Love You S'more

The first year my husband and I were dating, I knew I didn't want to go overboard with gifts for Valentine's Day since our relationship was still fairly new.  Instead, I wanted to put together a fun and delicious dessert activity for us post dinner.  While on Pinterest, I came across the idea of "Love You S'more," a DIY Valentine's Day S'more bar.  I absolutely loved this concept and immediately got to work prepping this sweet Valentine's day surprise.  The end result was a rather large cellophane bag filled with marshmallows, graham crackers and Hershey chocolate bars, tied up with cute ribbon and 2 roasting sticks attached to the bow.  My husband absolutely loved the gift and we had a great time making s'mores on our first Valentine's Day together (complete with roasting marshmallows over a hot coil stove….it's all we had at the time and all I can say is that it definitely worked!).

In an effort to be thoughtful and romantic this year, I have decided to recreate the dessert from our first Valentine's Day together.  However, this year I am putting a little spin on my "Love You S'more."  Instead of sharing a romantic moment roasting marshmallows over a coil stove, I have decided to create a s'more dip to be served with a side of graham crackers.   This is super easy to make, absolutely delicious and perfect for sharing.   Here is how I went about making this delicious treat: 

Ingredients

• 1 Jar of Coops Hot Fudge
• Jet Puffed Marshmallows
• Graham Crackers
• Mini Chocolate Chips

Instructions

1. Turn your oven on to "Broil"
2. In a 6.5 inch skillet, heat 1 jar of Coop's Hot Fudge over medium-low heat stirring intermittently (approx 3-5 min)
3. Once hot fudge is heated throughout, remove from stove and sprinkle mini chocolate chips on top of the hot fudge
4. Then stand jet-puffed marshmallows on top of hot fudge mixture, making sure to cover the entire surface (about 21 marshmallows)
5. To achieve the charred look, I used a kitchen torch to lightly singe the tops
6. Once tops are slightly singed, place skillet under the broiler for approximately 2-4 minutes, until marshmallows are puffed and tops are golden brown
7. Remove from oven and serve along side a dish of graham crackers

**Note- To take this dessert to the next level, I recommend pairing this "Love You S'more" skillet with a bottle of Napa Cellars V Collection Carneros Pinot Noir.  Red wine is notorious for pairing beautifully with chocolate and the lighter fruit of this Pinot Noir grape will accentuate the chocolate flavors, but won't overpower the other s'more flavors. 

A few other accessories to consider when serving this spread: 

• CB2 Cheval Clear Wine Glasses
• Caspari Zebra Placemats
• CB2 Bento Matte Black Appetizer Plates
• World Market Heart Chalkboards, Set of 2
• Caspari Jute Charcoal Cocktail Napkins
• An abundance of red roses makes for a great finishing touch

Happy Valentine's Day!

Chocolate Covered Brownie Hearts

I love gifting my friends with fun treats on Valentine's Day.  Just some small token of appreciation, wrapped up in cute paper with a thoughtful note.  Last year I must admit that I was a little overwhelmed with the blog launch + Super Bowl Party + Valentine's Day.  So in an effort to save time, I ended up buying pre-made chocolate covered heart brownies for my friends for Valentine's Day .  While they were certainly delicious, they were really expensive and way more than I should be spending on little Valentine's treats.  

In an effort to be a little more financially prudent this year, I have decided to make my own heart-shaped brownie bites.  These bites are delicious, easy to make, economical and so flipping cute!  Definitely a unique and delicious treat that almost any Valentine would love to receive. 

Ingredients

• Box of Brownie Mix (Recommend Ghirardelli Double Chocolate)
• 1 pkg White Chocolate Chips
• Red Food Coloring
• Nonstick Spray

**You will also need an assortment of heart shaped cookie cutters and a jelly roll pan

Instructions

1. Make the brownie mix per the instructions on the back of the packaging
2. Pour batter onto a jelly roll pan that has been lined with aluminum foil and greased with spray cooking oil (ex. PAM)
3. Bake for about 20 min at 325 degrees fahrenheit or until toothpick comes out clean
4. Once baked, remove from oven and flip onto a cooling rack removing aluminum foil carefully
5. Once cooled, transfer brownie sheet to a large cutting board
6. Use the heart shaped cookie cutters to create mini heart brownies and set aside
7. In a microwave safe bowl, melt white chocolate chips (stirring contents every 30 seconds until melted)
8. Add 3-5 drops of red food coloring to the melted chocolate and stir until desired pink color is achieved
9. Dip brownie hearts in melted pink chocolate and set on a cooling rack to harden
10. Serve and enjoy!

DIY Valentine's Day Garland

With Valentine's Day less than two weeks away, preparations for this day of romance have officially commenced!  I know that many disregard Valentine's Day as the "Hallmark Holiday," but I really enjoy having fun with this holiday.  Sure you should celebrate your significant other all year long, but it's still fun to have a day that's strictly devoted to love and romance.  

This Valentine's Day I have a few fun and festive projects planned, starting with the most basic and essential…decorating my bar cart!  I know this sounds a little ridiculous (and maybe it is), but I plan on serving up a very special champagne bar cart on Valentine's Day to enjoy with my husband before dinner.  There is nothing more romantic and elegant (in my opinion) than enjoying a delicious bottle of champagne together.  To get my bar cart holiday ready, I am going to start with the decorations.  Specifically, this adorable DIY Valentine's Day garland made out of colored paper.  It's easy to make and really adds a festive feel to any space.   

What you will need... 

• Stapler
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Red and Pink Printer Paper

Instructions

1. Stack 2 sheets of red paper and 2 sheets of pink paper together, ordering them either pink-red-red-pink or red-pink-pink-red
2. With a pencil and ruler, draw straight lines across the width of the paper on top of the stack, spacing the lines approximately 1 inch apart. 
3. Keeping the stack together, cut into strips 
4. Take one stack of strips and staple each end together, thus collating the 4 pieces together
5. Using scissors, cut the strip in half so that you have two 4 1/4" collated stacks
6. Take one mini stack (Stack #1), peel down the two exterior strips and staple them together at the base and set aside
7. Repeat step #6 with a second mini stack
8. Take Stack #1, bend the ends of the two interior strips inward, insert the tail of Stack #2 in-between the inverted ends from Stack #1 and staple together
9. Repeat this process until desired length is achieved.  Reference images for more explicit directions on how to assemble garland.  

**Next week I will be unveiling my Valentine's Day Edition Bar Cart on the blog!  So stay tuned!