The weekend before last, we awoke to a frosty world outside. The trees and bushes were all beautifully white, giving the feel and look of a winter wonderland.This was the morning, we left home to travel to the Oakenwald Terrace B&B in southern Minnesota—just nine miles south of Rochester, MN. We were celebrating our wedding anniversary along with our friends, Jim and Frankie. We have celebrated with them ever since our first anniversary, 34 years ago. (Our anniversary is on February 1...

Tags: B&B, Breakfast recipes, pancakes, Valentine's Day, Banana Pancakes, Oakenwald Terrace, wedding anniversaries

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Remember classroom Valentine’s Day parties way back in the day?  The ones that happened when you were in third grade in, say, 1983 (or before) like me?  This was just about the time that holidays like Valentine’s Day started to become the explosions of consumer goods that they are today.  Instead of a small display of cards and treats at stores, lots and lots of brands began packaging Valentine’s candy, cookies and novelties. I loved pouring over all the products in the aisle at the local drug store, planning ever so carefully which packs of cards I might coax my parents into buying to bring to the party at school.  I loved the Valentines that had lol...

Tags: Cookie, Valentine's Day, cookie pizza, school party, cookie cake

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Last weekend I helped my sister, Carrie, cut out 69 hearts to make valentines for her daughter Morgan to give away at school today. Carrie used three hearts per valentine and stuck a Dum-Dum pop in the middle. Here they are assembled: Pretty cute, eh?Happy Valentine’s Day....

Tags: valentines, Valentine's Day

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I love to give food gifts, little decadent treats for friends and neighbors.  One of my favorites to make and give is compound butter.  This is butter flavored with a sweet or savory element which makes a great topper for bread, sometimes vegetables and even meat.  These are easy and fun recipes which kids can assist in making for gift giving to grandparents or aunts and uncles or other special people.  Who wouldn’t want to add an extra special touch to Valentine’s Day meals?  Making compound butters is easy, and I have included some ideas and recipes below.  For a quick visual tutorial and how to form logs, ...

Tags: Valentine's Day, butter, gifts

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Not jewelry, not video game systems, not $100 sweatpants or $200 boots.  The most valuable gift to give is time, since it is a resource that can’t be renewed.  Rather than giving a box of chocolates, set aside time to make Marvelous Chocolate Truffles from Betty Crocker.  Kids can assist by measuring, dropping the mixture in teaspoons, forming balls, and adding nuts and sprinkles.  These truffles will make great gifts, and kids can decorate boxes and make cards for special Valentines (photos of you making the truffles ...

Tags: chocolate, Valentine's Day, truffles

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As it gets closer to Valentine’s Day, I’m thinking about hearts, flowers, candy and chocolates—aren’t you? But are you thinking about chocolate pasta? Normally I wouldn’t be either, but I was given a package of it as a Christmas gift this year.  I knew that our staff would want to taste it, and so we cooked some up. I ws surprised at how chocolaty it tasted and it wasn’t sweet at all. ...

Tags: chocoholics, chocoholics divine desserts, Chocolate Pasta, Valentine's Day

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It’s nearly Valentine’s Day and time to start shopping for heart-shaped candies, cookware, dishes and well... anything. Here is a great place to go for that! And here’s an idea for some cute appetizers to share with your sweetheart—Shrimp on a Stick. They are so easy to make, you don't need a recipe for them....

Tags: shrimp appetizer, shrimp on a stick, Valentine's Day

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I just read about a school where selling snack foods during the lunch period set off a parental brouhaha, since the practice conflicted with rules about healthful eating that the school had previously adopted.  The school did not allow for these types of snacks to be sold, or even to be eaten in classrooms for celebrations.  The rules also prohibited teachers from giving students candy. Times have changed a lot since I was in elementary school.  Back then we routinely celebrated everyone’s birthdays with cup...

Tags: Cupcakes, Valentine's Day, children, health, school, treats

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So you may (or may not) have noticed that I didn’t write about Valentine’s Day. I’m not against it or anything; I just don't embrace the holiday quite the way Andi does. Truth be told, I spent the evening of February 14 sharing a frozen pizza with a friend. The only reason I even had company was because my friend agreed to watch my dog for the weekend (I went up north to visit my great uncle) and she needed the lowdown on taking care of my mutt. We did open a bottle of wine and watch LOST but, for the most part, I ignored the holiday....

Tags: gnocchi, Valentine's Day

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On my way to work today I was listening to a public radio story about Saint Valentine, a holy priest of Rome. He performed wedding ceremonies for young couples in secret because Emperor Claudius II had cancelled all engagements and weddings. Claudius was having a hard time getting young men to enlist in the military and he believed it was because the men didn't want to leave their loved ones, when it fact it was due to bloody and unpopular battles. Saint Valentine was jailed for his actions and fell in love with the jailer's daughter before he was beheaded on February 14, 270 A.D. Story has it that he signed his farewell message to her: "From Your Valentine."How sw...

Tags: baking, cakes, chocolate, Valentine's Day

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