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Now Playing – “I and love and you” / “Kick Drum Heart” – The Avett Brothers

I have a love/hate relationship with Valentine’s Day. I love the desserts – I hate almost everything else. Ever since I was little, I think I’ve dreamed of always having a fairy-tale, completely over the top Valentine’s Day, probably brought on from all the romantic comedies I watched as a young girl (and admittedly, still do). All the heart-shaped pancakes, pajamas and stationary my parents gave me as gifts for V-Day probably didn’t help any matters. And now, as a 23 year-old hopeless romantic, I really shouldn’t be watching “The Holiday” on t.v. right now. But let’s be honest – who doesn’t enjoy watching Jude Law seduce beautiful women while also maintaining a family life with two of the world’s possibly cutest British children. The accents, the Mr.Napkinhead impression & those smoldering blue eyes – sigh!

Uh Oh – let me pull myself back down to reality here, stop my wandering mind from dreaming impossible things and share with you all, one heck of a V-Day treat. While I’m surprisingly not blogging about cupcakes, I am going to share a family cookie recipe that is utterly divine and a staple cookie in our house. However, I’m not at all concerned –  I’m getting my cupcakes from Sprinkles tomorrow. Happy Valentines Day to me!

Janice’s Sugar Cookies (Recipe Courtesy of my Aunt Janice Lolli)

• 1 lb butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons vanilla
• 5-6 cups of flour

Frosting

• 1 stick butter, melted
• 2 lbs powdered sugar
• 2 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 cup milk
• A couple pinches of red or pink food dye

1. Beat butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla for 10 min. with a handheld or stand mixer on med.-high till light and fluffy. Add baking soda and 3 cups flour to butter mixture; mix 1 min. Add remaining flour til bowl is clean and no batter is around the sides. Roll out on lightly floured board. Bake @ 425 degrees for 5-8 min. til golden. Cool.

2. For frosting: Mix all ingredients and beat for 5 min. Add coloring to frosting. Put frosting in bowls and dip cookies in bowls to frost. It will harden in a day.

“Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion’s starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don’t see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it’s not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it’s always there – fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge – they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaking suspicion… love actually is all around.” – Love Actually

“my heart like a kick drum / my love like a voice” – Happy Valentines Day, world!