Valentine’s Day may be over, but I love hearts all year round. Between working on our school Valentine cards, our crafts at home and our grazing boards for friends, we have been celebrating all month long.

When I have the time, I like to make things from scratch, but usually, because the littles are running all around the house, I take a few short cuts. For example – those cupcakes above? Made the cake from a box mix. Made the frosting from scratch because, I mean, let’s be honest, nothing is more important than the frosting!

These cookies I make from a sugar cookie recipe I got from a friend. I love them because they aren’t sweet, as some sugar cookies can be. The frosting is just confectioner’s sugar, milk and vanilla so it is SUPER sweet – but paired with the cookie (that isn’t sweet), it just works out to the right amount of sweetness.

I always stock up on sprinkles. Those cute ones on the cupcakes – the multi colored hearts – were a cute find at Michael’s. I love all things pink and red, but these were a refreshing change of pace. At Michael’s they have smaller $1 packets of sprinkles and you can always find some cute things at Home Goods.

I put together this cute grazing board for a play date: vanilla cupcakes, sugar cookies, M&M’s in Valentine colors, cinnamon hearts, gummy hearts and Starburst jelly bean hearts. Let’s not forget The Happy Chocolatier in the mix with their cubze – the fun messages inside just make me smile.

For play dates, I sometimes like to have one structured activity and then have some free time to play. My go to is decorating cookies. The kids could really care less what the cookies taste like, so if I’m in a rush, I just pick up a roll of cookies from the market and cut them out in fun shapes. I buy the frosting from a jar and divide them up into little cups to keep things from getting too messy. My secret trick is doing everything on either baking sheets or disposable aluminum plans (which work well because the kids can just take these home afterwards). I give each child a set of their own sprinkles – I put them in egg containers that I cut in half. It has been a hit at every play date!

One of my other favorite activities that we did this month was decorate mailboxes. My kids like to play “post office” all year round. I picked up these cute mailboxes at Target for $1. (Full disclosure, I made this one as a sample) The kids decorated them with stickers and fun washi tape. They had a great time writing each other letters and “delivering them” to friends.

Put together this cute little plate last minute. A strawberry shortcake from Whole Foods, Linzer cookies from the Whole Foods bulk cookie bin, those cute vanilla and chocolate hearts are from Whole Foods too (sensing a pattern here?) Chocolate cubze from The Happy Chocolatier, and assorted heart candy from Priscilla Candy Shop in Concord (which by the way had some really good prices on candy).

I have a few rules in my house, one of them being, we NEVER do glitter. Let’s save that for school and let the teachers clean that up But I kind of allowed it for this project. My kids had a BLAST making them. We started off with some self seal laminating sheets. We peeled back half of the sheet and put on our glitter directly to the sticky side – you can use glitter, or in this case, we tried out confetti. When we were done, we peeled off the second half of the paper and folded it over the confetti, making a 5×7 sheet. Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be perfect – ours had wrinkles in them! For the hearts, take two pieces of construction paper and fold in half. Cut out large hear and a smaller on inside. We taped the laminated confetti sheet to one side of the heart and then glued the other heart on top of it We left some of the hearts plain, but you could certainly embellish the construction paper with markers, stickers or washi tape. Punch a hole and add some string/ribbon and you have a fun Valentine you can hang in the window! Another idea, if you really can’t stand the idea of using glitter or confetti is tissue paper – find some cute heart paper or some pink striped paper and cut into thin strips! You can make this any time of year just by changing the heart into a circle or any other fun shape.

What are your favorite things to do for Valentine’s Day with your kids?

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Every year our neighborhood has an adults only holiday party. This year, we ended up hosting. Hosts provide the main dish and everyone else brings appetizers, sides and desserts potluck style. So what was on the menu? A 20lb whole turkey, a 5lb roast that we did in the Instant Pot and 10lbs of flank steak done on the grill outside. Pretty daunting for me since I’ve a) never cooked a turkey before and b) this was my first time using an Instant Pot.

This was my first time using my new oven and the turkey (which Leah (and her mom) helped me prep via FaceTime)) ended up taking a lot LESS time than it should have…ummm when have you EVER heard of a turkey taking less time?!!? NEVER! So sheer panic ensued and we had to ask a neighbor (read: good cook) to come over and help determine its actual readiness.

People brought their own beverages, but we set out a fun little bar. Hint water and Italian sodas, a few signature drinks – like the Dark and Stormy, and a mimosa bar with peach, orange and strawberry mixers.

