Chilled Hot Chocolate Panna Cotta & Appliqued Hearts

Since the big "LOVE" day is tomorrow, I thought I'd show you an incredibly simple dessert that will make your sweetie swoon!  Remember the Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta recipe??  Well, I decided to modify it to make a chocolate version and holy smokes!!!!  It tastes incredible!  The first bite I took was like chilled, creamy hot chocolate heaven!  Thus the name!  My Mom said, since it does have a hot chocolate flavor, that I should serve it with a dollop of marshmallow creme!  Well Mom, you are a genius!!  It adds the perfect touch!

What you'll need:


3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon gelatin
4 cups heavy cream
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3-1/2 cup cocoa powder (depending on how intense you want the flavor)


In a small bowl measure the 3 T water and sprinkle the 1 T gelatin in the water. Allow it to bloom for 10 minutes.  
In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, heat the cream, sugar and cocoa powder.  Stirring frequently to dissolve the cocoa.  Once the cream mixture is nice and hot remove from heat and add the bloomed gelatin.  Stir to let the bloomed gelatin dissolve completely.  Pour into whatever size cups you would like.  I did mine 1/2 cup servings which yielded a little over 8 servings.  Cover each cup with foil and into the fridge for at least 3 hours.  Once they have chilled completely, you can either eat them straight from the cup or run the sides and bottom of each cup under hot water(making sure no water gets in the cup;) to loosen the panna cotta.  Then turn out onto plates, dust with cocoa powder and a dollop of marshmallow creme and you are good to go!


Now for the appliqued hearts!:)


A few weeks ago I ordered the most soft and buttery organic cotton onesies and today I decided to get brave, pull out my scrap fabric and the Heat-n-Bond and have a party!  Well, a party for 1 that is!  I used Heat-n-Bond Lite(sewable in the purple package) and followed the directions precisely on the back of the package.  Once I had my desired fabric heart shapes ironed on the onesies, I just used my straight stitch and outlined all the way around the heart.  It was a little rough at first but I got the hang of it after using my seam ripper more times than I want to count.:)  I call this the "Heart Over Heart" onesie.

I know the pictures of Q are excessive but I couldn't help myself!  She had just gotten up from her nap and was full of personality!  

images by Kara  

    

How To: Arranging Your Valentines Day Roses

When Randy and I were first married I worked at a flower shop in Salt Lake, Artichokes and Co. (now Olive and Cocoa). I also had the opportunity after that to work with Brenda of Pocket Full of Posies on some weddings. These jobs were pure fun! I look back on that time in my life with a smile. Working with flowers is just plain dreamy. 

As I was thinking about Valentines Day and what posts to share that would be relevant, a light bulb went off to do a How-To on arranging your rose bouquets come Tuesday. Raise your hand if your significant other has brought you a beautifully wrapped bouquet of flowers and then when you go to put them in a vase the flowers flop to one side and just look plain lame. High fives all around! Ok, let me show you how to fix that:

1. Go shopping in your kitchen for a vessel to arrange your flowers in (make sure the opening on your vessel isn't too wide or you'll have a hard time arranging the roses). I chose a pitcher! Fill your vase (in my case, pitcher) 2/3 with luke warm water. Dissolve the "food" packet into the water that came with your flowers. This will increase the life of your roses. Unwrap your flowers and strip away any leaves that will be submerged or touch the water. This is especially important if you are using a clear glass container. The florist has most likely already done this for you, but you may need to do a little stripping yourself.

2. Scoot your vase to the edge of your work surface. Hold a rose up to the vase with the stem hanging down (I taped the rose to the pitcher here because I couldn't get the right shot by holding it). Raise and lower the flower to determine the height you want your arrangement to be. I drew on the picture to help illustrate this better. I usually leave about a third of the flower above the rim. Once you have determined the height you want, cut (the sharper the scissors the better) the excess stem off at the base of your vase at an angle. It's very important that you cut the stem at an angle to create more surface area for water to be drawn in.

3. Proceed to cut all roses the same height (ish) as the first. As you cut, place each flower in your vase at an angle, criss-crossing the stems. This creates stability to build the roses up how you want them. As you go make sure to turn your vase to view all angles of your arrangement. If you feel a stem is too long, simply trim a little off and reposition or swap it out. This is normal and you will need to do this to get the right shape.

4. On your last few roses position them down in the center of your arrangement. The criss-crossed stems will keep them stable and upright.

