Valentine's Day Treats!

I have to admit that I will not be baking any special treats for Valentine's Day this year... And it saddens me! I love this holiday, most especially for the endless recipes out there for delicious, Valentine's Day themed goodies! I could spend hours exploring recipes in cookbooks and online. Sometimes I do. :) This year I'll be on vacation out of the country during Valentine's Day, so there will be no baking in the Barbershop.... :-( I thought I'd still share some super fun (and mostly very easy!) ideas with you though in case you're still wondering what you'd like to make for that special someone.

KraftFoods is always a favorite of mine for perusing recipe ideas. They have many simple recipes, as well as many healthy ones! And I always love websites that share recipe ratings. I make a habit of reading what others think of the recipe before I try it! Check out the following two ideas. One is a chocolatey recipe for Chocolate & Mocha Sweetheart Brownies....mmmmm. And one is a lighter, fruity recipe (low in calories!) for cute Strawberry and Chocolate Gelatin "Cupid's" Cups (pictured above). They both look super easy!

If you want to get a little fancier and spend more time in the kitchen, I might suggest these two recipes. They look so pretty!!! One is for Truffle Tarts with Raspberries. How delightful do these look? And another idea is this recipe for a classic Valentine's dessert due to its color, Red Velvet Cake. Delicious and appealing to the eye! Red Velvet Cupcakes or Red Velvet Cake Balls would be fun too! Boy, the options are endless...

Or how about the festive treat of chocolate covered strawberries? How can you not love these?!

I would suggest going "all out" too and making ones with white chocolate, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, etc... :)

Yet another fun idea (I know, I'm going wild here, forgive me) is to make your own Valentine's fortune cookies! That would be so fun. You could really get creative with making your own fortunes!! :) Kids and adults alike would like those. My mom always makes traditional sugar cookies, shaped as hearts, topped with a delicious frosting that she tints pink...then she places a fun conversation heart on each of the cookies...

I would always look forward to these cookies each year. My mom's sugar cookies are definitely the best!

And for adults, a delicious Valentine's cocktail is a must, right?! This drink, Dos Amores, looks amazingly delicious. As do all of these on this site... Or maybe this unique liqueur, Hum? It looks quite yummy!! Be creative too...make your own! ;-)

However you celebrate Valentine's Day this year, I hope it is a LOVEly one for you! I hope you might be inspired to bake something delicious after reading this post too. ;-) Happy Valentine's Day, family and friends!