NomNom: Rasberry Cream Cheese Tarts

Happy almost Valentine's day! There are two different types of feelings towards this holiday--you either love it or hate it. I'm the former only because I enjoy celebrating love. Cheesy, I know.

I'll admit this holiday has become overly commercialized but if you acknowledge this holiday for what it's supposed to represent then how could you not like it? It's a good ol' reminder to hug that special person(s) and doggy in your life a little tighter and let them know how much you loooooove them.

As I was on my way back to the states from Costa Rica, I had a 2 hour layover in Georgia. I wandered over to the newsstand and picked up the latest issue of People magazine to catch up on the latest celebrity news because, well, I need to know which celebrity is hooking up with who and which latest couple is divorcing. It's just that simple.

So there's usually a recipe they share in each issue and this time they had this rasberry cream cheese tart recipe that looked so scrumptious and all sorts of heart shaped cute. I didn't wanna buy the issue just for that one recipe alone so I did the next best thing.

I quickly took a pic of the recipe with my iPhone, ninja style.

Yea, that happened. That's life.

There's cream cheese, honey, and rasberries that gets mixed together and joyously baked inside a pie crust. I mean, there is nothing wrong with that sentence.

These sorta remind me of pop tarts. But heart shaped. That makes such a difference.

Make these for your special person and surely you will be rewarded with a hug and a kiss.

Happy Valentine's day. I heart you guys.


Recipe (Adapted from Catherine McCord's Weelicious cookbook) Yields:10
1/2 cup plus 10 fresh or defrosted frozen rasberries
1/4 cup whipped cream cheese
1 tbsp honey or agave
1 pkg (14 oz) refrigerated pie crust
1 tbsp milk or water
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Procedure
1. Preheat oven to 400. In a bowl mash together 1/2 cup rasberries, cream cheese, and honey.

2. Unroll pie crusts, and using a large heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out 20 heart shapes. Top 10 hearts with 2 tsps each of the rasberry mixture, leaving a 1/4 in. border. LIghtly brush the borders with water. Cover with remaining hearts.

3. Using a fork, gently press down on edges to seal. With a toothpick, poke holes in each tart. Place tarts on parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes.

4. Meanwhile place 10 remaining rasberries in a strainer set over a bowl. Press down on rasberries to release the juice. Whisk in milk and powdered sugar until icing is smooth. Spread of cooled tarts.

NomNom: Rice Crispy Heart Pops

So, Valentine's day is coming up in 4 days. That's like, soon. The men got lucky this year because they have the whole weekend to plan something for their significant other if they're a last minute planner. I don't fall under this category because I have a somewhat Type A personality and like to plan ahead and know my schedule ahead of time (minus the occasional surprises). Yeaaa I don't have the 'go with the flow' type of attitude and I blame that for growing up as an East Coast girl. The boy is from California so he's quite the opposite but that's...cool. I dunno.

The boy likes chocolate so I've been racking my brain as to what kind of fun Valentines day themed dessert I could make him and kept staring at my heart shaped cookie cutter for inspiration. Yea, I know...as if the cookie cutter would speak to me.

I initially thought of baking heart shaped chocolate chip cookies but then the idea didn't really stir my soul. I was mindlessly going through some celebrity gossip website last week (I'm a celebrity gossip knowledge queen--ask me who's dating who and I'll tell you in a heartbeat) and they featured several Valentines day themed recipes. I came across one that made these cute chocolate covered rice crispy pops and well I was sold.

Sometimes I swear the food gods just shine their light on me and answer my food prayers. It's easy, tastes delicious, and is super cute! Win!

I mean, they taste like you would image it to literally taste like..rice crispy treats covered in delicious, melted chocolate. Buuut I wanted to use good chocolate chips for this recipe. Don't get me wrong, I like and usually use Nestle chocolate chips when baking cookies but since I knew I'd be covering a big surface area (yea, that's the nerd in me talking) with chocolate I decided to spend a little more money and buy Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips. Oh my, please use these. They taste so smooth, rich, and creamy that I may have ate 20 or so chips along the baking process.

I think any dessert that has a stick in it is automatically deemed as cute. Cake pops? Cute. Marshmallow pops? Cute. Rice crispy pops? Cute!!