5. When you are satisfied with the shape of your arrangement, take the greenery and fill it around the base of the roses (refer to above picture). Trim it as needed to get the right height. Strip the greenery of any leaves that will be submerged in the water. The greenery is fun to do because it hides errors and gives your arrangement polish.

6. Take any other filler that was included with your bouquet and position it in and around the roses. Trim it accordingly and making sure to strip it of any leaves or things that will be touching or submerged in the water. If you don't, it'll make things scummy, therefore the water won't be as fresh, therefore your roses won't last as long. Sorry if you heard me the first time I said that.

7. Lastly, trim away any leaves or greenery that looks limp and pull any rose petals that are flopping or torn. And voila!

This took me 15 minutes to do and I know I have flower experience but I promise you can do this! I actually really wanted to do a video to show how to do this, but that wasn't possible today. Hopefully I've explained everything clearly, but leave a comment if you have a question and I'll respond in the comments. I've also got other ideas for simple floral arranging and tricks to share with you, so look for those posts in the future. Hope you have a fab weekend! Thanks for stopping by today! xoxoxo

images and how-to by Briana

Raspberry Almond Thumbprint Cookies

Hey everybody!  With Valentine's Day coming up, you are probably thinking about yummy treats to bake.  Whether it's for friends and neighbors or just for your family, these little cookies hit the spot!  They are delicate, buttery and slightly chewy!  The combo of raspberry and almond is perfect!  And you will have a hard time eating just one!  These are a super easy alternative to our traditional frosted sugar cookies!  So if you are pressed for time, make these!

For the cookie:
1 cup salted butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups flour
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam


For the glaze:
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon water(I used milk and found I needed to add a little more)


1. In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar and almond extract until light and fluffy.  Add flour and mix well.
2. Roll dough into 1 inch balls.  Place on cookie sheet.  Using the end of a wooden spoon handle, make an indentation in the center of each cookie.  Fill a sandwich baggy with the jam.  Snip a corner of the bag and fill each indentation with about 1/4 teaspoon of the jam.  Make sure you don't overfill them.  Bake at 350 for 11-13 minutes.  
3. For glaze, in a small bowl, combine sugar, extract and water or milk.  Drizzle over cooled cookies.


Recipe from Debbie Hatch
images by Kara

Watercolor Mini Heart Garland

My four year old (in two days!) and I made this mini heart garland this afternoon while the snow fell and baby sis napped. We had such a good time chatting and creating together. It was good therapy. The finished garland is sweet as can be and Lily can't wait for daddy to get home to show him our "Valentine decoration". :) Here is how we made, if you'd like to take a look:

Punch or cut mini hearts out of white card-stock. You can line the hearts up simulating the finished garland to get an idea of how many hearts you will want to punch out (or cut).

Lay hearts out on waxed paper and get to watercoloring each heart. Have fun and play around. We liked the look of layering the watercolors. Pink watercolored over yellow and red watercolored over orange, for example. You can also play around with brush techniques for different effects. Once you've finished painting all the hearts, flip them over and watercolor the other side.

Allow hearts to dry for a few minutes. This doesn't take long.....I guess it may take longer if you live in Hawaii. You jerk.

Before you sew the hearts together, pull your top thread and bobbin thread so you have excess thread for ease when you hang your finished garland. You can use any color of thread that you prefer to sew the garland together. I used a pink thread that I had on hand and I loved the way it coordinated with the hearts. Sew hearts in a continuous line to make up the garland. Make sure you back-stich the beginning and end of your garland!

All done and ready to hang!

images and project by Briana

Happy LOVE Day!

Hope you're all having an excellent Valentines so far! Do you have any fun plans? I'm spending it with my two little girls and Randy. I think we're gonna go get a burger at Five-Guys and then we'll go wherever the wind blows us after that. Maybe we'll go to one of our favorite bakeries in Utah, The Chocolate. So, so good. If you live near Orem, you should definitely make plans to go. The chocolate caramel cupcakes and the madagascar vanilla cake are Kara and I's favorites. The cazookie is also dynamite. Anywhoo, before I sign off for the day, I want to share with you a cookie (pictured above) that my sis-in-law, Britt, made in the spirit of Valentines. It's got ooey gooey marshmallow in it and chocolate! Click ((HERE)) for the recipe.

