PARIS FOR VALENTINE'S DAY!

 Happy Valentine's Day TLB friends!

I recently had a conversation with my sister where we discussed a Paris trip that hubby and I took a few years ago. With Valentine's day being right around the corner, I thought our Paris trip would make a great Valentine blog. As I browsed my photos all of the memories started flooding back. 

Paris is such an amazing city. It is rich in history, is home to some of the most
beautiful architecture, amazing food, and markets.  

The Champs Elysees is one of the world's most lovely and talked about streets in the world.......

Visit the Rue Cler Market---

We enjoyed the panoramic views from the Eiffel Tower where we overlooked the Trocadero, and the Seine River. We feasted on delicious food and outstanding wine.....and the company was great!

Our final evening in Paris was a romantic dinner cruise on the River Seine. We again enjoyed another delicious dinner complete with champagne and enjoyed glorious views of the Parisian Boulevards as we floated down the river.

It was truly a night to remember!

WISHING YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Kathleen

THRIFTY VALENTINE IDEAS

Welcome to Foodie Friday friends!

The New Year is shaping up to be a busy one. With the house moving along nicely we should have some concrete poured within a couple of weeks.....that is if inspections along the way don't hold us up. I know the importance of the inspections, but the excitement to physically see those studs started is killing me!

In the meantime, I'm seeing RED everywhere, in a good way of course! I thought I'd better jump on the Valentine wagon. Since time is so precious now-a-days here's a couple of quick and thrifty ideas I've created to share with you that hopefully, will save you time and money.

First of all look at these sweet little cookies, great for a sweet gift......

Besides using limited ingredients, and being the easiest cookie I've ever made....aren't they the cutest little dollops?

All you need is:

1 Box of Strawberry cake mix
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
Red sugar sprinkles
Heart shaped jelly bean candies ( I just used Starburst jelly beans---the recipe originator used Gimbal's, however, I could not find that brand....I think for future purposes old fashioned candy hearts would be great too!)

The recipe may be found by clicking the link below:
http://www.positivelysplendid.com/2016/01/valentines-day-cookie-recipe.html

When I think of  Valentine's Day I think chocolate (or sweet) and flowers....pretty traditional right? So let's talk about flowers.........red roses in particular. 

No longer is it necessary to order or purchase flowers from a florist. It's so great now to be able to go to the supermarket or big box stores and find quality, inexpensive, beautiful flowers.

So I headed to my local grocery store. I found a beautiful bouquet of red roses, ON SALE! Score!! Then I decided not to display them in just one vase, but to pull out the crystal vases, all gifts from hubby's travels to Ireland! I chose various sizes and played with them. 

This is my result......beautiful, simple and elegant!

Nothing says Happy Valentine's Day like a little something sweet and the beauty of a red rose! 

Wishing you all a very sweet and beautiful Valentine's Day!

Kathleen

From the Lavender Bouquet........

 Wishing you a lovely Valentine's Day!

It's Foodie Friday--Winter Cozy!

There are some things I love about winter. One of them is when my husband has a beautiful fire in the fireplace on a cold evening. I have to admit I am a snuggler. I've always had a basket of cozy warm afghans and blankets in our family room easily accessible for everyone to grab when they feel a little  chilly. It's so funny because our girls do this in their own homes now.

OK, so this looks pretty inviting........so what's missing? Ah, yes it's Foodie Friday---so where's the food? Wouldn't it be nice to have a little something sweet with that cup of tea? I had no idea when I chose the Red Velvet Cheesecake Cookies recipe, that #1 they would be so huge and #2 so delectable. You can cut each cookie into 4's and share with the family! The center cheesecake is gooey and so yummy----everything in moderation of course!

The recipe states that it makes 10 cookies, but honestly, if I did it again I would make 20 smaller cookies because they are so decadent.  I can't believe that you start out the recipe with a cake mix! How easy is that?

Red Velvet Cheesecake Cookies

Yield: 10 giant cookies
Cook Time: 11-13 minutes

Red velvet cookies with a creamy cheesecake filling and a drizzle of white chocolate. These bright red cookies are perfect for Christmas or Valentine's Day.

Ingredients:

For the cookies:
1 box red velvet cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the cheesecake filling:
4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the white chocolate drizzle:
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips, melted

Directions:

1. To make cookies, in a large bowl combine cake mix and flour. Whisk until clumps disappear. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together cake mix, flour, eggs, oil and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap. The dough will be oily. Refrigerate for at least two hours.
2. To make the cheesecake filling, using a mixer, combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth. Using a teaspoon, scoop out cheesecake filling and place on a plate. Continue scooping out cheesecake filling into teaspoon balls until you have 10. Place plate in the freezer and freeze for at least two hours.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. To assemble the cookies, take about 1/4 cup of red velvet cookie dough and flatten in your hands. Place a teaspoon of cheesecake filling in the center and wrap the cookie dough around the filling. Gently roll into a ball and place on prepared baking sheet. Scoop onto lightly greased or parchment lined baking sheets. Only bake 3 cookies at a time. The cookies are large and will spread. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until the cookies begin to crackle. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Remove from baking sheet to a wire cooling rack and cool completely.
4. Melt the white chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl or over a double-boiler. Drizzle the white chocolate over the cooled cookies. Let the cookies set until the chocolate hardens.

Note: if you are going to store the cookies for more than a day, you may want to keep them in the refrigerator. You can make the cookies smaller. Just use less dough and filling. You want to make sure you completely wrap the cookie dough around the filling before baking-so it doesn't leak.

Enjoy!

Wishing you a sweet cozy weekend!

  Kathleen

Thanks so much to my source for this recipe:
http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com