And today’s post will be devoted to Valentine cookie recipes and tutorials!

I think I may have shared this recipe/tutorial before, but they are just so pretty, and I think perfect for unique (non-heart) Valentine cookies.  From Sprinkle Bakes, colorful spiral cookies:

From Glorious Treats, check out this wonderful recipe and how-to… gorgeous Valentine heart cookies, without a lot of effort (or talent) required! And here’s a video on How To Flood Cookies, that’s the white part below.  I never realized how easy it is to do!

Here is something TRULY unique… AND fat-free and calorie free!!  OK, it’s not an ACTUAL cookie, but I just loved these, and couldn’t help sharing.  Valentine Fortune Cookies, made from scrapbook paper!  Included with the tutorial is a FREE download with circles and fortune cookie print-outs… or you can create your own with her helpful instructions!

You’ve heard of the Pioneer Woman, right?  (Just say yes, even if you haven’t). She has a super-fun chocolate cookie recipe to create Valentine’s Day Cookies (you can buy stencils very inexpensively at craft stores):

And finally… these days, it just wouldn’t be right to do a cookie post without including at least ONE Valentine cookie POP recipe!  So, from Pillsbury, here you go! (Cookies On A Stick are all the rage!)

OR, you can follow a tutorial and learn how to decorate shoes easily and inexpensively! Who would have ever thought that Glam Shoes were so easy to make?

I have several tutorials for you to check out.  They all are similar, but as a visual person, I like having photos and choices and as many instructions as I can get.  (Especially if I’ll be applying glitter to a pair of shoes!)

First up, from Wobisobi, a “re-style” tutorial, with details on how to “fix” up a scratched heel with glitter.  I will definitely be using this home shoe repair trick in the future!

And a tutorial on making glitter SOLES of your heels… from The Kurtz Corner:

Now, so far… it’s just been glitter on heels and soles… but what if you want to learn how to glitter heels – as in an entire GLITTER SHOE? No problem!

Check out THIS tutorial from A Pair & a Spare:

And this one from Frock and Roll – hot pink glitter heels!

So… my question to YOU is… would you glitter glam a pair of shoes?  And if so, what COLOR glitter?  Gold?  Hot Pink?  Neon Green?

From The Sweetest Occasion, check out this tutorial on making Vintage Contact Paper banners – perfect for decorating for a vintage wedding theme or birthday party!

Need style ideas for your table and place settings?  Click on over to the Gallery at Style Me Pretty.

From the At RuffledBlog learn out how to create a fabulous Vintage Wallpaper Photo Booth for your wedding reception!

A tutorial so easy, it’s mostly just photo inspiration!  Look at these wonderful vintage votives trimmed with lace, from Annaboo’s House:

There are lots and lots of fabulous cake and cupcake designers out there, but I found one from the UK who really seems to GET the vintage glam idea.  Check out the Cotton and Crumb cupcake gallery HERE. (And be sure to click around the site to see a lot of other amazing dessert and cake designs too!) When you see something (or two or three) that you like – print out the photo and take it to your bakery to replicate!  For a fun and delightful twist – serve your vintage cupcakes in teacups – no crumbs!

Early in my marriage I discovered that my husband loves dark chocolate.  And dark chocolate pudding goes straight to the top of the list!  In an earlier post I shared this Homemade Chocolate Pudding Recipe.  It was my favorite version before I found the one featured today.  I really can’t say one is better than the other – just different because of the ingredients.  My original does not include eggs while today’s does.  That makes the texture a bit creamier.

Today’s pudding recipe comes from Cook’s Illustrated magazine although I’ve modified it a bit.  Also – I used Hershey’s Dark Chocolate Cocoa but it certainly isn’t necessary.

       Print This!    

Turn to Diva Entertains for fun and fabulous party favors!

AND…we’re also giving away our SECOND set of free Valentine printables.  Today’s sets are for the boys, since last week’s Valentine card designs were definitely “girly”.

Aren’t these cute?  Robots and outer space!  The colorful borders make them easy to cut, and the cards come eight to a sheet.  Simply download the PDFs, print them on your printer, cut and use!

You can CLICK HERE to download the Robot cards.

And CLICK HERE to download the Outer Space cards.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

From Brides.com, a gorgeous purples and pink peacock bridal bouquet.

Adorning the back of each chair at your reception with flowers, peacock feathers, and greenery – FAB!

