Valentine’s Day is a great excuse to treat yourself, your friends, and your loved ones – whether you think it’s the best day of the year or just a “Hallmark Holiday.” It’s a reminder to take a few moments from your busy schedule to really appreciate your loved ones, as well as an excuse to splurge a little if you so choose. But Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be a dinner at a fancy restaurant, or buying an overpriced bouquet of flowers. It doesn’t even have to be celebrated on Feb. 14 when restaurant prices are going to shoot up and reservations need to be made months in advance. Valentine’s Day could be something as easy as calling someone who means a lot to you just to say “I love you,” it could be playing a stupid game with the little person in your life (be it a younger sibling, cousin or a short friend) because they love it, or it could be making some cookies to hand out to your friends, just to make their day a little sweeter.

Here’s my favorite sugar cookie. Shape to your heart’s content. The recipe guides you to make little hearts, but if Feb. 14 translates to “Singles Awareness Day” for you, there are some great tutorials of how to make skulls, broken hearts, or – my personal favorite – very accurate medieval weaponry. Enjoy something sweet and stress relieving on this special day, or, if like me you have some conflicts because of Ash Wednesday, just pick a day over the weekend to celebrate with the ones you care about the most!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

 

Sugar Cookies

Preheat Oven: 375’

Makes: 40 2-inch cookies

Ingredients:

¾ cup + 2 tbsp butter

¼ cup granulated sugar

1 egg

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tsp red sprinkles

 

  1. Lightly grease pan.
  2. Cream together butter and sugar – about three minutes.
  3. Beat in egg, add vanilla
  4. In a separate bowl mix flour, baking powder and sprinkles
  5. Merge bowls, stir until dough forms
  6. Roll out the dough and use a cookie cutter (or do it yourself with either a knife or by taking a rounded tablespoon of dough and shaping it by hand) to make a heart.
  7. Place on cookie tray and bake for 8-10 minutes.

About The Author

-- Executive Editor Emeritus -- English Literature & Film, Television, and Media Arts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.