Valentine's Day is about celebrating the ones you love and demonstrating how much you appreciate them. Most people show this by buying or doing something special for those lucky someone's. What better way to show your loved one that you care, than to make some tasty treats they will go nuts over? Personally, I make all of these foods year round, but they pair especially well with Valentine's Day (especially for the men in your life)!

 

Fancy Strawberries

My friends and I used to make chocolate covered strawberries ALL the time. We would get a bottle of wine, make the strawberries and settle in for a girls movie night. This works especially well for an at home Valentine’s date night too. Instead of wine, you could class it up a bit more with a bottle of champagne for you and your loved one. The strawberries are SO easy to make! Don’t waste your money on Shari’s Berries, diy and save $20.

 

All you have to do is wash the strawberries and allow them to fully dry. Once they are fully dry, you can melt the chocolate, I use semi-sweet chocolate chips. Do it in the microwave for about 30-45 sec increments until they are soft enough to just melt when you stir them together (watch the time because they can overcook and that batch of chocolate will be ruined). I like to add cayenne pepper to my melted chocolate because it gives it a little kick and I appreciate spicy chocolate (plus cayenne pepper boosts your metabolism, so win-win). Then just dip your strawberries in the mixture and put on a pan or plate. I put wax paper/aluminium on the pan, because they come off easier that way. Place in the fridge to let fully harden (15-20min - doesn't take long at all). Finally, ENJOY. Yum!

 

Whiskey Truffles

These whiskey truffles have a special place in my heart because my mom has been making them for a couple years now. We’ve all been to Scotland and have gone on whiskey distillery tours there, so they are very personal to us. She started making these to commemorate our time there and combine our love of whiskey & chocolate. Personally, I am not a huge fan of whiskey - I can appreciate it and the differences in producing it and flavours, but it’s not my drink of choice. However, these whiskey truffles are to D.I.E. for. I LOVE me some chocolate, and specifically truffles.

 

To make, follow this recipe (also others on Pinterest that are similar) and let mixture chill in the fridge for 2-3hours, until you can form into a ball. Then cover with cocoa powder and add back to fridge for a few hours. Delicious. These are a very sophisticated manly chocolate for your man (but you’ll still enjoy them too).

Festive Breakfast

You can have a festive breakfast for Valentine’s Day by making pink pancakes with candied bacon. You heard that right, candied bacon. Now, it’s not really candy, it’s a spice mix, but it does have brown sugar in it, and that’s essentially what’s in candy, right - sugar! This stuff is so good! And the pink pancakes are just for fun (not so manly, but just to spice up plain boring pancakes - it’s a holiday, after all!)

 

For the pancakes, I just used a mix and added 6 drops of red food coloring. You can follow the directions on the box to get the pancake mixture. :)

 

For the bacon, thick sliced works the best so it can hold the seasoning and not burn, but all I had on hand was regular and it still worked. To make, put your bacon on a slatted grease pan. Then, put on the spice mix. For my mix I used crushed pecans, brown sugar, cayenne pepper (theme?), sea salt and cracked pepper. Put the oven temp on 325 (thin bacon) for 25-30min but watch it. For thick bacon, 350 and 15-20min, but keep an eye on it too (you do NOT want to ruin this bacon)!

Now you’re ready for a festive and yummy breakfast Valentine’s Day style <3

 

These recipes are so easy to make and will really add an extra touch to your Valentine’s Day celebration. And most importantly, they are made from the heart, so you can’t go wrong with that! Do you have a special dish you make for Valentine’s Day or for a loved one’s special occasion? Would love to hear about it in the comments <3 Amanda