Always important to have some non alcoholic beverages – and how cute are these sparkling grape juice options from Welch’s?

HUGE shout out to Whole Foods butcher department who walked me through cooking this beautiful winter warmer roast. The Instant Pot was a little intimidating at first, and I probably should have done a test run, but we were having party after party in December, and there just wasn’t any time.

We had some long tables set up for people who wanted to sit and eat dinner. I always like to have some sweet treats on the table – how cute are these little Lindt Snowmen?

Lindt also has these adorable seasonal truffles.

I love amaretti cookies during the holidays. They are beautifully wrapped and when the party is over I love crumbling them up and putting on things like mashed sweet potatoes or a bowl of ice cream. Not familiar with amaretti cookies? They are delicious Italian almond flavored cookies that are light and crunchy.

And how beautiful are these cookies by Bake?

Does your neighborhood have any fun traditions? Cookie Swaps, Yankee Swap, holiday parties, summer BBQ’s?

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I always enjoyed Iggy’s bread when I bought it at the store. I didn’t realize they have their own little shop over in Cambridge. It’s out of the way, and not super obvious to find, I drove by two or three times before I figured out where the lot was. Call me directionally challenged.

Iggy’s sells their bread (obviously), but they also offer a nice selection of baked goods, sandwiches and lunch offerings. Make sure to try their pizza, they have some great topping combinations. I especially love their jam cookies ($2 each) and their linzer cookies ($2 each). They remind me of similar ones that my grandmother used to make. I can’t get enough of them!

They have a variety of different breads: country, whole wheat, Frances, white rye, dark rye, French, breadsticks, olive, ficelle, focaccia, brioche, 7 grain, raisin pecan, cranberry pecan, bagels, croissants, ciabatta and pain de mie.

Iggy’s Bread

130 Fawcett Street, Cambridge, MA

http://www.iggysbread.com/

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I was in the area and decided to stop by. The place has changed since the last time I was here, the company was bought in 2014 by Sean Christie and Chris Twyman.

Bent’s was originally known for its hardtack crackers and they are one of the last producers of them in the country. Bent’s supplied these water and flour crackers to the Union Army during the Civil War.

Sandwiches here are amazing. While the “Wildcat club” is very popular (oven roasted turkey, ham, muenster cheese, bacon, honey mustard, mayo, lettuce and tomato and toasted sourdough), I love the Winter Valley, which is hot corned beef, melted provolone and Russian dressing on toasted rye bread. While it wasn’t exactly how I remembered it, it was still pretty darn good.

We also tried out the cranberry walnut chicken salad in a wrap that was quite tasty. If you’re planning on heading in at peak lunch hour, I suggest calling in your order.

While Bent’s was know for their bags of broken cookies, the cookies these days are made in smaller batches, thus less bags of broken cookies – you may find one for sale on occasion.

Bent’s Cookie Factory

7 Pleasant Street, Milton, MA

http://www.bentscookiefactory.com/

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King Street Cookies is a cute little shop, brightly painted in orange with Alice in Wonderland style chairs in the front. People are hanging out in here on their laptops, nursing a cup of coffee and cookie.

There are over 30 flavors of cookies to choose from, all line up behind the glass.

They offer a good variety of gluten free cookies, in flavors like chocolate chip, peanut butter, lemon, toffee crunch, sugar m&m and double chocolate (although we didn’t get any).

Regular flavors include: toffee crunch, chocolate chip pecan, fudge pecan, sugar m&m, turtle chip, peanut butter chocolate chip, red velvet and ginger snap.

The sugar cookie looked adorable with the brightly colored sprinkles.

Can’t make it into the shop – you can order them online and have them shipped directly to your house!

King Street Cookies

370 King Street, Charleston, SC

http://www.kingstreetcookies.com

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Such a cute little shop! It’s a small space but the cookies have big flavor. So many to choose from, it’s hard to choose just one.

Cookies ($2.75) come in delicious flavors like: chocolate chip, oatmeal raising, salted oat surprise, sugar, m&m sugar, snickerdoodle, peanut butter, peanut butter chocolate, white chocolate macadamia nut, chocolate mint, milk chocolate caramel, dark chocolate toffee, s’mores and bacon smacks.

