Hello Everyone!

It’s February already. You know what that means…VALENTINE’S DAY! Hearts and Love everywhere. I don’t know about you, but I’m still a little exhausted from the Christmas celebrations, including our 3 week long Christkindlmarkt event. I mean, does anyone want to bake, make Valentine cards and decorate the whole house with heart garlands after all that?
Not me, but since I love to decorate and MUST HAVE Valentine cookies, I decided to buy treats at the bakery and just emblelish them with a few decorations.

A trip to TJMax was a gold mine for Valentine inspiration. I found cupcake toppers by Meri Meri (one of my favorite lines), sugared hearts and sprinkles, all at ridiculously reduced prices. The grocery store had cupcakes, already frosted, and angel food cake…so all I had to do was play at making it all look pretty. No stress! Target had ready made cookie kits, complete with frosting and sprinkles, just decorate and enjoy! It’s fun for the whole family.

Here’s where I have to admit to a mistake. Originally, I bought an Angel Food cakemix. They’re good, right? And who wants to start from scratch with 13 egg whites? The cake batter was nice and fluffy so I added colored sprinkles to the batter, thinking it would look fun and festive. Oh, oh. The sprinkles melted in the batter turning the color of the batter to an unappealing greyish-lavender.

I baked it anyway hoping it would be fine. After it cooled and I cut into the cake to make a cavity for the whipped cream frosting decided the color just wasn’t very appetizing. But I frosted it anyway and hoped for the best by adding more sprinkles on top of the cake…which, after a day in fridge, also melted and make the cake look psychedelic! I couldn’t use this cake, much less eat it so I frosted the store bought Angel Food Cake and I’m happy to say it turned out looking delicious and tasting fantastic. Whipped cream can really make anything taste good.

That’s the fun of creating! You make some mistakes, learn, and the next time everything works out perfect. Whether you’re baking, painting, sewing, decorating, it’s all the same…mistakes are vital to learning and growing. After so many years of creating and designing, I trust the process completely. Even on a not so inspiring day, I know that the next day will be better!

Every day is a good day to have a good day.

In the coming days, I’ll be posting more ideas for a lovely Valentine table setting and tips for making a beautiful Valentine’s Day card. And please do share your own creative ideas for making this holiday fun, easy and full of love! I hope to hear from you. Let’s inspire each other!

Pipka