For your peacock wedding cake, there are a LOT of variations to choose from.  As we’ve mentioned in previous posts, if you just love a design, you can print the photo and take it to your bakery to recreate!  From Project Wedding, an incredible peacock cake:

From CakesWeBake.com, another version, with fondant feathers and a rice crispy peacock (rice crispy treats are very easy to shape into forms:):

From Decorate the Cake, a full-blown tutorial in making this WHITE peacock cake.  Isn’t it fabulous?:

What about accessories? Click on over to The Garter Girl to see several lovely peacock garter designs:

From CyberOptix, an array of colorful peacock tie options for the groom and his groomsmen (I’m thinking rehearsal dinner!):

And finally, from our own DivaEntertains.com shop, we have an entire page of peacock favors and even “Save the Date” peacock magnets:

From Brides.com, a layered white and gold wedding cake… gold fondant cake “scales”, glitter dusting, stencils… they are all used on this gilded wedding dessert:

From Martha Stewart weddings, a gorgeous stenciled PINK and gold cake masterpiece.

From Erin Ever After, a fabulous post about Succulents and Gold inspirations for weddings… including one INCREDIBLE golden wedding cake:

And one more from Brides.com, a gold fondant cake, with lovely matching peony.  Definitely click through on this one because they also showcase 24 other cakes perfect for a glam wedding:

Now, just in case you would like to make your OWN golden cake masterpiece, I found a recipe and tutorial.  From Bake Decorate Celebrate, the Glimmer of Gold cake.  And if cake decorating isn’t your thing, a supermarket bakery should easily, and inexpensively, be able to recreate this cake because the roses and other details are second nature to cake decorators.  Take this picture to the store and ask them to recreate a 6″ inch cake for you so that you can sample before you commit.

Perfect for the soccer team, or a soccer-theme birthday, check out these easy-to-make Soccer Cupcakes, from Wilton.  Everything you need to recreate these can be found in the baking aisle of a craft store – don’t forget your coupons.  If the frosting ‘grass’ seems to intimidating, just frost as usual with green tinted frosting – it will still look great!:

Having a Disney-themed party, or celebrating with a Mickey Mouse fan?  You’ll definitely need to try these adorable Mickey Cupcakes from Sweet Tooth.  Made with Oreos, they couldn’t be any cuter… or easier!

A perfect compliment to a Garden party or Tea party, would be these Flower Cupcakes, found ivillage.com!  I would have NEVER thought of using sprinkles and m&m’s to make flowers, but these are SO, SO cute!

Another winner in the Flower/Garden party category are these Mum cupcakes.  Decorating with marshmallows never looked so good (and so easy)!

For the SUPER-STAR, you simply MUST check out these Karaoke Microphone Birthday cupcakes.  They are fab, fab, fab!!  Made with mini ice-cream cones and donut holes… the perfect cupcake choice for your singing or rockin’ kiddo!

Mini donuts, tootsie rolls, and airheads… what a combination!  And they all add up to make these super cute Apple Shaped Cupcakes.  All that’s missing is the WORM!  Of course, those would be easily added… just grab a bag of gummy worms too!

]]> http://blog.divaentertains.com/2012/01/cupcakes-for-kids/feed/ 0 http://blog.divaentertains.com/2012/01/cupcakes-for-kids/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DivaEntertainsBlog/~3/IhaOmpW_qZY/ http://blog.divaentertains.com/2012/01/fresh-orange-dessert-orange-segmets-in-cardomom-systup-with-honey-whipped-cream/#comments Mon, 23 Jan 2012 09:47:27 +0000 Debra http://blog.divaentertains.com/?p=3954

I’m always on the lookout for fresh fruit desserts – especially in the colder months!  This very easy winter dessert recipe showcases oranges when they are in season.  Although the honey whipped cream is a terrific topper for the dish; if you are watching your calories or just don’t want to go through the hassle of making it – the segments alone in the syrup are absolutely delicious and will satisfy your sweet tooth.

If you are new to cooking with cardamom it is sweet, very aromatic, complex and spicy all at once.  It’s one of my favorite spices to bake with;  it’s delicious in all baked apple dishes (pie, turnovers, crumbles, etc.).

This recipe is from the December 2011/Jan 2012 issue of Fine Cooking; their picture below does the dish better justice than mine:)

Orange Segmets in Cardamom Syrup with Honey Whipped Cream  (Serves 4 to 6)

• 4 large navel oranges, cut into segments
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp. ground cardamom
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 tsp. honey

Drain the orange segments in a strainer set over a medium bowl. Set the segments and juice aside.

