Valentine Treats

Little Cherry Cheesecakes

6 paper cupcake liners

6 vanilla wafers

1 package (8 ounces/227 g) cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1/2 can cherry pie filling

Line a muffin tin with the paper liners.
Place a vanilla wafer in the bottom of each liner.
Blend the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla; stir in the egg.
Fill each liner 3/4 full with the mixture. Bake at 325° F (163° C) for 20–25 minutes. Cool, then top with the cherry pie filling.

Sweetheart Carrots

Cut a V-shape down the length of a scrubbed carrot, then round off the edges (see illustration). When you slice the carrot, each slice will be in a heart shape.

Pucker-Up Punch

By Susan Curtis

1 can (6 ounces/170 g) frozen pink lemonade concentrate, slightly thawed

1 package (10 ounces/284 g) frozen strawberries in syrup, slightly thawed

1 1/2 cups water

4 cups/l liter lemon-lime flavored soda, chilled

Put the lemonade, strawberries with syrup, and water into a blender container; cover and blend until smooth.
Pour the blended mixture into a two-quart nonmetal pitcher. Stir in the soda and serve immediately.

Pretzel Sculpture

By Candy S. Paape

1 1/2 cups warm water

3/4 cup honey

1 package or cake of yeast

4–5 cups flour

1 egg yolk

salt

Mix the warm water and the honey together. Stir in the yeast; let stand for an hour.
Mix in half the flour and beat for one hundred strokes.
Add flour until the dough is only slightly sticky, and knead 5–10 minutes. Cover; let stand in a warm place until double in size.
Divide the dough into twelve balls. Roll each ball into a rope 12″ (30 cm) long. Form each rope into a shape such as a heart, flower, figure, or animal. Place the finished shapes onto greased cookie sheets.
Mix the egg yolk with 2 tablespoons of water, then brush onto the dough shapes. Sprinkle the shapes with salt, if desired.
Bake at 400° F (204° C) for 15–20 minutes for soft pretzels or at 500° F (260° C) for 15–20 minutes for hard pretzels.

Photo by Phil Shurtleff