Heart Cookies

Today was a Valentine's filled day to say the least! This morning we went to my friend Lisa's house to make a very cute little treat for daddy (but I won't be blogging about that until after Mitch sees it since it's a surprise), and then this afternoon we made some heart cookies for both of the boys' grandparents. It's amazing how traditions have a way of sticking around for generations and that's definitely how it is for me with Valentine's Day. My memory of Valentine's Day as a kid was one of my favorite holidays because of the little things my mom did to make us feel so special and loved, like making heart shaped cookies and having a special meal with little gifts for us at our place setting. Even though I'm pretty sure my mom would say she didn't do it every year or think we really picked up on all that she did, I have wonderful memories of Valentine's Day with my family and hope to create some of the same in our home! Here are some pictures of the boys working hard to decorate their cookies to give to grammy & pop and maw & paw. They did a great job and I was actually the one that made the biggest mess when I was cleaning up and dropped one of the jars of sprinkles (the little ball ones that roll EVERYWHERE!).

Caleb working hard to get just the right amount of cow and heart shaped confetti on each cookie.

Noah really went to town on his cookies too....

...although inevitably this is what came of his decorating...:)

Also here is the recipe for the icing that I used for the cookies. My friend Lori told me about this recipe from the Blooming Glen Mennonite cookbook. I just now got around to trying it and it is well worth the effort!

Flour Icing
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. milk
3 T. flour

Stir 1/2 c. milk into 3 T. flour. Pour into saucepan and stir constantly over moderate heat until it makes a paste. Cool! Add butter, sugar, vanilla to flour mixture. Beat with electric mixer until smooth and fluff. The longer the beating, the fluffier it will be.