Gracious Rain

Here’s proof that I really can cook after all…

These little cuties are basically a sugar cookie dough colored pink–and cut into tiny hearts. I poked some of them with a sucker stick for decoration before baking, then sprinkled powdered sugar and granulated sugar on them when they cooled. This makes a ridiculously small batch–so at least double it if you want more than a handful.

Tiny Cookie Valentines

Ingredients

4 Tbsp softened butter

1/4 cup powdered sugar

8 drops red food coloring

2-1/2 tsp milk

1/4 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup flour

Mix butter and sugar together. Add food coloring, vanilla and milk. Stir in flour. Roll out onto floured surface. Cut out tiny heart shapes. Poke tiny holes with a toothpick if you want. Bake at 350 degrees for 6 minutes. Leave on pan until cool. Sprinkle with sugar.

These make wonderful little additions to a Valentine treat bag or surprise for the kids. They’re just so cute!

 

We had some big plans for today, April and I. The idea was to tag team watching the babies and baking a busload of Valentine goodies that we could show you for the next couple of days. On the agenda, we had:

Applesauce Cinnamon Dough Hearts

Penuche Fudge (brown sugar fudge)

Chocolate Brown Sugar Chiffon Cake

Sounds pretty great–right? Of course, right. So we dove right in.

For the next four hours, we measured and preheated and greased and floured and kneaded and boiled and separated and baked and whipped and poured and stirred and chilled and frosted and rolled.

But alas…

A puddle appeared. It came in the form of applesauce cinnamon dough that refused to behave like dough. It was almost soppy wet to the touch and yet it crumbled instead of shaping politely into dainty hearts. What the heck? Then April laughed and pointed out that the non-dough-like dough was also a very “unappealing” color. Eww-wah. That did it.

I don’t have another picture–so you’ll have to trust me.

Down the drain went the belligerent, ugly dough.

Then puddle two poured in. We’ll call it the “Penuche Fudge that wished it was.” I’ve always been a sucker for a good brown sugar fudge and vowed years ago to find a good recipe and master it for myself. So when we spotted this recipe in Living magazine I was pretty sure we couldn’t go wrong. It’s Martha Stewart for Pete’s sake. But after about 45 minutes of obeying every order the recipe gave…every one…I swear….we had a really good flavored, terribly gritty, rather awful fudge-if you dare call it that. Oh, I’m not blaming Martha. Obviously, my stars were not aligned properly.

~sigh~

Into a Ziploc bag went the dreadful fudge to be pondered at a later date.

On we go now, to puddle number 3. The Chocolate Brown Sugar Chiffon Cake. Oh, I had my speech all ready to post about how “a cake made from scratch is more trouble, of course–but so worth every separated egg and stiff peak, bla, bla.”  You wouldn’t be sorry that you made the effort.

Yeeeah.

But what turned out to be sadly missing from the recipe was the fact that the cake–as lovely as it is–tastes quite a bit like…dirt.

Kinda funny to tell the truth.

It’s still sitting on a plate just daring people to try a slice. But I warn them before they do. It’s nice to look at, but it’s a slap to the back of the head in the taste bud department.

So the rain came down and washed the posts away.

But, we don’t care.

Because as Scarlett says, “Tomorrow is another day.”

So true…

…and we look dang fine in pink galoshes.

PS–You may have noticed that I haven’t posted any of today’s recipes.

That, my friend, is because I like you.

Happy Birthday my Daney Boy