Valentine Breakfast and Cake Pops

Happy Valentines Day! 

I hope everyone can find someone to call their Valentine today. Someone to share some love and sweetness with. If your single and alone, find someone who could use a hug. Your not alone on this day. 

When we woke up Sunday morning, Nick asked if I would like to try the new breakfast joint in town.  “Sure”, I said in excitement. I jumped up, threw my hair back and put on some bluejeans. I was ready. I love breakfast. It is my favorite meal of the day. It is also the most important meal. 

The place was called “Eggs Up”. The inside looked like a glamorized waffle house. We were seated and I started off with a vanilla cappuccino. I normally drink coffee with almond milk, but today I splurged and sugared up. Boy was it sweet!

For breakfast, I ordered the banana foster french toast. 

What did I think? It was ok but the caramelized glaze they put on top was globbed on and hard as a jaw breaker. They did not do it right. I just put it to the side of my plate and enjoyed the french toast, bananas and bacon. I made a comment to the waitress afterwards. She agreed and other customers had complained about the same thing. They had so many different items on the menu. We plan to go back another day and try something else. 

After breakfast, I went to church wearing my distressed heart sweater. 

I kept it clean so I could wear it again today to work. 

Speaking of work. I worked hard making cake pops for the office to enjoy as a sweet treat for Valentines Day. I have never made cake pops before. I guess because I have never been a fan. I do not like the texture nor the how sweet they are. But they are cute and favorite to a lot of people. 

The cake pops were easy to make but hard to cover with chocolate topping. It was hard to get the topping to look good on the ball of cake. It wanted to drip. If I laid them on wax paper, it would leave a flat spot. If I put them upright, the coating would run down the handle. So I had to just dipped them and held them while turing them until the cocolate would dry enough not to drip or run. It was time consuming. 

 

Cake Pops

-Cook a cake of your flavor.(I used confetti cake) and let it cool.

-Mix unitl crushed to the consistency of. Grits.

-Add about 1/4 to 1/2 cups of icing. Mix until well mixed. 

-Work into 24 balls.

- dip end of stick in the melted chocolate and stick it inside  the ball.

-Dip each ball into the melted chocolate. 

-Add sprinkles (optional). 

I placed each pop in a hole of a colander. This kept them from getting flat spots.

I think they turned out rather pretty and hope they are a hit at the party. I kept out two for Nick and my daughter to enjoy. 

Tonight we plan to stay in and enjoy a nice steak on the grill. We do not usually have good luck finding a place to eat on special occasions like this. By eating at home, I do not have to worry about finding something to wear and there is no wait. 

What are your Valentine plans?

Almost Valentines Day

Valentines Day seems to have come fast this year. I guess because we started seeing heart shaped candies and fluffy teddy bears taking over the store shelves the day after Christmas.

I like Valentines Day. Love is in the air everywhere we go. While most couples are busy every day with work and/or kids, this is the day they will find a baby sitter and spend quality time alone whether it’s at a fancy resteraunt or in their den watching a movie.  Nick and I never really get into the whole candy and roses thing with each other but we do try to go out for a nice Valentines Dinner. I’m not sure where we will end up going but I look forward to it. 

Here is a little token I have kept for years that my daddy got me one Valentines Day. It came in a little red velvet rose shaped ring box. It’s holographic and says “I Love You”. 

I never remember my parents really making a big deal out of Valentines Day with us kids but I do remember mom always made sure I had valentines for class mates. I would spend hours trying to figure out which ones I wanted to give who.  I also remember her making red heart shaped pin cushions for my teachers. They were pretty and gained me a few brownie points. 

I always make sure to get my daughter a little Valentines gift each year. This year we got her a few of her favorite snacks and some candy. I wanted to do more but she came home to visit before I could finish putting more things together for her and I knew I wouldn’t be seeing her until after Valentines Day. 

Instead of flowers, we got her an Aloe plant. She is always calling us upset that she burned herself while cooking or hot ironing her hair. I also think it will look sweet in her little apartment. When she lived at home, she always woke up to heart shaped pancakes. Now she has her own Valentine sweetie so we will not be seeing her until next week. 

For myself, I usually like to find a fun Valentine shirt to wear. I found this adorable heart sweater on Poshmark. 

Poshmark is a website where you can buy and sell your new or gently used clothes and shoes. I actually have my own posh closet where I will sell some of my unwanted clothes. I haven’t sold much but It’s a fun way to make a little extra money. You can find my closet HERE.