XOXOXO,

Bri

Favorite Valentine's Candy

I was strolling through my local Rite-Aid the other day to pick up a few bags of cough drops for my hub! Apparently he thinks cough drops are his cure-all! Well, I don't know about that, but I was happy to humor him and even happier when I realized that Rite-Aid carries a huge assortment of my absolute favorite Valentine's candy!!! Russell Stover Chocolate Hearts!!! The marshmallow, the coconut cream, the strawberry cream, ahhhh! Amazing! Bri and I are so in sync because she happened to pick a few up at her local market too and they just happen to be one of her favorites as well! I think we get it from our Mom! Our Momma is a Russell Stover chocolate/mallow lover through and through! There is nothing fancy or pretentious about this candy! Just down home and delicious! So don't go and spend a fortune on Belgium Chocolate for your honey this year! Go with these little sweeties! You will not be sorry! And if you haven't tried them, then you are missing out and most definitely need to put them on your "to eat" list!

image by Kara

Kate Spade e-Valentines

It's that time of year! Kate Spade is offering fabulous e-valentines for free. Click here! to find them. It'll take you 30 seconds to send them. In true Kate spade fashion, they are all mucho clever and darling. Here is a taste:

Scroll down if you missed Kara's sugar cookies and sugar cookie pops! Soooo good. And I love the way she frosted them.

I Love You Sugar Cookies & Cookie Pops

Rarely do I bust out and make sugar cookies, even though they happen to be my most favorite kind of cookie! Well, maybe that is precisely the reason...because I have ZERO self control and will eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner if given the opportunity! I don't feel this way about all sugar cookies! Just a few! And this my friends is the recipe my sibs and I grew up on! It is a recipe Mom got from a wonderful neighbor, growing up! It is superb! Soft and flavorful and our Momma always adds a hint of almond to the buttercream frosting! Mmm, mmm, mmm! Hope you like em'!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Cream together:

1 stick butter, room temp

1/2 cup granulated sugar

Add and mix in:

1/2 cup sour cream

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla

Add and mix in:

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 1/2 to 3 cups flour

The dough shouldn't be overly sticky, but slightly tacky. Sprinkle a generous amount of flour onto silpat or countertop. Also dust your rolling pin with flour. Roll dough out to about 1/4 - 1/8 inch thickness. Use cookie cutter to make desired shapes! Put on cookie sheet and into the oven for 10-12 minutes. This recipe makes roughly 16-20 medium sized cookies. Make cookie pops by using a smaller cookie cutter. Place sucker sticks about 1 1/2 inches up the back of cut out dough. Add a small amount of scrap dough to the back, covering the stick for support. And then into the oven for 10-12 minutes.

Buttercream Frosting

2 sticks salted butter, room temp and beaten until pale yellow

5 cup powdered sugar, added slowly

1 or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, optional

Beat until creamy and smooth. If the buttercream is too thick, loosen it a little by adding milk slowly, a tablespoon at a time, while mixing to get desired consistency.

Frost and decorate cooled cookies however you like and then snarf them up!

Cookie recipe from Ada Henry

images by Kara

Individual Heart Shaped Pizzas

My 3 year old flipped for these. I saw this fun heart shaped pizza over on the armelle blog and immediately knew I wanted to do something similar. Cute, right? Valentines is sorta a cheesy holiday, but I secretly kinda like it. What about you? Do you like Valentines Day?

Here is what you need to make these cutie pizzas:

Pizza dough (homemade or store bought. If you live near a California Pizza Kitchen you can buy dough from them. Their honey wheat is really yummy.)

Pizza sauce

Fresh mozzarella cheese

Fresh Basil

Pepperoni (I prefer uncured)

Any other pizza toppings you dig.

Roll dough out on a floured surface. Using a large heart shaped cookie cutter, punch the dough into individual heart shapes. The alternative would be to press and shape the dough hearts by hand....which probably wouldn't be that hard, but the cookie cutter really saves you time.

Place dough hearts on a greased cookie sheet (I used the cookie sheet for convenience but you use a pizza stone if you have one). Spread each heart with sauce.

Top with toppings. Cheese, fresh basil, pepperoni (that I cut into heart shapes- just fold pepperoni in half and using clean kitchen scissors, cut half of a heart. Just like you did in elementary school.).

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Times and baking temps will vary depending on the dough you use. I used store bought dough (time crunch) and baked mine at 425 degrees for 12 minutes. I rolled my hearts out pretty thin, so they didn't need to bake long. When finished baking allow to cool for a few minutes before serving. Enjoy!

images by Briana