22 Valentines

Hello Sweet Friends,

Last week, I asked my five year old if she was going to be exchanging valentines with her classmates at school.  In response she said,

Yes, Mommy.  I need to bring 21 valentines to school on Tuesday.  There are 22 kids in my class if you include me, so that means I need to make 21 valentines.”

While her response was completely accurate, I couldn’t help but wonder why we never include ourselves in Valentine’s Day celebrations, when there is so much awesomeness in all of us?  Think about it, as adults, many of us are raising children, working badass jobs, fixing Pinterest-worthy meals (or at least trying to, I mean come on), laundry, marriage, volunteering… I could go on for days. There are serious super-hero skills required to balance such demanding tasks,  yet taking a moment to give ourselves an emotional high-five is far too rare.  I don’t know about you, but I want my kids to grow up with a healthy sense of self-love.  So in the spirit of learning how to love ourselves, I have started a new family tradition.  It’s time to party.

Every February 14th from now on, our family is having a Valentine’s Day party to celebrate others, as well as ourselves.

Our celebration is simple.  Each year, we will bake something to celebrate Valentine’s Day, and take a few minutes to make valentines for ourselves.  It doesn’t matter if what we write is silly or serious, it is just about taking time to write down what makes us special.  Next, we will collect the valentines in a box and save them for down the road when one of us needs a little encouragement.  Over the years, I want my children to have a nice collection of their own valentines to remind them of how they are truly incredible.  They will also have tons from their boring parents! 🙂

For the yummy part of our celebration, we decided to bake a homemade pound cake with fondant icing.  Although this cake looks a little fancy on the outside, it’s what is on the inside that really rocks.  You will love this recipe.  The cake is a no-fail old fashioned pound cake with canned cream cheese frosting. E-A-S-Y.  I’ll save the fondant and decorations for a separate post.  The cake itself has few ingredients and is very dependable if you ever need to make a cake in a flash and don’t have much in the pantry.

So this year, I hope you take time to celebrate yourself on Valentine’s Day….. Then eat cake!  I promise this combination will ensure one of your best Valentine’s Days yet.  You deserve it.

With lots of love,

Print

Easy Pound Cake Recipe

Prep Time

30 mins

Cook Time

30 mins

Total Time

2 hrs

 

Basic Pound Cake

Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup butter
• 5 eggs
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Instructions

Cake

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Combine sugar and butter
3. Slowly beat in eggs
4. Add vanilla
5. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl and add once combined
6. Beat mixture until smooth
7. Pour batter into pan
8. Bake until slightly golden on top and there is "no jiggle" on top! 20-25 minutes.

Decorating

1. Wait for the cakes to cool all the way down before removing them from their pans. Once removed, you can decorate and serve, or slice the rounded tops and stack the layers with your favorite frosting!