White Chocolate Hazelnut Brownie ($4.95)

The Red Velvet Whoopie ($4) was probably my favorite of the goodies we took home – sweet, but not overly so and I liked the coconut as a twist on the original.

Milk and Cookies Bakery

19 Commerce Street, New York, NY

http://www.milkandcookiesbakery.com

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I generally bake for the cookie swap, but this year it just got away from me. So I decided to do my very popular chocolate covered oreos, which were a big hit. Melt chocolate in a double boiler on the stove (I use a saucepot with about 2 inches of water with a heat safe bowl on top). Heat up on low and stir frequently to make sure that the chocolate is smooth. When the chocolate is melted begin to dip your oreos. When the cookies are completely covered in chocolate, place on a cookie sheet covered in wax paper to let cook. Decorate with any sprinkles you like.

And another classic and favorite in the office was the peanut butter balls:

Peanut Butter Balls

13 oz. Peanut Butter
1 stick of butter, softened
1 lb. of confectioners’ sugar (I add in to taste preference and consistency – just need it to form balls)
16 oz. Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate

Mix peanut butter and butter in a bowl until smooth and creamy. Add confectioners’ sugar and mix until combined. Roll one inch balls and set on a nonstick baking sheet. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Melt chocolate in a small bowl. Using a spoon drop one ball in at a time to coat then place back on baking sheet. Refrigerate until chocolate has hardened. Keep refrigerated until serving.

What’s your favorite cookie recipe?

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The butter almond cookies lacked a little bit of flavor for me. I was hoping for a really nice strong almond paste flavor, and this fell a bit short.

The chocolate covered chocolate chip cookie is only available in store. While it was a little messy to eat, it was a sweet mid day snack. All the other varieties are available online and are shipped all across the country. All cookies are baked and shipped the same day for maximum freshness. Pick one of their preselected assortments or make your own custom assortment.

The Famous 4th Street Cookie Company

51 North 12th Street, Philadelphia, PA

http://www.famouscookies.com/

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Pecan Puffs

Beat until fluffy:

1 cup vegetable shortening

½ cup powdered sugar

Then add:

2 ½ cups sifted flour

½ tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

¾ cup chopped pecans

Shape into balls. Bake at 350 degrees on greased sheet 10-12 minutes until light brown. Roll in powdered sugar after cooked. Makes two dozen.

Cranberry Orange Cookies

Makes 3.5-4 dozen cookies

Prep: 20 min

Cook: 15ish min

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon grated orange zest

2 tablespoons orange juice

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups chopped cranberries

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest

3 tablespoons orange juice

1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg until well blended. Mix in 1 teaspoon orange zest and 2 tablespoons orange juice. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the orange mixture. Mix in cranberries and if using, walnuts, until evenly distributed. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Cookies should be spaced at least 2 inches apart.

3. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes in the preheated oven, until the edges are golden. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.

4. In a small bowl, mix together 1/2 teaspoon orange zest, 3 tablespoons orange juice and confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Spread over the tops of cooled cookies. Let stand until set.

Snickerdoodles from AllRecipes

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup shortening

1 1/2 cups white sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons white sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

2. Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar, the eggs and the vanilla. Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt. Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls.

3. Mix the 2 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls of dough in mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.

4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until set but not too hard. Remove immediately from baking sheets.

Sugar Cookies

Cookie:
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup butter, softened (2 sticks)
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Icing:
Water
confectionary sugar
food coloring

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In small bowl – stir flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
In large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Blend in the dry ingredients. Roll out dough so that it is 1/8″ thick, cut out cookies using cookie cutters.
Lay out cookies onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden. Let sit on cookie sheet for 2 minutes before removing to another surface to cool.
Once fully cooled, ice cookies and decorate with sprinkles. Lay out flat until icing hardens and enjoy!
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Yields: 4 dozen

Glazed Cider Cookies from Food Network Magazine

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups apple cider

1 cinnamon stick

4 whole allspice berries

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar

Coarse gold sugar, for decorating

Directions

Bring the apple cider, cinnamon stick and allspice to a simmer in a small pot over medium-high heat. Cook until reduced to 1/4 cup, about 12 minutes; set aside to cool. Remove the cinnamon stick and allspice berries.

