It’s Valentine’s Day this week which usually involves people’s own version of civil war….those who have a Valentine vs. those who do not. When I taught junior high I used to try and take Valentine’s Day off. Not to spend it with my sweetheart but because I couldn’t deal with the drama. Some called it Valentine’s Day I called it Crying Girl Day. Either girls were really, really happy because the boy they liked gave them something or they were crying because they had no one. Or the guy they liked sent flowers to another girl and not them. And then of course there were the actual girl fights over boys. You think we would learn as grown women but not so much.

Valentine’s Day has been whipped into quite a frenzy if you don’t have someone. Oh no, I don’t have someone for Valentine’s Day! Oh no, I don’t have someone for July 17th. What’s July 17th? It’s just a day…and so is February 14th. Personally my day of needing someone is April 15th…Tax Day. I cry a lot that day. And drink…so I’ll need a DD.

So don’t stress if you don’t have a Valentine for February 14th, it’s just a day on the calendar. If you want flowers, go buy some…the day after Valentine’s Day and save you money. Candy? Buy some? Hugs? Get one of these.

These were seen on Pinterest (shocking) but I did mine in two ways, one as bark for those of you who don’t have heart molds (aka those of you who don’t have a kitchen gadget and pan addiction like me). This is seriously easy and is even done in the microwave. So if you know someone who doesn’t have a Valentine, make them a batch of these and spread the love…and chocolate.

Conversation Heart Bark

12 oz white chocolate chips
1/2 cup conversation hearts, chopped
1/4 cup conversation hearts, whole

Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with aluminum foil. If making them in silicone heart shapes you do not need to do anything to the molds.

Place the white chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave until melted, stirring after every 30 seconds to prevent overheating. Set aside for a few minutes.

Add 1/2 cup of chopped conversation hearts to the white chocolate and stir until combined. Pour the white chocolate onto the prepared baking sheet and spread it out a little bit. If using heart molds, evenly distribute chocolate among the molds. Mine holds 6.

While the chocolate is still wet, sprinkle the 1/4 cup of whole hearts over the top of the bark and press them gently into the chocolate to adhere them. If making hearts place hearts randomly and make sure the conversation side is visible.

Refrigerate the bark to set the chocolate for about 20 minutes. Once set, break the bark into small irregular pieces to serve. If making hearts, push out of molds. Conversation Hearts Bark can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

One can talk a good talk but in all honesty my talk was put to the test on Super Bowl Sunday. While scrolling through my Facebook page on the way back from the party (no I was not driving) I noticed that my ex-husband had changed his profile picture as well as posted photos of him and a girl hiking. This was it. This was my gut check moment. The moment where you can say all you want oh gee I want them to find someone, but what is your real feeling?

So what did I feel? Happiness. He looked happy. Genuine in the moment happy. And I was happy for him. She looked nice. I didn’t pick her to pieces like women like to do. I texted him and asked about her. When I found out she wasn’t with him in a romantic capacity I was disappointed as he seemed so happy in the photos. But then I kindly reminded myself that as long as he looked that happy I should just be thankful for that.

I passed my gut check. I passed my real test so to speak…or what I thought was going to be my real test. It was nice to know in a way that when push came to shove I was truly happy for him. And I hope he feels the same for me.

Some people ask me why it works for us, how can we stay friends? Well for one thing it’s one of the reasons we split. Makes no sense right? We made the choice to split before we hated each other because we didn’t like the idea of hating each other. And while we knew we weren’t a good match as a married couple we knew that we were still compatible as friends. We also don’t hang out all the time. He isn’t my best friend. He isn’t my go to on personal stuff. There are boundaries and that’s okay…there should be.

If you have followed this blog for a long time you know that my ex was always referred to as the picky eater. Apparently he is expanding his taste buds now, but here is a dish I know he would have eaten. It’s kiddo approved and something that gets made often around here. The Alfredo sauce makes it sinful but oh so yummy.

Three Cheese Prosciutto Alfredo Baked Ravioli

1 Jar (26oz) San Marzano marinara sauce (you can use your favorite)
2 pounds store-bought fresh three cheese ravioli
1 batch Prosciutto Alfredo Sauce (see below)
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Cook ravioli in a large pot of boiling salted water just until they float to the top (pasta will continue to cook in oven). Drain pasta; return to pot.

Make the Alfredo sauce.

Spoon some marinara sauce on the bottom of a 9-by-13 inch baking dish. Layer one layer of cooked ravioli.

Spoon over 1/3 of the Alfredo sauce. Then spoon over a thin layer of the marinara sauce. Sprinkle with ½ cup mozzarella, and 1/8 cup Parmesan.

Repeat until you get to the top of the baking dish. Cheese on top should be the last layer.

Bake until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool slightly before serving.

Prosciutto Alfredo Sauce:
4 ounces Prosciutto, small dice
6 TBSP unsalted butter
2 tsp. chopped garlic
6 TBSP flour
1 cup heavy cream
3 cups milk
8 oz. Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated
In a large saucepan over medium-high heat and add prosciutto pieces and cook for two minutes.

Turn heat down to medium and add the butter and garlic and let sauté for one minute. Then add the flour and stirring the whole time sauté another minute. It will be clumpy at this point.
Add the cup of heavy cream and the milk, whisking the whole time. Turn up to medium-high heat and bring to a boil. The minute you get to the boil. Turn down to low-medium and add the cheese, whisking the whole time. When cheese is completely melted and sauce is smooth (minus the prosciutto pieces) the sauce is ready.

