Valentine's Day

We did Super Bowl Chinese style and made such a spread, it wiped us out! The food was good (still not completely satisfied with my dumplings), but we just took on too much! Homemade egg rolls, dumplings, egg drop soup, stir fried rice, bok choy, sauces.... whew! With little ones that needed their mommies and a game that we didn't want to miss, next year it'll be pizza!

Enjoying his Chinese New Year chocolate coin.

But I'm a glutton for punishment and determined to improve my dumplings, so I tried them again with another batch of egg rolls for a family Valentine's dinner. Again, crazy! Eric had just an hour between getting home from work and leaving for class (first semester of MBA program). In the end, we pulled it off, and had to cut Elle off of the dumplings -- she loves them! Throw in a cherry dessert (from our neighbor's tree) and some homemade cards, and it made for a short, but sweet, Valentine's Day.

I was able to forego butter and gluten (and some calories) by making the cherry filling with Xylitol (naturally occurring carbohydrate, 40% less caloric than sugar, and fights cavities). I served the sweetened and thickened cherries with a pizzelle -- it was very pretty and yummy. Because Zane is allergic to cherries, he enjoyed some pumpkin on his pizzelle.

Elle and I had the best craft time ever making Valentine cards. The coordination of cutting, taping and gluing has definitely been a challenge, but with steady progress and practice, practice, practice -- she really has improved and her pride nearly matched mine for her determination and creativity. Even Zane got in on some of the fun -- in fact, Elle is a great teacher and, of course, Zane loves to do anything just like big sister.

Zane's face when you tell him to smile.

When Eric finally got home from class, he installed a new garbage disposal and I ran to the grocery store for last minute birthday items. The day finished early in the morning, but we were ready for Elle's big day!