Love is in the air…Valentine’s Day is right around the corner.  It is the day you do something extra special for those you love the most.  For the 5 loves of my life, I want to make it memorable…but how???  Darling husband is easy…but what about the kids?  I don’t want this to be about candy or toys…I want it to be about time spent together.  There is a PRECIOUS project I found on Saltwater-kids.com that I have really wanted to do with them…I think now is the perfect time!  I love that these little homemade treats for our feathered friends are heart shaped, that is what really drew me in.  I’m on a mission to find a heart shaped muffin pan, I thought this would be an easy task…I was wrong!  I do have a small assortment of heart shaped cookie cutters (and various other shapes) along with 2 heart shaped bowls I picked up.  I think I’ve got enough to make it work!  We have an amazing amount of beautiful little birdies that hang out on the hill behind our house…we all just love to watch them.  I have wanted to put out some bird feeders & I think this little project will be the perfect solution!  The bonus is the kids will be able to participate in the creation…and it is pretty inexpensive (major BONUS!).  So my plan is to make the birdseed mixture sometime on Sunday, let the molds sit overnight (you only need to wait 2-3 hours), then after school on Valentine’s Day we’ll climb the hill & hang ’em…FUN!…weather permitting (ugh!).

You know how I feel about cooking…so I’m thinking I will make the kids one of their favorites…rice crispy treats, heart shaped, of course!  Yet another use for the heart shaped muffin pan (not giving up yet!)…maybe this post should be called 101 uses for a heart shaped muffin pan LOL….I also want to use it to make strawberry muffins that morning for breakfast.  I have found plenty of these elusive heart shaped pans online, but never dreamed it would be so hard to find one locally…I still have a few stores to check *fingers crossed*.  Perhaps I’ll make individual heart shaped pizzas for the kids’ dinner…I’ll probably buy the dough, reserving my skills for Mommy & Daddy’s dinner 😉 .

I have an extra special dinner planned for after the kiddies go to bed…last year, my darling husband had moved cross country…I had Valentine’s Day dinner with my mother-in-law.  We had a great time, just weird not having him with me.  One of his favorite dishes is Lobster Bisque (yummmmmmmm!), so I’m planning to make that as the starter, followed by pepper crusted filet mignon with grilled asparagus and my jalapeno hollandaise…it is morning & I’m totally salivating, you?  I’m skipping the starchy side…we’re watchin’ the carbs LOL.  The jalapeno hollandaise is a creation based on the sauce from one of my all-time favorite restaurants, The Rokerij in Phoenix (no, I didn’t misspell the name).  They serve this jalapeno hollandaise that is ‘smack your momma good’…I simply HAD to figure it out, especially moving cross country where I’d be lucky to eat there twice a year.  If you are ever in Phoenix…you MUST go eat there…AMAZING FOOD…FABULOUS ATMOSPHERE…GROOVY BAR…just go, then remember to come back here & thank me 😉 . 

Stay tuned for the recipes (of course I’m going to tell you how to make the jalapeno hollandaise!)…

So, that is my little plan for Valentine’s day…I’m hoping we make some special memories.

Today’s secret revealed…I will be cooking that mouth-watering dinner in my ‘will cook for shoes’ apron, while prancing around in heels…freshly painted toes, of course.