A couple people I know are struggling with the blending of holiday traditions once they are in a relationship, get married, have kids, etc. More specifically the time honored debate of Christmas Eve vs. Christmas Day and when do you really celebrate Christmas.

I come from a family of Christmas Day’ers. As mentioned in a previous post we always got to open one gift Christmas Eve, which was always pajamas. Other than that we were sent to bed at a way too early hour with the excuse of us not getting to see Santa but now I really know it was so my parents and relatives could start on the heavy drinking without us kids. Well that and my dad was stuck assembling all the “some assembly required” gifts that all the instructions were in another language.

I have ALWAYS been a get up early Christmas girl. Usually starting around 4am going into my parents room begging for me to get to go look. And them saying no. In my defense if they didn’t make me go to bed at 8pm then I probably wouldn’t be up at 4am (they would hold out till about 6:30). I’ve slowed down in my old age as when you are an adult you pretty much know what you are getting. This is how our open your stocking without parents came into effect. We were allowed to see what was in the stocking but not anything else until my parents came downstairs.

One year my brother convinced us that if we opened our gifts on Christmas Eve we could all sleep in. We did. We slept in. It sucked. There was nothing to look forward to except Christmas dinner. That was the first and last year we did that. But I know a lot of people that celebrate it Christmas Eve. What about you? Are you a Eve or Day’er?

I saw these on Our Best Bites and thought they were too cute not to make. So while making the gingerbread houses I made these too since the frosting and candy were out. Obviously they are very simple, yet totally festive all the same!

Nutter Butter Reindeer

Nutter Butters
Pretzel Twists
Mini Brown M &M’s (think of all the lefts overs you get to eat)
Cinnamon Candy Red Hots (or a red M&M)
Royal icing or melted chocolate (to “glue” stuff on)

I think this is self-explanatory to figure out. The only thing is that you might want to find something to rest the pretzel antlers on until they dry. I used a thin book that was the same height as the cookie.

From Our Best Bites

I’m often surprised when people tell me that they don’t have any holiday traditions. My ex-husband didn’t have any, which I actually loved because that meant we would just do mine. But I have met more than a few people in my time that don’t do this. And while I think traditions are fun, in some ways, they can also cause unnecessary stress to your holiday season.

This year one of my traditions is getting broken. Ever since I can remember we were allowed to open one gift on Christmas Eve, which amazingly were always new pajamas. My mom always bought them for me even as an adult, until I got married in which she let my ex-husband know that he was in charge of that now. Even last year, my ex-husband’s gift to me was pajamas since he knows that is one of my major holiday traditions. This year when he told me that he was playing Santa I wrongly assumed that I was getting pajamas. Don’t get me wrong he got me a way cool gift that is more exciting than pajamas it just made me realize I wasn’t getting them this year. I have to be flexible and go with it. So I bought a cheap pair of pajama bottoms (I usually just wear a t-shirt on top) and wrapped them up and put on the tag that they were from CCS and the Little Fuzzy Bunny. Would I have preferred to have someone get them for me, sure, because we never really get surprises as adults, but those are the breaks. I have a new normal now. And maybe now my tradition is that I buy myself a new pair each year.

I think too many people put emphasis on the traditions and they get a little freaked out if they don’t get done. It’s okay if they don’t get done. As the Grinch can attest to, you can’t keep Christmas from coming. So you can either be a stress case and make other people miserable right along with you or you can not worry about it…I’d go with option two if I were you.

One thing that isn’t so much a tradition as it is fun to do is decorating a gingerbread house. Last year I didn’t get mine done for the holidays, and if you remember I just ended up making one for Valentine’s instead. Which was pretty fun as well. They are pretty time consuming and I was thinking about how when I taught 6th grade we would always go down and help the kindergarteners make gingerbread houses using little milk cartons and graham crackers. They were messy and ugly and I was usually covered in frosting with random gum drops on me. But they had fun and that was all that mattered. While making Rice Krispie Treats for my hockey team I started thinking, I should make a little house using Rice Krispie Treats instead of milk cartons. They are a good size and completely edible. Because let’s face it, even though the gingerbread is edible…it doesn’t taste that great since it’s made more for structure than it is for eating.

So if you don’t get to all your holiday traditions this year, give yourself and the others around you a break and don’t sweat it.

Rice Krispie Treat Gingerbread Houses

6 TBSP unsalted butter
16 ounces marshmallows
12 cups Rice Krispie Cereal (I used a mix of plain and chocolate)
In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.

Add cereal. Stir until well coated.

Using buttered spatula or wax paper evenly press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Cool.

Cut the treats the size you would like your house to be. Then cut a square…cut that diagonal so that it makes the roof. How many you get is really going to depend on how big you cut your houses. I got four houses and some ends to eat as I decorated.

Make royal icing and put into a piping bag. Using the icing, attach the roof to the top of the house and let it dry a little.

Continue to decorate as desired.

Royal Icing:

5 TBSP meringue powder (you can find this at the grocery store or craft supply store)
1 TBSP cream of tarter
¾ cup warm water
4 cups powdered sugar
Using a stand mixer with the paddle or whisk attachment, add the meringue powder, cream of tarter, and water. Just hand whisk the ingredients together to make sure there are no lumps.

Add the powdered sugar and mix on low speed for about three minutes. Increase speed to medium and let mix for about 5-7 minutes. This is a thicker icing for gingerbread house making. If you want to use leftovers for cookies, add water to it to thin it out. This makes a very large batch of icing.