DIY: Valentine's Day

I love this holiday. It's always a wonderful excuse to buy candy for people, make cards, and just generally shower loved ones with little gifts and affection.

I've been pretty busy this time around, and have V-Day plans that extend into the weekend!

I made a card for my husband and bought him some chocolate covered marshmallows at Trader Joe's. I'll also make a dinner of some sort, but have yet to decide on the menu.

I've been cleaning and crafting all week in preparation for a small tea party I'm hosting on Saturday. It will only be the second time I've invited more than 4 people over to my apartment for this sort of thing. We didn't have a couch for a while, so it was hard to sit too many guests. Well, now I've got a couch and a clean apartment, so bring it on! 

Here's an easy DIY decorating idea:

I used vintage magazines, wrapping paper, and flocked vinyl to create various hearts. Then I just simply taped them to the wall above where I'll be setting up the tea. They're so cute, I'm tempted to leave them up forever...

Cupcakes and Mexican wedding cakes are in the works, and I may also make this biscuit recipe from last year. I attempted to make hard candy jewels for favors, but my goodness, is candy making tricky! Not sure I have the energy to try a 5th batch :-/

Well, hope you all have a wonderful day full of romance and chocolate!

hearts & candy

Yet another holiday with the purpose of reminding us to tell our loved ones how much we appreciate them. Go buy some chocolates for someone :)

In these photos:

Thrifted Land's End sweater

H&M belt

Forever 21 skirt and shoes

Now, for a delicious recipe! It's always nice to have something special on Valentine's Day, so I came up with this Rose-Pistachio Buttermilk Biscuit recipe, based on one from the Fannie Farmer cookbook.

Rose-Pistachio Buttermilk Biscuits

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 Tbsp sugar

1/2 cup butter or shortening

2/3 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup chopped pistachios (if salted, they should be rinsed first)

Preheat the oven to 425F. Grease to 8-inch cake pans. Put the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar in a bowl. Cut in the butter using two knives, a pastry blender, or your hands until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the buttermilk all at once and stir just until the dough forms a ball around the utensil. Add more buttermilk if it looks to dry, but be careful not to add too much! Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead 14 times (really, that's what it says, it's not just a Valentine's Day thing). Pat or roll until 1/2 inch thick. Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out biscuits. Place about 1/8th inch apart. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until lightly browned. Serve with raspberry or cherry jam and mint tea.

For the icing:

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 Tbsp rosewater (Very affordable at Halal markets!)

Optional: Crumbled rose petals

Stir ingredients until well mixed. Drizzle over slightly cooled biscuits.