♥♥♥Hearts in the Country♥♥♥

Hopefully, the Groundhog’s prediction this year is RIGHT ON! Don’t know about you, but I’ve had enough cold weather to last me for quite a while.


Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. Are you ready? Think beyond that hideous red silky, satiny, velvet heart shaped box, the stale candy and the over priced cards. Okay! I wouldn’t turn down the long stemmed red roses, but the rest is just tacky.


Love comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes; so don’t leave out anyone when you’re making heart cards and candy. Your little ones at home would love to get Valentine Cards just like their older siblings do at school. Perhaps your sister, aunt, Grandpa or nephew needs to know your love. Make them some cards, or some hand dipped chocolates; they’re not hard. I’ve included a recipe for my very special recipe for Chocolate Tumbleweeds. They are easy, delicious and very impressive. If you’re working on your grocery list, just add some chocolate bark, flaked coconut and some little paper candy cups. These are so easy and no dipping is required.  You'll find the recipe on my CAT FOOD page above.


Perhaps you want to fix a delicious meal and prefer a recipe different from the norm. Here’s a great source. Check out a web site entitled: www.BackOfTheBox.com . There you can find all the recipes you’ve grown to love and just never copied down, such as Libby’s Famous Pumpkin Pie recipe, Fantasy Fudge, Campbell’s soup recipes galore, and more. Each week day, Back of the Box features a new “brand name” recipe and you’ll also find Monthly entries for seasonal or holiday ideas. Check it out and get cookin’.


One of my all-time meal saver sites is www.AllRecipes.com Use the existing recipes, if you know the name, or type in the ingredients you have and would like to use, and voila! A recipe is almost always there. If you have a favorite that you make and are very proud of, you can add it to the site as well (Mary’s Macaroni Meal, Paul’s Peppy Pizza - or whatever).


Make some special cards yourself. Grab some card stock, red paint, an ordinary kitchen sponge, paper, pencil, Sharpie® and scissors. *Draw a heart that you like on a piece of paper, cut it out and draw the outline of it onto the sponge with a Sharpie® pen. Carefully cut out the heart and make sure it doesn’t have any ragged edges. *BEFORE you trace and cut out your sponge-stamp heart and to make the sponge “work best” - wet it, and then ring out. Then, roll it in a towel and squeeze to remove excess water.


Pour a small puddle of red paint onto a paper or foam plate (if your paint is water-based, you can use a “real” plate if you wash it before the paint dries hard – thus not adding to the landfill). Gently dip the sponge into the paint, and then lightly press the heart onto your card.


Add an appropriate poem or note after it dries and you have a card made with your hands from your heart (see my napkins on the CAT FUR to KITTEN BRITCHES page above). I used this method to stamp/print the napkins with washable fabric paint.


The sponge I used is just an ordinary kitchen sponge without a scratcher side and about ¾” thick; any thicker that this and it would be difficult to cut with clean edges. This idea is similar to the potato stamps we made in Vacation Bible School, but the sponges can be used over and over. Once you are finished with your sponge-stamp, be sure to wash it thoroughly. When you want to use it again, go through the wet and dry procedure as above.


I hope your Country Hearts are full of Love and Laughter!

© 2011 Cat Brennan   © 2011 Aunt Cat’s Place