Cinnamon-Applesauce Hearts

Republished from 2/21

Years ago, my mom delivered a Valentine's package with a deliciously scented heart ornament dangling from the bow.

It was a cinnamon heart, strung with a satin ribbon - and even after the scent had gone, it hung from a kitchen cabinet handle for many more years delighting me with fond memories.

This old recipe, requiring only two ingredients - ground cinnamon and applesauce - might traditionally be used to make Christmas ornaments, but since my mom pressed it into heart shapes, in my mind, it's best suited to Valentine decor.

You won’t believe the incredible cinnamon smell that fills your home while these are baking - and how lovely it will be for days (weeks) to come when you walk into a room where one of them is on display!

Cinnamon can be expensive if purchased in those tiny containers at the grocery, but if you have a big-box store like Costco, WinCo or Cash & Carry nearby, you can pick it up a large container relatively inexpensively. Increase or decrease the recipe depending on how many hearts you want to make, using a 1:1 ratio.

Ingredients:
(makes about a dozen cookie cutter hearts)

• 1 cup Cinnamon

• 1 cup Applesauce

• Thin ribbon or twine

Instructions:

1. Thoroughly mix the cinnamon and applesauce together in bowl. It should have a thick, paste-like consistency and hold together well - not too dry, not too wet.

2. Place between two pieces of parchment or waxed paper, and roll out to about a 1/4 inch thickness. It will break if too thin, and will take longer to bake if too thick.

3. Take the top layer of paper off and use cookie cutters to cut into shape.

4. Use toothpicks to decorate and a straw to make the hole for hanging.

5. Move hearts onto a cookie sheet.

6. Bake at 200 degrees for about two and a half hours, until they feel dry and hard.

7. Once cooled, thread ribbon or twine through the hole and make a loop.

Dangle from a Valentine’s package, gift a grandparent, teacher, friend, or hang in your home for some Valentine’s love, some winter cheer, and a fantastic cinnamon scent!

And yes, go ahead and use the recipe during other seasons and cut out other shapes - acorns and leaves in the fall, snowmen and snowflakes for your Christmas tree… it’s all fair game!

Heartstrings | Craft Idea

Republished from 1/22

Do you decorate for Valentine’s Day? My mother always did when I was growing up, and once I had a home of my own, I continued the tradition.

Back when I was young, my mom would bring out the same red tagboard cutouts of bow toting cupids and hearts of various sizes. They were probably purchased at a Payless Drug Store about 1961 and used year after year right up until the last kid was out of the house (who knows, maybe longer!)

I’m guessing about the year of purchase, because it would have been my first birthday. Had I arrived a day earlier, the name you’d hear on the radio wouldn’t be Delilah… it would be Valerie. I think I dodged a bullet there (or maybe Cupid’s arrow!) Yet even though my birth came on the 15th of February, every birthday celebration was a red and white themed extravaganza.

Perhaps we did Valentine’s up a bit bigger than most families, but if so, I’m glad! That’s probably why I don’t necessarily equate the “holiday” with romantic love. It was a time of family celebration, of dinners that included grandparents bringing all their home-made specialties, and little gifts for everyone around the table.

My sibling and I always make a bit of a fuss over Valentine’s Day, treating our kids to heart-shaped foods, chocolates and conversation hearts, and other little gestures. I hope you do the same for your kids, or friends, yourself!. Romantic love is fantastic, but not as shelf-stable as the love of family and community.

Don’t have any tagboard Valentine’s décor? That’s ok. Do what a friend did here, cut out hearts from any sturdy paper (or in this case, thin cardboard) and string it along for a cute garland!

Materials Needed:

• card stock or card board

• pencil

• scissors

• punch (such as a skewer)

• twine

Directions:

1. Use a templet or draw a heart free-hand on sturdy paper or card stock, then cut out to make a templet.

2. Trace 24 hearts onto card stock of your choice. Use the same color or mix it up and use multiple colors.

3. Cut out all traced hearts

4. Now punch a hole near the “valley” of each heart. A shish-ka-bob skewer worked here. (It needs to be big enough to string the twine through.)

5. Measure out a length of twine about 5 - 6 feet long and cut from roll.

6. Pinch the twine about 6” in from the end, and push a loop through the hole that has been punched in the heart shape. Pull the loop through until it is large enough to reach the bottom of the heart. Now slip the heart through the loop and pull the string taught again.

7. Repeat this process stringing the hearts evenly (about every 6”) over the length of your twine.

8. Admire your handiwork and hang!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Music You'll Fall in Love With | Duncan Laurence & Pentatonix

Happy Valentine’s to us! There’s some fabulous new music dropping that I know you’re all going to fall in love with!

I’m going to tell you about a couple of new releases, one from a relatively new artist, and the second from a group that’s been around for a while…

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Duncan Laurence: Arcade

Who is Duncan Lawrence? Get used to hearing his name. We’re swooning over his music!

Duncan is a a Dutch singer-songwriter who won the Eurovision Song Contest competition in 2019. Since then, this once small-town boy has been traveling the globe, sharing his story and his musical talents to wild enthusiasm.

He’s recently released his first full studio album, Small Town Boy,  and with it, the centerpiece single, Arcade, (the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest winner) of which this has been said: “Therein, driving percussion and rousing strings send the “small town boy in a big arcade” reeling through love lost.”

Arcade is beautiful, haunting and somewhat heartbreaking, but oh-so-relatable, because who among us hasn’t felt (at least once in our life) the exasperated sense of hopeless romance when he sings, “loving you is a losing game…”?

Listen to Arcade

ORDER NOW

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Pentatonix: The Lucky Ones

Three-time Grammy® Award-winning and multi-platinum selling Pentatonix is showing us some love this Valentine’s with the release of another full-studio album, The Lucky Ones.

It’s the group’s first full-length original album since 2015, when their self-titled album debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Top 200 Chart.

The Lucky Ones contain 11 tracks full of the complex harmonies and infectious melodies we’ve come to expect from this group that embodies the term “unique”.

The titular single, The Lucky Ones, is a reflective testament to the power of perseverance and gratitude, as these lyrics indicate: “Look how far we've come // And it was all so unexpected // We were broke and we were young // But somehow we stayed connected."

You’re going to love Coffee In Bed, and I hope your Valentine spoils you with a gift of the download, and the real deal too. While you sip your cuppa joe, enjoy the entire album!

Visit Pentatonix YouTube Page

ORDER NOW

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Happy Valentine’s Day my music loving friends! I hope this holiday finds you in good health, and good company, celebrating love in all its many splendid forms, from romantic interests to pink and red mashed potatoes made for kids or grandkids.

Make sure you take a little time to remind yourself of your own incredible value, and treat yourself to a few relaxing moments, perhaps some little self-indulgences, and of course the gift of music.