Put the sugar in a small heavy-duty saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring often, until melted and light amber in color, 3 to 5 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and whisk in the orange juice. The mixture will bubble and clump; whisk until smooth again. Stir in the cardamom.

Put the orange segments in the juice bowl and add the syrup. Toss well.

In a large bowl, whisk 1 Tbs. of the cream with the honey until smooth. Add the remaining cream and beat with an electric hand mixer on high speed until soft peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes.

Divide the oranges and syrup among serving bowls. Top with the whipped cream.

]]> http://blog.divaentertains.com/2012/01/fresh-orange-dessert-orange-segmets-in-cardomom-systup-with-honey-whipped-cream/feed/ 0 http://blog.divaentertains.com/2012/01/fresh-orange-dessert-orange-segmets-in-cardomom-systup-with-honey-whipped-cream/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DivaEntertainsBlog/~3/d4MvDUAMrcw/ http://blog.divaentertains.com/2012/01/guest-post-cherry-heart-tarts/#comments Fri, 20 Jan 2012 07:00:56 +0000 char http://blog.divaentertains.com/?p=4343 As promised last week…even MORE Valentine Snacks and Valentines Party Food Bites…

Check out these adorable heart Valentine cake pops, and the easy-to-follow recipe from Mel’s Sweet Treats:

While the name isn’t very appealing, but I think the “Valentine’s Day Trash”, from Cooking with K would be a perfect addition to a kid’s Valentine’s Day party (adults too!:

From My Kitchen Addiction, a quick post with EASY instructions for making fab chocolate covered pretzels AND drizzled strawberries.  She explains how to inexpensively and easily recreate the drizzled look that professionals achieve.

AND, one more… a step-by-step tutorial from Big Red Kitchen, with instructions on how to make Chocolate Covered Strawberry Mallow Candies.  Did you get that?  Chocolate Covered Marshallow Candy with pink mallows!. Mmmhmm…yep!  And aren’t they pretty?

And now… a GUEST POST by Ashley, of Kitchen Meets Girl.

Do you feel like you just got all of your Christmas decorations put away, and now the stores are bombarding you with Valentine’s stuff?

Yeah, me too.

In fact, I went into my local craft store last week and they already had out St. Patrick’s Day and Easter decór. Seriously, can’t we just slow down long enough and actually enjoy the season?

And by season, I mean the time of the year you’re encouraged to indulge in copious amounts of chocolate and other candies and treats. Umm, wait a minute, maybe that was the Christmas season? Or maybe it is Easter?  Never-mind, I’ll just keep eating to be on the safe side.

But if you’re feeling a bit overloaded on rich chocolate desserts, or just want something simple and small (read: guilt-free), try these mini cherry-heart tarts. These are perfect for kiddos and adults alike, and are so simple to make. You can certainly make your own filling, but I personally would rather spend the extra time doing a Zumba routine * eating these.

Cherry-Heart Tarts

Ingredients:

• 1 can cherry pie filling
• 1 package refrigerated pie crust (2 crusts)
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400. Unfold your pie crusts onto a floured work surface. Using a 3″ round cookie cutter (or a small drinking glass), cut out 20 circles. With your remaining dough, use a small heart cutter to cut out 20 hearts. If you don’t have a heart cutter, just use scissors.
2. Place heart cutouts on a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush dough with milk and lightly sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 7 minutes, or until lightly golden. Cool on wire rack.
3. Meanwhile, press your dough circles into a mini-muffin tin, fluting the edges. Spoon approximately 1 tablespoon pie filling into each cup.
4. Bake for 15 minutes or until crust is golden and filling is bubbling. Cool tarts in pans for 5 minutes; then remove to wire rack to cool completely. Place a small heart cutout in the center of each tart.

* “Doing” a Zumba routine = shaking the Wii remote frantically in a desperate attempt to finish the song before collapsing face-first.

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Ashley is a full-time working outside the home mama to a busy 4-year old boy, and writes about her kitchen successes–and messes–on her blog Kitchen Meets Girl.  She enjoys spending her free time watching football with her husband and making more baked goodies than is good for her waist-line. She daydreams about coming home to a spotless house cleaned by a professional cleaning service, with steaming hot meals prepared by her own personal chef.  But because she wants her son to grow up healthy and nourished by good, wholesome food, she learned to cook.  And discovered she is living proof that anyone–absolutely anyone–can be successful in the kitchen. 

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