On another unrelated note, I have some big news to share with you! The March issue of Elle magazine, which is on news stands now featured some of my outfit posts on an article written about Washington, DC fashion. So exciting!! I'm feeling very, very humbled that they would notice little ol' me and include me in their article. My awesome photographer friend (who now has a website up and running!) and I try to work hard to (hopefully) give you quality content, so to be recognized from a nationally well known fashion magazine is extremely rewarding. When I started my blog 5 months ago, I never would have imagined  that I'd be featured in anything, let alone a popular fashion magazine that I actually read myself.

As always, thank you so much for reading. Whether it be from occasionally grazing through or being a follower of this little blog, I am extremely thankful for your support.

Ok, ok, enough of all that sappy talk. Now go make those super easy rice crispy pops and enjoy them while reading that Elle magazine! Yea! Have a great weekend.

Recipe (adapted from www.koreanamericanmommy.com)
1/2 Stick unsalted butter
1 package of mini marshmallows
8.5 cups of Rice Krispie Cereal
24 White sticks about 5 inches long
1 package of Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Chips

Procedure
1. Heat up a large pan and melt the butter over medium/low heat. Add the marshmallows and melt completely. Combine the rice krispie cereal to the marshmallow/butter mixture and mix thoroughly.
2. Line a 9x13 pan with parchment ot wax paper and place the rice krispie mixture and spread out evenly. Press down firmly and evenly. Allow to sit for about 10-15 minutes at room temperature.
3. Grease a heart cookie cutter and press down evenly on the rice krispie mold and remove the heart shaped rice krispie treat. Take your stick and carefully pierce the bottom of the heart shaped rice krispie and stop when you have about 2.5 inches of stick remaining. Press firmly on a flat surface with your palms on each sides of the heart to secure the stick. Also, press the sides as well.

4. Microwave the chocolate chips in 30 second increments until completely melted.
5. Dip the heart into the chocolate sauce and using a butter knife smooth out the surface also removing access chocolate. Place on a lined baking sheet and allow the hearts to set in the refrigerator for about 15-20 minutes.

NomNom: Chocolate Covered Pretzels

February is finally here and before we know it, that lovey dovey holiday called Valentines day will be around the corner. Whether you have a significant other or not, it's a day to appreciate the loves in your life and make them feel extra special. Making something for that special someone doesn't have to involved numerous ingredients (unless that's what you wanna do) but can be broken down to being simple, cute, and still be tasty, which is where these chocolate covered pretzels come in.

I've always loved chocolate covered pretzels because of the sweet and salty component it has but it can be overpriced at the grocery store for what you're actually getting. Why spend money on that (save it for nail polish!) when you can make these yourself? I'm almost embarrassed to call this a recipe because it's just so easy. There are only 3 ingredients involved. Just three. If you're really lazy you can just use chocolate (which would make it 2!!) and opt out of the sprinkles, but, hey this is for valentines day so we have to step up our game a little.

I used Lindt's chocolate but you can use any white chocolate.

Make sure you tap of any excess chocolate...otherwise you will have a gooey, chocolatey mess..hmmmm...

Photos courtesy of Sung Shin

Now I know Valentines Day isn't for another week and a half but I figure it doesn't hurt to start thinking about what you wanna do. I have another super easy recipe fitting for Valentines day (heart shaped and all) I'll bake and post for next week but in the meantime, I tested this on the boy and he really enjoyed it so this was a win for me!

Package them individually in a cellophane bag and give it your honey, friends, parents, or whoever else you wanna impress. Just don't tell them how easy it was;) Have a great weekend.

Recipe

Bag of pretzels (I used rods but feel free to use regular shaped pretzels)

White chocolate

Sprinkles

Wax paper

Procedure

1. Microwave your chocolate in 30 second increments then stir. They won't melt entirely so put them back in the microwave for another 30 seconds.

2. Dip your pretzel in the bowl and using a spoon cover the area of the pretzel you want. Gently tap or hold it an angle so excess chocolate drips off.

3. Sprinkle the chocolate area of the pretzel while it' still wet over a plate, so you don't get sprinkles all over your work area.

4. Gently sit them on wax paper and let them rest so the chocolate hardens. You can put them in the refrigerator to speed up the hardening process or if you're in a rush.