Love is in the Air

It's still a few days away and already Valentine fever has reached OC headquarters. We had a girl in today who already has 3 cards...is it wrong to be jealous of a 5 year old?


So it would appear that children are introduced to the concept of Valentines Day from a young age and it can be used as a way for them to show their friends and family how much they care for them. Why not  get out the craft box & let them get creative! There are some great ideas on this website if you need a little inspiration.  http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/valentines_day_crafts.htm


Or how about some yummy heart shaped cookies? Here is a foolproof recipe:


Ingredients

For cookies:
350g (12 oz) plain flour, plus extra for rolling
110g (4 oz) caster sugar
225g (8 oz) butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
salt

For icing:
About 450g (1 lb) icing sugar

food colouring (red or pink is best)

Put the flour, sugar and a pinch of salt into a food processor then add butter and vanilla extract. Pulse until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Pulse again to bring it together. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes. (If you don't have a food processor, you can of course do this by hand).

Roll the dough out to about ¼ inch thick and stamp out biscuits using cutters. Place on baking sheets

Bake at 350F (180C, Gas Mark 4) for 12-15 minutes. Remove and leave briefly on trays before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

Use boiling water to make up the icing. Decorate as appropriate- we used pink icing and heart sprinkles found at all main supermarkets. 

And for us adults, there is a fantastic new blog all about love.  Kiss the Frog x and other love stories is a new blog celebrating love and life through photographs, words and kisses.

Created by wedding and portrait photographer, Andrea Pittam, Kiss the Frog x and other love stories has been created for the purpose of not only telling wedding and portrait stories, but also sharing private images of her personal life, documenting both small and big adventures through photographs, words and kisses..

We all know that reading or seeing something that touches us is a positive and heart warming experience that is good for the soul.  The blog posts will focus on love and beauty and will contain Andrea’s images.  Readers are also encouraged to leave comments to interact with the blog

Kiss the Frog x opens on Monday 14 February and Andrea will be offering a complimentary canvas print (see picture below) from her range of signature images.  All you need to do is visit the blog www.kissthefrogx.com  and ‘blow a kiss’ by leaving a comment.  One person will be randomly selected to receive the canvas print of their choice.