Our Valentine's Day brunch

So, this is what the spread looked like.

When you keep a well-stocked fridge, freezer and pantry, this can be pulled together with no extra trips to the store.

From left to right:

That's a fruit salad. My daughter peeled and segmented 3 oranges, then cut the segments into bite size. She added some dried cranberries and toasted almond slivers. I didn't add any dressing to it, but left it just unadorned and fresh-tasting.

Those are cream puffs. I decided to make these on Saturday, when my son mentioned that his girlfriend loves creamy things more than sweets. Cream puffs are quite easy to make. Here's the recipe that I use. The unfilled leftovers freeze well, to be pulled out and filled for another occasion, down the road. I made these cream puffs slightly smaller than my mom's recipe indicated. So it made 20, instead of 12 or 15. I thin it was a better size for a brunch. I filled them with a spoonful of frozen strawberries, each, then some whipped cream.

In the crockpot are heart-shaped pancakes. I made the pancakes before church, placed in layers in the crockpot with parchment paper in between layers, so they wouldn't all stick together in one clump, and then set the pot on KEEP WARM. They did great for a couple of hours. I noticed after more than a couple of hours that the edges became a bit crisp. But otherwise, good (and did stay warm). The syrup for the pancakes was melted red currant jelly, thinned with some water (for pink syrup).

I had a couple of packages of bacon in the freezer, bought sometime last summer or early fall. When I find a good deal, I buy a few packages and keep them in the freezer for holidays and special breakfasts.

Finally, those are mini quiches, crustless. I used 9 eggs and 1/2 cup of milk/cream to make 12 little quiches. to the eggs/milk, I added some grated cheddar, thawed frozen spinach, minced onion and 4 breakfast sausages, chopped small and fried in the skillet, first.

We also had orange juice, plus coffee or cocoa with our brunch. It all worked out nicely. I did most of the work on Saturday, so my Valentine's wouldn't be totally occupied with the brunch details. We ate in the kitchen, which turned out to be a very good thing, as our heat was out. And Saturday is our housecleaning day, so the kitchen was very neat and tidy for Sunday. Again, everything just all worked out.


This was the one meal that I cooked on Sunday. Our dinner in the evening was free burgers from Jack in the box.

Visiting family and needing a quick gift

So, later this morning, we'll drive up north to visit my father-in-law and his wife. I like to bring something, some small thing that's either edible or something to watch grow.

I had this on my mind for a few days last week, trying to think of something I could put together quickly.

And this is what I came up with, using what I had on hand. It's something they can put on their deck and watch grow and bloom, through the window over the next several weeks.

So, you know all of those bulbs that I planted, The pink hyacinths are coming up very nicely and look like they'll be the first of all of the bulbs to bloom. I had them all potted in rather small individual plastic pots. For a gift-y item, I put 3 of those bulbs into one larger pot. Then I added some of the grape hyacinths, also coming up well, and tied with a bow. For a price breakdown, I had the pots. The large hyacinth bulbs were originally $5.99 for 4 bulbs. I bought them at 75% off that price, $1.49 for all 4. I used 3, for a cost of $1.12, plus 59 cents for the grape hyacinth bulbs. The full pot of spring flowers to bloom, for under $2. I always have recycled ribbons on hand, so no real cost there, either.

A nice, sweet gift, with more love and thought, than cost. (And, truthfully, I really enjoyed playing with the dirt, even if just on the kitchen counter!)