Valentine's Day 2014

Yesterday was our 3rd annual family Valentine's Day celebration and it was so much fun! You can take a look here and here if you want to see what we've done in the past.

Before I start on yesterday's festivities, I wanted to share a picture of the gorgeous flowers my hubby sent me on Monday. I love that he sent them early so I got to enjoy them on my desk at work all week long. I'm not particularly a fan of roses, but these beauties are so classic and elegant.

But back to Valentine's Day - I kicked it off by making Cruz's favorite coffee cake that he's been asking me to make for a couple of weeks now. It's actually a mix in a box from Trader Joe's and he's a big fan. I baked it in a heart-shaped pan for the occasion :)

How fun is this pan!

Coffee cake and strawberry smoothies

Since I'm the kindergarten class room parent, I also got to plan their Valentine party. I decided to make mini strawberry and cream muffins and individual snack mixes for the kids to munch on. The muffins are perfectly sized for their little hands and as an afternoon snack. I kept the snack mix pretty simple with just pretzels, plain Chex cereal, mini marshmallows and Valentine M&Ms.

Strawberry & Cream muffins

And of course, what's a class Valentine's Day party without some Valentines to pass out? Cruz gave all his friends one of these cards and a small box of temporary tattoos.

Power Ranger themed cards

Delivering his Valentines

My co-room parent had a great idea for the party activity: the kids each made their own bird feeder using a heart-shaped piece of cardboard, smeared with Crisco and then dipped in bird seed. We added a piece of ribbon and the kids had a bird feeder ready to take home and put out for the birdies! I love being able to participate in his class parties and to see Cruz as a student. It makes me realize how independent he's become and how he's found his own niche among his peers.

After school, Cruz and I headed over to his pal AJ's birthday party. After a couple of hours at the party, we skedaddled back home so I could get started on our V Day dinner. Earlier in the day I stopped by the store and picked up some mylar balloons to decorate our dinner table. Cruz set the table with our Valentine plates that we reuse every year - I love their bright colors and how they help set the atmosphere. I bought the boys each a book and a small candy treat, and I put these at their seats.

Feels like a party!

After decorating, I got started on making our dinner - braised short ribs and polenta, plus heart-shaped pasta for the kids. Once I got the short ribs in the oven to cook for the next couple of hours, Cruz made one of his favorite desserts - brownies! With sprinkles!

Chocolate lover

Here's a picture of the short ribs after I took them out of the oven, after 3 hours of braising. I wish you could smell this picture, it was so fragrant and mouth-watering just looking at it. To die for.

Heaven in a pot

The short ribs were delectable, tender and melted in your mouth. Who says dinner at home has to be boring? This is what I would want to eat if I was at a restaurant on Valentine's Day, so I made it myself. Lawd have mercy, it was good! You can find the short rib recipe here.

Brownies taste better when they're shaped like hearts

My loves

Peek-a-boo!

 

I told Cruz that Valentine's Day is all about celebrating our ability to give and receive love. I hope Cruz and Lucas know how much they are loved by so many people, especially their mama. I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day, however you spent it!

Fruit Kabob Turkey

I found this super cute fruit kabob turkey idea via Pinterest (of course) and immediately knew I wanted to attempt it for Cruz's class Thanksgiving party. There weren't any step by step instructions, but after examining the picture I was able to formulate a plan in my mind. For anyone else who wants to try their hand at this adorable edible bird, here you go:

Ingredients/Materials:

1 honeydew melon

1/2 Bosc pear

2 small marshmallows

2 raisins (or blueberries)

2 red bell peppers

1 yellow bell pepper

1 orange bell pepper

small piece of block cheese

fruit of your choice for the kabobs

large marshmallows 

bamboo skewers (at least 16, but can do more for a fuller look)

toothpicks

Prep:

To stabilize the melon, first slice a small piece off one side to create a flat bottom for the melon to sit on. Next I sliced the bell peppers into strips, roughly 1-inch wide and halved the pear. My last prep step was to thread all the fruit onto the skewers so they would be ready for placement. 

To start, I inserted two toothpicks into the front of the melon at a 90-degree angle, then placed the pear onto them and pushed in to secure. The top part of the pear should be taller than the height of the melon. 

Next, I poked toothpicks into a row behind the head, spacing them evenly apart. Once they were placed, I put the bell pepper strips on to the toothpicks.

Taking shape

For the turkey's face, insert two toothpicks where you want the eyes, then stack on a small marshmallow and a raisin (or small blueberry) to finish off. I cut a small triangle of cheese and attached it with another toothpick. I trimmed another red pepper strip to create the snood, and put that on the side of the cheese beak. Voila! Look at that face! 

Such a whimsical face

For the next row of feathers, I cut off a section of several skewers to make them shorter and added the fruit. You could probably not cut the skewers and just insert them further into the melon but I chose to cut them. Using scissors, I cut more red peppers to make the feet.

Looking good already!

Now you can start adding rows of tail feathers with your fruit kabobs. Since I made this for a kindergarten class, I made one skewer for each child (25 total) so it was very full. You definitely don't need this many, and note that it can be a little back-heavy which might make it somewhat unstable.

Impressive tail feathers

Another angle

At this point, I put the entire creation in the fridge since I made it the night before the class party. I didn't wrap it or anything, and it was just fine the next day.

The following morning, I topped each of the long kabobs with a large marshmallow for a finishing look. The marshmallows are optional but I think they pulled it all together nicely, but you can get as creative as you want!

Gobble Gobble

The fruit turkey was a huge success with the kids, and I think it would make a showstopping centerpiece on any Thanksgiving table.