I had some extra yarn on hand so I crocheted a matching hat. Pretty cute huh?

For Valentines Day dinner, I have a red sweater to wear. I rarely wear red but I make an exception for Christmas and Valentines Day. 

Valentine Date

Hope everyone had a happy Valentines Day. My Valentine surprised me with some candy, wine and reservations at a fancy restaurant up town called Webbs Custom Kitchen. The reservations were for 6:00 so I took off work a little early to make time. This was our first visit to this restaurant but it was not the first time inside this building.

Webbs Custom Kitchen gets it name from it's history that dates back to 1920 when it was a popular movie house call none other than the "Webb Theatre" housing one screen and 826 seats. 

Here it is back in the 70’s

Here it is today

The streets were blocked in front of the restaurant because they were filming a Hallmark Movie. I was hoping to walk in the fake snow but unfortunately they had already taken it away.....here is a secret. It was only cotton and they just toss it in the trash cans afterwards. 

Walking into the restaurant brought back some memories. I remember daddy taking me to my first movie back in 1976 here. The movie we saw was King Kong. It frightened me and had me in tears at the end. Feels like just yesterday. I also remember daddy taking me to this same movie theater to see the first Star Wars Movie.

As we entered, it was like walking back in time. The original projector was on display and there were other preserved pieces of  history displayed through out. Even though the old building has had major renovations and a new modern look, you can see flashbacks of the rustic brick walls, arched ceiling and balcony that still remain. They had a movie screen showing old black and white (silent) movies during dinner. It themed well with the atmosphere like live art work.

We were seated on the lower section but the staff insisted we go to the balcony seating to get a good view of the movie screen and open view kitchen. They also encourage you to walk up to the kitchen window and take a look at the cooks preparing the meals.

We started off with an appetizer  of “Duck Cigars’”. (We call them duck egg rolls.)

Excuse the blurry photos but I tried to be discreet taking photos at the table. But I mean, A blogger has to do what a blogger has to do.

For our dinner course, we both chose the filet mignon medallions topped with blue cheese on bruschetta.  

I fell in love with the taste of this chocolate Martini. This was the first time I have ever had a Martini. I’'m sure they are not all this good. It was so sweet and creamy.........and small. 

But I just had too...Did I mention it was Godiva?

 

Oh speaking of desserts, we shared a piece of New York Cheese Cake to finish off the meal.

We took half of our meal and cake home with us because we did not want to leave feeling stuffed, but did leave feeling satisfied and now Nick has enough left overs for another meal while I resort back to Nutrisystem. 

This was a nice valentine treat from my love and we talked about doing it again soon. The food was delicious and the staff was pleasant.

We had a Hollywood night.

Ready For Valentines Day

Valentines day is one of my favorite days of the year. I do not usually get flowers or boxes of candy but there is just something about the love in the air that makes me happy all day. Me and my Valentine plan to have a nice dinner somewhere but nothing fancy, unless hes has a surprise up his sleeve. 

I celebrate Valentines by decorating a little around the house. I have my handmade heart garland on my mantle and lots of red linens and decor throughout the house. I also love wearing something Valentiny (is that a word?)

This year I'm choosing to wear this little heart print sweatshirt to work. It's bright fun and comfy.

After work I'm wearing my favorite pink crop sweater and high waist jeans paired with a pair of patent black sock booties. 

My daughter came by and we had her a little gift bag full of valentine treats. (Did I mention shes 27?) She will be back home on Friday to spend the weekend with us and I plan to make her the traditional heart shape pancakes as I have done every year. This is always a fun treat. I'll also be making heart shape brownies and muffins. Even my drinks will be served with heart shaped ice cubes.

The other day I showed off my favorite Nutrisystem "Whoopie Pie" dessert on Instagram. I decorated with a dollop of cool whip and heart shape sprinkles. It was divine!

By the way, If your on Instagram, I’d love you to follow me at LILIDI_MEO. 

The past two Valentines Days we had cold snowy weather. This year it suppose to be in the 60s. Maybe me and my Valentine will enjoy the weather and take a little Valentine power walk after dinner. Maybe we won’t [wink wink].

How do you celebrate Valentines Day?

Pink Crop Sweater- Wild Fable -Target

High Waist Jeans- YMI- Wanna Bigger Butt Jeans - Belks

Valentine Heart Top- Forever21 -Forever21

Black Patent Sock Booties - Bamboo- Charlotte Russe