Strawberry Cheesecake Belgian Waffle

Happy Valentines Day!!!! My favorite holiday is right around the corner. This is the perfect breakfast to share with your loved one on valentines day morning. It's also super easy to make. The topping is simply strawberry pie filling, vanilla greek yogurt, and a little powdered sugar. I'm sure if you wanted to make it more authentic you could actually make cheesecake filling, but I love the stonyfield organic greek vanilla yogurt. It is so good and much lighter then actual cheesecake filling would be!! It's my favorite out of all vanilla greek yogurts because you can actually see vanilla bean running through it.

Ingredients:

• Belgian waffle mix (Your waffle mix will also most likely call for egg, oil, and water.)
• Strawberry Pie Filling
• Vanilla Greek Yogurt
• Powdered sugar

Recipe:

• Follow the directions on your belgian waffle mix. Each waffle will most likely take 3-4 minutes to cook.
• Top the belgian waffle with strawberry pie filling, vanilla greek yogurt, and sprinkle with powdered sugar. 

Vodka Strawberry Lemonade

Over the next couple weeks, I'll be posting some cocktail recipes to get you ready for Valentine's Day. Each drink has a theme for however you're feeling this Feb 14th. Today's drink is a sweet vodka strawberry lemonade. It's perfect for those who are feeling sweet and flirty. Keep this recipe on file for the summer too! It will definitely make the perfect summer drink.

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 oz vodka
• 3 oz organic lemonade
• chopped strawberries
• 1/2 oz agave nectar
• asti spumante

Recipe:

• Fill a glass with chopped strawberries and ice.
• In a cocktail shaker, mix vodka, lemonade, and agave nectar. 
• Add lemonade mixture to glass. 
• Top with asti spumante.  

Lemon Ricotta Cookies and Candy Kabobs for Valentines Day!!

I love valentines day! Its my favorite holiday and YES it is a holiday. Ask my college roommates about my valentines obsession. I would put up so many decorations in our dorm room that you would wake up and instantly hit your head on floating hearts and pink streamers.

Remember this one Katie?

I made these cute candy kabobs for some of my valentines this year. They are super easy to make and you can get as creative as you want with them! I used lollipop sticks from the craft store, put on my favorite red/orange/pink candies and wrapped them up in plastic gift bags. They are so cute and easy to make for a last minute valentine gift.

If you are looking for an amazing cookie recipe, PLEASE make these cookies. They are my absolute favorite and everyone who tries them LOVES them. They are sweet, tart, soft and SOO yummy. I usually make them without red food coloring. I just decided that the red food coloring would make it festive for valentines day!

Recipe Source: Food Network

Ingredients
Cookies:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
• juice from one lemon
• 1 lemon, zested
• red food coloring 

Glaze:

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• juice from one lemon
• 1 lemon, zested

Recipe:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
• In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar using an electric mixer until light and fluffy. 
• Add eggs to the butter (1 at a time) until incorporated.
• Add ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Beat until combined.
• Stir in dry ingredients.
• Add red food coloring to the batter until you reach the desired color.
• Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Spoon dough (about 1/8 of a cup for each cookie) onto the baking sheets.
• Bake for 15 minutes until slightly golden around edges.
• Remove from oven and let the cookies rest for 20 minutes.
• To make glaze, combine powdered sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest in a small bowl. Stir until combined.
• Spoon glaze onto each cookie. Ad festive sprinkles!

 

21st Birthday Celebration

Well, its my brothers 21st birthday today! Happy Birthday Jonathan! It was easy figuring out what to get him this year. It just took a quick run to the liquor store!! I purchased a wide range of nips (21 in total) which included vodka, tequila, whiskey, etc. It is a sampler if you may haha. For a similar gift, see my liquor and lottery ticket bouquet here.

To make this, you need:

• Nips of alcohol
• Wooden skewers
• Strong tape
• A Foam block
• A Box
• Shredded paper
• Scrapbook decorations

First: Decorate the box with you favorite bubble letters, stickers, and scrapbook decorations.

Second: Place the foam block in the box.

Third: Tape each nip to a wooden skewer. I used packaging tape, which seems strong enough to hold even the glass bottles.

Fourth: Push each skewer into the foam block.

Fifth: Place shredded paper around the skewers to hide the foam block.

This is what the back looks like:

I'm sure anyone receiving this gift would love it! Not only is this a great birthday gift but the same technique can be used for any time of the year! Last Valentines Day, I made something similar for my boyfriend. My boyfriend always gives me roses for special occasions. To reciprocate, I decided to make a bouquet of things he loved: alcohol, scratch tickets, and cigars. He absolutely loved it and fondly named the bouquet a BROquet.

I'm sure any guy in your life would like a BROquet for their next birthday, anniversary, etc. Hope you have as much fun making it as I did!

For another 21st birthday gift see: Beer cake