop by Hungry Little Girl and The Mandatory Mooch and Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons for some great links!