Whisk the flour, ground cinnamon, baking powder and baking soda in a medium bowl. Beat the butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the egg and half of the cider mixture and beat until combined. Reduce the mixer speed to low; add the flour mixture and beat until just incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Form the dough into 3/4-inch balls and arrange 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake, switching the pans halfway through, until golden brown, 9 to 11 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

Make the glaze: Whisk the confectioners’ sugar and the remaining cider mixture in a small bowl until smooth. Spread the glaze on the cookies and top with the coarse sugar. Let set 30 minutes.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/glazed-cider-cookies-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback

Oatmeal Craisin Cookies

Ingredients

Original recipe makes 4 dozen

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups quick cooking oats

· 2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups dried cranberries

Directions

1. Beat butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla for 5 minutes. In another bowl, combine oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add to butter mixture 1 cup at a time.

2. Mix in craisins.

3. Drop by spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets and bake for 12-14 minutes at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). These freeze very well. Enjoy!!

Butter Ball Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 cups walnuts, chopped

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

Cream butter, sugar, salt and vanilla.

Blend in flour and nuts.

Scoop and roll into balls.

Bake 325 for 22 to 25 minutes.

Remove from oven roll into powdered sugar. Roll again in powdered sugar next day.

Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chips from Food Network Magazine

Ingredients

1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup additional to roll cookies

1 stick butter, at room temperature

1 egg

1 cup smooth peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cups flour

Chocolate chips to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a baking sheet. In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter. Beat in egg to mixture. Mix in peanut butter and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Stir in salt, baking soda and flour until well combined. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and then roll in sugar. Place on baking sheet and flatten with fork. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Chocolate Chip Butterscotch Coconut Cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups white whole-wheat or all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon sea salt

3/4 cup virgin coconut oil (melted)

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 10-oz. pkg. NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

1 10-oz. pkg. NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Butterscotch Morsels

Directions:

PREHEAT oven to 350° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl.

BEAT coconut oil in large mixer bowl until smooth. Add brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla extract; beat until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels.

DROP by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. I like to use a small ice cream scoop so that all cookies are the same size.

BAKE for 9 to 12 minutes or until golden brown and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Ingredients

½ cup smooth peanut  butter

½ cup butter or margarine

½ cup sugar

½ cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 ¼ cup flour

¾ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 bag of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Miniatures

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Remove wrappers from Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and leave on a plate.

Cream peanut butter, margarine, sugars, egg, and vanilla together. Add dry ingredients. Mix well.

Roll into 40 small balls and place in mini-muffin tins that have been sprayed with no-fat cooking spray.

Bake 350 degress at 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned and center is depressed; remove from oven.

Immediately place peanut butter cup in center of cookie.

Cool completely in muffin pan.

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

30 Oreo cookies

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels. Cover oreo cookie with chocolate chip mix and place on ungreased cookie sheet.

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Chocolate Peppermint Patty Sandwich Cookies using a recipe from Kraft

Ingredients

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 pkg. (4 oz.) BAKER’S Unsweetened Chocolate

1 cup butter or margarine

1-1/2

cups sugar, divided

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

22 Peppermint Patties

Directions

MIX flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 min. or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Add 1 cup sugar, egg and vanilla; mix well. Stir in flour mixture until well blended. Refrigerate 15 min. or until dough is easy to handle.

HEAT oven to 375°F. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll in remaining sugar. Place, 2 inches apart, on baking sheets.

BAKE 8 to 10 min. or until centers are set. Cool on baking sheets 1 min.  Sandwich a Peppermint patty in between 2 cookies. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.

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Even though it wasn’t my birthday, I went with the birthday assortment tin ($45). Cute packaging, the box plays happy birthday when you open the tin!

All the cookies come individually wrapped for freshness.

The buttercream frosted strawberry sugar cookie-the cookie was soft and the frosting was SUPER sweet, like cotton candy or something similar. I love sweets but this frosting made me wince a little bit. The same goes for the orange buttercream frosted seen two pictures below.

All the cookies were super soft-the vanilla frosted buttercream was tasty. The chocolate chocolate chip cookie (bottom left) was really tasty, probably my favorite out of the bunch. They also had brownies, chocolate covered pretzels and pretzel nuggets in the assortment. The pretzel was ok, but I am biased because my friend makes THE best chocolate covered pretzels that nothing I have had after can even come close.

All the cookies were fresh, the pretzels were crunchy and sweet. The brownies were really moist. The cookies overall were good, they would make for a cute gift. Were they my favorite? Not by a long shot. Glad I tried them? Sure.

Cheryl’s Cookies

http://www.cheryls.com/

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