I wanted to make something for my husband and the wonderful crew I have at the Willetta restoration.  One of my husband’s favorite desserts is homemade cherry pie.  I did think about making a whole one but we’ve been trying to eat healthy since the first of the year and I knew a huge pie would be a bad, albeit delicious temptation for both of us.

So I decided to keep the theme but on a smaller scale.  In a previous post, I shared my favorite pie crust recipe–which is super easy to make (especially in a Cuisinart).  After letting the pie crust dough chill, I rolled it out and found the largest heart-shaped cookie cutter I had.

I added canned (partially groaning here) cherry pie filling.  Normally I like fresh cherries but they are not in season so sometimes you need to improvise.

I wet the edges of the heart with water and added another heart-shaped dough piece.  A small fork served as the perfect tool for sealing the edges.

Next, I brushed the surface with an egg wash (just scrambled an egg) and then pricked the dough for air vents.

Baking was a bit of a challenge because I wasn’t sure how long~~but I set the oven to 375 degrees and started at 10 minutes.  I kept adding time in increments of 3 minutes so my total cook time, in a convection oven, was approximately 20 minutes.  Depending on the size of your cutter, my pie crust dough recipe made 9  4″x4″ hearts.  Lastly, I sprinkled the tops with sugar (used King Arthur’s Sparkling White Sugar).

I’m getting ready to run these down to the job site~~a small sweet surprise for my dedicated crew.  Happy Valentine’s Day!

If you have only one smile in you give it to the people you love.     Maya Angelou

February is the month of romance. I do some limited decorating for this fun holiday-who doesn’t love the colors of red or pink! As with most holidays, I am interested in its origins, its traditions and why we celebrate.  Here are a few fun facts about Valentine’s Day.

1. The most popular theory about the Valentine’s Day origin is that Emperor Claudius II didn’t want Roman men to marry during wartime.  Bishop Valentine went against his wishes and performed secret weddings.  For this, Valentine was jailed and executed.  While in prison, he wrote a note to the jailor’s daughter signing it “from your Valentine.”

2. The red rose was the favorite flower of Venus, the Roman goddess of love.

3.  In 1537, England’s King Henry VII officially declared February 14th the holiday of St. Valentine.

4. In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who would be their Valentine.  They would wear this name pinned onto their sleeves for one week for everyone to see.  This was the origin of the expression “to wear your heart on your sleeve.”

5. Every Valentine’s Day, the Italian city of Verona, where Shakespeare’s lovers Romeo and Juliet lived, receives about 1,000 letters addressed to Juliet.

6.Based on retail statistics, about 3 per cent of pet owners will give Valentine’s Day gifts to their pets.

7. Arizona became the 48th State on February 14, 1912.

8. In addition to the United States, Valentine’s Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Denmark, Italy and Japan.

9.  141 million Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged annually, making Valentine’s Day the second most-popular greeting card-giving occasion.

10. Physicians of the 1800s commonly advised their patients to eat chocolate to calm their pining for lost love. (Now that’s a good excuse!)

For your information:

The colorful painting was done by me last year in my attempt to do a new one for each holiday.

The pets featured above are:  Cooper,  an Akbash (from the Anatolian Shepherd family); Sox, our pocket Beagle; Tippy and Donovan- stray cats our girls found/rescued/captured in the yard.

The heart-shaped ravioli was made last Valentine’s Day from a recipe I found online.  If you have a heart- shaped cookie cutter, it was a relatively easy recipe to follow.

And if you love the wheat-etched spooner holding the tulips, you can purchase it through my online store!

Wishing you a happy and loving Valentine’s Day!