Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day Monster Cookies | Chocolate Covered Pretzels | Chocolate Chip Cookies

Happy Valentine's Day! In case you are still looking for the perfect homemade-sweets to give your valentine, here are three perfect recipes. Each recipe is ready in under 30 minutes, leaving plenty of time to sip champagne and cuddle with your sweetheart.

La Dolce Vita

LA DOLCE VITA
Milan, Italy
© Dolcetto Confections | Allison M. Veinote, 2010

Valentine's Day Monster Cookies

We all have those days - the ones where nothing seems to go right and each frustration is followed by another. The days that drag on forever with no end in sight. It is equally frustrating when these inevitable days happen to a loved one, leaving me helpless to offer better advice than, “Life sucks sometimes. I’m sorry.”

While I may be at a loss in offering eloquent, inspiring words, I always know I can whip up a quick batch of cookies to provide comfort at the end of a bad day. Monster cookies are a perfect choice - mixing them up is effortless - and I can customize the colors of the M&Ms to whatever the occasion might be.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

You might think this is just another recipe for a basic chocolate chip cookie, but you would be wrong. These cookies are how Mike and I survived living four hundred miles apart for two long years. Every time I missed having him nearby, which was often, I would attempt to cure my loneliness by baking up a batch of these cookies, wrapping them up tightly with a love note and a kiss, and mailing them off to New York City. There were weeks he received three batches of these cookies.

Luckily, he never grew tired of receiving those little care packages and we are now lucky enough to see each other each morning and kiss each other every night - perhaps a simple thing, but something I never take for granted.

This is still my favorite recipe for chocolate chip cookies and they are especially sweet all packaged up for Valentine’s Day. Aren’t these treat bags the cutest?! They are courtesy of Serena from The Farm Chicks and they are just perfect to dress-up this special cookie recipe.

The Donut Pub

While donuts might not be my sweet of choice, there is something undeniably comforting about stepping into an old storefront, hopping up on a counter stool, and ordering a black coffee and sugar-laced donut. The Donut Pub in Manhattan just happens to be the perfect place to do so.  A few Sundays ago, Mike, our friend Vic, and I passed a few moments on a wintry day, sipping coffee (or milk), and tasting three different cruller flavors.

The Donut Pub

203 West 14th Street

New York, NY 10011

Hours: open 24 hours

Subway: A,C,E,1,2,3 to 14th Street; L to Eighth Avenue