YOU CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH ♥

I had ever intention to make heart shaped, pink & chocolate chip pancakes for the kids on Valentine's day. I had everything out on the counter awaiting Daycen's arrival home from school. I knew he'd be SUPER excited.However, his bus was almost forty-five minutes late because they got behind at the play at the Grand Theater. By the time we walked home, it was already after noon & it was almost time to head over to Grandma's.

So the pancakes had to wait.

Until today of course. :-)



I've have a difficult time getting Daycen to pose for pictures without screaming "SMILE" at the top of his lungs or hollering REALLY loud. So, capturing these were priceless. My little man model is back sort of. He will still throw a fuss every now & than when it comes to pictures --- but at least I am finally getting some decent ones! ♥







After burning my fingertips last year, I invested in a actual heart shape pancake mold (yes, grabbing a cookie cutter out of a scorching frying pan will result in burned fingers. No thank you needed for being the "test" subject on this theory.) The best $2.50 I have ever spent.





Not to toot my own horn or anything, but these pancakes sure did turn out looking like ACTUAL hearts & not some smashed up triangle. My awesome pancake making skills may have finally surfaced after all these years. (or perhaps, the new mold had something to do with it.)



I never make pancakes.

I really, honestly, never do. I buy this mix once a year because I like to see this excitement.



I'm a firm believer that fun food makes for a happy heart.



I'm also a firm believer that someday, she'll get it.
Until than, I'll just keep trying.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY 2012! { heart-shaped pizza }

Tradition.
— n
the handing down from generation to generation of the same customs, beliefs, etc, esp by word of mouth


For those of you who have been a follower of my blogging over the course of the past three years have come accustom to seeing our Heart Shaped Pizza on the eve of Valentine's Day. This being one of the most viewed pages from our blog (thank you, thank you.) So, without further adieu & in a lot more pictures --- here is this years ♥



When making the crust of your pizza, be sure to follow the directions exactly. We always mix ours in a medium sized mixing bowl & cover it with a towel for the time suggested on the package. When they say cover, they don't necessarily mean you need it in an air tight container. Just cover it enough to trap the air inside to help the yeast in the bread begin doing it's thing. Whatever you do - DON'T SKIMP ON THE FLOUR. Load it up. Load the table, load your hands, load the dough, & load that rolling pin!! You can never have enough, & when forming it into a heart, you want it as easy & non-sticky as possible. I've learned in the past few years, when you roll the dough out; shape it like a triangle.



You can try to roll the dough out to form the heart, but I've found it easier to just roll the triangle shape & with a knife just slice out a small piece of dough. I never throw this piece out, I just mash it into a spot on the crust that perhaps I rolled out a little too thin.



Transfer the dough to a greased pizza or cookie sheet. If you have more than one set of hands available, I recommend asking for a little assistance. The dough is thin & floppy, so slide you hands underneath & try to lift all corners at the same time. Once placed on the pizza sheet, pinch the sides of the crust up. This will help keep your sauce in place & the pizza toppings from burning.



Be sure to perforate the crust slightly with a fork. This allows the crust to breath as it cooks.



My husband insists on spraying the dough with cooking spray, I however, do not. It's all your preference. I haven't really noticed a difference between the too - but I'm not a professional pizza buff like those guys down at the Pizza Hut. This is where you add the pizza sauce; we use a ladle to spread it. Anything with a nice round bottom makes this task easier.





At this point, it's time to load the pizza up with your favorite toppings! Have fun with! ♥ We added colored peppers to ours this year for a little color splash & a bit of crunch! Delicious!


Once you have the pizza created, pop it into the oven following the directions on the crust.



At our house, this is when the aroma circles the kitchen -- & that smell brings visitors from the other room. Ones with wide grins, & very hungry appetites!



Remove the pizza when the allotted time is over. Remove from pizza sheet & allow to cool slightly. Cut into small squares. & Enjoy!



Homemade is always better.
♥ Happy Valentine's Day everyone! ♥

HEART-SHAPED PIZZAS. { diy recipe }

Every Valentine's Day eve, we create Heart-Shaped pizza's from scratch. We checked the prices of local pizza places that create these types of treats for the holiday & have found if the ingrenidents are on sale (which this year they were!) you can create two to three pizza's for the price of one already pre-made. Plus, the fun that goes into making them, & adding other toppings other than your typical pepperoni was the best route to go!



Our Valentine's Day post LAST YEAR got a lot of traffic the past two months. I've also received a few questions in my inbox on how to craft these. To be complete honest with you, we wing it every year! But, I know saying that doesn't really help. So, here is a simple attempt to make your creating a little bit simpler.


We buy the 75 cent box of jiffy pizza crust (yeast is not my friend, I cannot handle baking with it, so we chose the less of a headache.) With the mixture, all you do is mix it with 1/2 cup of hot water - place a towel over the bowl wait five minutes & you are ready to roll! Normally while my crust is forming, I dice up the fixings for the top of the pizza. My family is a fan of pepperoni, mushrooms, & black olives (except my husband, he hates those olives! So, to keep him happy all our hearts were half & half.)



Here comes the hard part, the rolling of the crust. Make sure you lay down plenty of flour, I'm talking more than you'd need for cookies! Coat both your table, dough, hands, & rolling pin. I start by molding the dough into a oval shape. Than I slit the top of the oval down the middle. (I know, I should have taken pictures, but my hands were so gooey.) With the rolling pin, I started at the bottom & rolled up in both directions to form a image that sort of resembled a heart. Once it was rolled, we lifted it & set it on the greased pan. From here, I perfected the heart, pulling it this way & that.



After perforating the crust & raising the edge of the pizza's to ensure that the toppings don't roll off, we covered our pizza's with sauce & toppings. I recommend taking it easy on the fixings, a little goes a LONG way.



Bake the pizza's at 425 degrees for 18-20 minutes (or whatever your crust packaging recommends.) Pull them out, let cool for about five minutes (otherwise the tip of your tongue maybe burned from your delicious sauce & melted cheese!), & serve.

I hope everyone had a fantastic day with the ones you loved yesterday. I can promise you we did! Even though our little lady wasn't being so lady-like in her dress...

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY 2011!

Happy Valentine's Day, y'all! I hope that each & every one of you get to spend at least sometime today with the ones you love. That's what me & my little family plan to do; bake some cookies, open some presents, do some crafts, etc, etc, etc. We are going to be overwhelming with each other today, and wearing out the words, "I love you". We are excited to begin our day wrapped up in each other so this post is going to be short.

Have a fantastic day! && here is a preview of what we'll be endulging in this evening...