A Pinterest Kind of Valentine's Day

Yes, I'm hooked. Pinterest is my new favorite thing. And if you've been hooked too then you may have seen these ideas pop up around Valentine's Day, or Love Day as many are labelling it now :)

The first project I tackled were these Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies from "The Novice Chef". Hers were much swirlier than mine on top, but overall, not bad. I think I'd change the recipe a bit if I were to make them again, they were a little dry, but they did work very well with her Red Velvet Cheesecake Milkshake idea which we made as well with the scraps.

The second project tackled was this very cute little snack butterfly.  My son's teacher asked me to provide a 'healthy snack' as part of their Valentine's celebration.  So the butterflies aren't specifically for Valentine's Day, they are good for any class snack.  Cute, healthy and easy to do!

Finally, I saw the Heart Shaped Cinnamon Rolls idea.  I used my Super Easy Cinnamon Buns recipe (no yeast, done in under an hour), but instead of rolling the dough into one log, I rolled it in evenly at both ends towards the centre.  Once the buns were sliced, I just pinched the bottom into more of a point and sat them in the pan in such a way to hold their heart shape.  My kids were so happy to have fresh cinnamon buns for breakfast on Valentine's morning.

No picture but, for dinner I picked up some red heart shaped tortellinis from Costco.  Cute and yummy <3
 

Wild Blueberries

This morning my toddler and I went blueberry picking. Just behind our house is a patch of wild blueberries. Did I mention that I love living in the country? At first I was very ambitious, because I know that these blueberries are fantastic for blueberry pies. As I started picking, my daughter was very helpful in holding the container for me, and eating the blueberries as I put them into the container. So I decided if I could get a cup of them without her eating them we might just have enough for blueberry muffins. I did manage to get the container away from her and pick enough. Right before she fell into a patch of mud and declared, "Dirty, Cold" so we had to go away.
Now a word about these east coast blueberries. They in no way resemble the beautiful large blueberries of the Fraser Valley that I grew up with. I happen to have some of those on hand right now as I found them at Costco. Look at them. They are so completely different that when I first moved here, I couldn't quite believe they were blueberries.

My Fraser Valley blueberries grow on these tall bushes and are perfect for snacking on. The Maritime blueberries grow close to the ground and people rake them to collect them. I know, raking blueberries! (My maritime friends are thinking, 'and the problem is?')
So I did bake these tiny blueberries into some delicious banana blueberry muffins. Here's the recipe:

1 cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 bananas, mashed
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 cup blueberries

Heat the oven to 375°F. Prepare your muffin cups by spraying with non-stick spray. In a large bowl, mash the bananas, mix in applesauce, brown sugar, and vanilla.
Combine the flour, baking soda, and cinnamon. Stir into the banana mixture until moistened. Stir in the blueberries. Spoon batter into muffin tins.
Bake for 20 minutes in the heated oven or until the tops of the muffins spring back when pressed lightly. This made 24 mini-muffins and 7 medium sized ones. I had to do the mini muffins for the mini blueberries :)