Everyone
knows that Valentine’s Day is a special day for love,
friendship, sweethearts, pretty cards, and flowers, but no one knows
exactly how and why it got started. One legend has it that birds
choose their mates on Valentine’s Day.
Another
common myth says that it is celebrated in memory of a Christian
martyr named Valentine. He was imprisoned by the Romans in about A.D
270 because he would not give up his Christian beliefs. Prior to his
execution, he wrote a note to the daughter of his jailer and signed
it, “Your Valentine.”. He was later made a saint, and
sometimes Valentine’s Day is called St. Valentine’s Day.
Today
Valentine’s Day is one of the most widely celebrated unofficial
holidays, and a day to let your sweetheart, parents, relatives, and
friends know how much you love them.
Heart-Shaped Edibles
Use
a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut hearts from foods such as biscuit
dough or jelled gelatin. Place an open-topped, heart shaped cookie
cutter on the griddle and pour pancake batter into the cutter (or you
can just try to pour the batter in a heart shape). Trim slices of
bread into hearts for a Valentine sandwich.
Heart Shaped Cupcakes
It’s
easy to make heart-shaped cupcakes using your favorite recipe!
Here’s what’s needed:
Cake batter
Paper baking cups
Marbles or aluminum foil
Line
muffin pans with paper baking cups and fill half full with batter.
Place a marble or small ball of foil in each cup between the paper
liner and the pan to make the heart-shape mold. If the cups aren’t
about two-thirds full, add a little more batter. Don’t
overfill the cups or you’ll lose the heart shape.
Bake
as usual. Frost the cupcakes, pipe decorative frosting around the
outside to further define the heart shape, and decorate with
Valentine candies.
Super Kiss
Give
someone special a super kiss.
Here’s what you need:
1 cube butter or margarine
1 (16-ounce) package miniature marshmallows
12 cups regular or chocolate crispy rice cereal
Large plastic funnels, buttered (Tupperware is best)
Cookie sheet
Plastic wrap
Ribbon
Melt
butter or margarine in a large saucepan over low or medium heat. Add
marshmallows and cook until marshmallows are completely melted,
stirring constantly.
Remove
from heat and add cereal; stir until well coated. Cool slightly, but
not completely. Butter your fingers and press warm mixture into
buttered plastic funnels and place on a cookie sheet.
When
cool, unmold and wrap in plastic. Add a flag with a Valentine message
taped to a toothpick. Makes two to four large kisses.
For
more delightful ideas to do with your kids or grandkids, check out
Dian Thomas’s fun books. There is a special on her website at
www.DianThomas.com.
You will find so many wonderful ideas you can make with your little
ones. Have fun creating while you make memories that will last a
lifetime.
Dian Thomas was blessed with the good fortune to be born near and raised in
the remote, breathtaking Manti-La Sal National Forest in southeastern Utah,
where her father was the forest ranger. She took the skills she learned in the
outdoors and turned them into a New York Times best-selling book, Roughing It
Easy. Her appearance on the NBC's "Tonight" show with Johnny Carson
boosted her into the national media scene, where she became a regular on
NBC's "Today" show for eight years and then ABC's "Home Show" for six years.
After more than 25 years of media exposure and 19 books, she now shares her
practical insights and wisdom with audiences who want to savor life.
A former Relief Society president, Dian is currently serving as a visiting
teacher. Visit her website at www.DianThomas.com