Valentine's Week

The week started out great with a Valentine Cookie Exchange at my friend, Kristie's house. We each brought a couple dozen cookies, ate to our heart's content (and a little beyond probably) and then took about dozen cookies home. It was so fun to hang out with just the girls and to eat my favorite dessert!

Is your mouth watering? Because it should be. These cookies tasted every bit as good as they looked.

Kristie (the craft queen) made these water bottles with Valentine messages on them for the party.

Then, a few days later, I took Amelia to have her pictures taken by a girl that just moved in to our ward. She's an incredible photographer, as you can see. See her website here.

On Saturday morning when I woke up, Christian had spread little hearts all around the house with reasons why he loves me. Sooo sweet and fun to read. He's really getting good at this gift-giving thing. Then, he packed the kids up to come watch me run a Valentine 5K. Just so you know, I have placed 3rd for women in just about every race I've ever run here in Albuquerque. But, the curse was lifted I guess and I had a great race and I won 1st place for women! Yeah!!
That night, Christian put together a fun date night for us- doing all of my favorite things around town.

Sunday morning, I got up and made heart-shaped pancakes and buttermilk syrup. Christian had, once again, surprised me with little cut-out hearts all around the house that led to a very unexpected gift- a book I've been wanting:

Then, later that day Christian and Oliver decorated sugar cookies while I attempted to make heart-shaped pizza that ended up looking more like the silhouette of Jabba the Hut. Oh well.

It was such a fun week. I'm so grateful to be able to celebrate the love I feel for my kids and husband on Valentine's Day. Yeah, I know it's a big commercialized thing nowadays, but sometimes it's just nice to set aside a day to really reflect on the love I feel for my family. I have 2 amazing, wonderful kids that I love more than life itself and a husband that is so sweet, sensitive, caring, loving, hard-working, handsome, smart, and really funny. I love them all soooo much and that is all the mushiness you're going to get out of me on this blog...:)

Demarle Rendez-Vous!!!

Demarle Flower Mold on Perforated Baking Sheet

Remember when I told you all about some of my favorite Demarle products? Well, I am going to host a Rendez-Vous (party) at my house for anyone in New Mexico that would like to attend to show you all of my favorite cooking gadgets and explain a little more about the company and their amazing products. They have been used in such restaurants as The Cheesecake Factory, Subway, Ritz-Carlton and many more for years and years and were actually only available for commercial use until recently when they were finally released for use in the home market! Yeah!! Some of my favorite features are:

• They are completely non-stick, from the Silpat cookie sheet liner, to the trays and molds. You literally just "pop" everything out from muffins to cakes to quiches.
  

• They are a cinch to clean- simply rinse in warm, soapy water, shake dry, roll up, and throw in a drawer. No scrubbing needed!

• They help food retain moisture so everything is sooooo soft and moist!

• They have a lifetime warranty so you will never buy another loaf, bundt, or muffin pan again!

• They work in microwaves, freezers, and ovens.

• They really make simple cooking look like a million bucks- your family and friends will be amazed at the beautiful, fancy food you'll be able to create!

So, you are all invited to my home on Tuesday, February 23rd, from 6-8pm for my first official Demarle Rendez-Vous where we will cook, eat, and of course, have fun!

And, if you can't make it, I would be happy to host a party for you and your friends any time. Also, if you'd like to check them out online and/or place an order (they have a 30-day money back guarantee so you can try and see if you like it) their website is demarleathome.com. (My representative # is 8394 if you want to place an order.) Let me know if you have any questions or just want to know more!

A little chocolate can't hurt, right?

We're pulling out all the stops to try and get this not-so-little (11 months) girl to crawl. One thing's for sure, she's a girl after my own heart. Nothing motivates like chocolate.

Announcement! Demarle!

I am soooo excited to let you all know that I am now a representative for Demarle products! You might have heard of the Silpat, Roulpat, Flexipans, etc., etc. In my opinion, they have the most amazing cooking and baking products and are frequently referenced on some of my favorite cooking blogs, My Kitchen Cafe, The Sister's Cafe, Bakerella, Picky Palate and many more. Here's just a sample of some of the things I've been cooking up this weekend. For my full post on these incredible products and recipes for the cookies go to our cooking blog, Peachtree Cooking.

Silpat

Voila! Baked perfection!

Flexipan straight muffin tray