Quick and Easy Last Minute Valentine Gift

I love Valentine's Day.

And St. Patrick's Day.

Easter.

Christmas.

Cinco de Mayo.

Groundhog's Day.

I love any reason to decorate, bake treats and give a gift.

The girls are SO INCREDIBLY blessed to be taught by a list of amazing teachers every Tuesday.

Each month we try to give them a little gift to encourage and say thank you.

Because there are about 10 people, we have to keep our gifts fairly inexpensive.

But I'm a true believer that no matter how little the gift, 
it truly is the thought that counts.

Just something to let that person know you're thinking of them.

And cute packaging helps too.

This is what we created for our February gift

 I'm a sucker for cute bags.

I probably bought these 6 months ago knowing that we could use them for a gift.

Target end-caps are a great place to find cute bags on clearance.

I have a whole box of many different kinds and they come in quite handy!

We started with good ol' popcorn.

(raise your hand if you feed your family popcorn for dinner once a week)

Then we made some deeeeeeeeelicious caramel and drizzled it all over.

Baked it for about an hour.

 Filled cellophane bags.

Then made them all cute and ready to deliver!

It doesn't take a lot of time or need to cost a lot of money to let someone know you're thinking of them.

Here's the yummy recipe we used.
It's my Amazing Aunt Mary's.
(she's an incredible cook)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup popcorn kernals, freshly popped

2 cups whole almonds

1 1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup light corn syrup

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 250.  Generously butter a large baking pan.  mix popcorn and almonds in prepared pan and stick it in the oven while you make the caramel.

Combine sugar, butter, and corn syrup in saucepan.  Whisk over med-low heat until butter is melted and sugar dissolved.  Attach candy thermometer to side of pan, increase heat to high, and boil without stirring until thermometer reaches 255 F. (about 4 minutes).  Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla, salt, and baking soda. (it will bubble up a bit)  Pour over the popcorn and gently stir until coated.  Bake for about an 1 hour 20 minutes- stirring every 20 minutes or so.  cool completely in pan.

You may want to double the recipe because it will be munched fast!

Apple Pie Pockets

It's no secret that I love to bake.

One of  my favorite treats to make is pie.

There's just something so comforting in making pie crust.

A fun twist on traditional pie is 

Pie Pockets!

I love making these in the summer because it seems we are always on the go.

They are a great treat to make for picnics, lake days, and even for camping!

My hard working hubbie has a crazy work week coming up, 

so I wanted to send a little love in his lunch each day.

Apple pie is his ultimate fave!

My favorite and no fail pie crust recipe is Ina Garten's- you can find her recipe here.

It's the best.

And the easiest.

I also roughly use Ina's apple pie filling recipe.  
You can find that recipe here.
(I leave out the zest, orange juice, and allspice- just a personal preference)

Here's how I  make the yummy pie pockets:

First make your crust and let it chill in the fridge while you prep the filling. 

Then roll out your crust fairly thin and use a small bowl or lid to trace your circles.
(or you can be crazy and just eyeball it)

Next  transfer your circle of dough to a prepared baking sheet (I prefer using parchment paper) and coat the edge with an egg wash- this will serve as the glue.
(egg wash- one egg white with 2 Tbsp. of water)
Then fill half your circle with the apple deliciousness.

Be sure to recruit a cute helper for this part.

After folding over the other half of dough, pinch the edges closed and use a fork to seal the edge.
 Be sure to poke a few holes in the top- or else your delicious filling with spurt out the seams.
(learned that lesson my first go around)
Once you have all your pockets prepared, brush the outsides with the egg wash and sprinkle generously with sugar.
This makes the crust nice and shiny with a delicious and delicate crunch.

Then bake them in a 400 degree oven for 45-60 minutes.

Oh these are so delicious!

And I love their rustic appearance.

(that's another way of saying I am not a perfectionist when it comes to assembly)

They go along perfectly with your coffee in the morning too!



I hope you get a chance to try theses tasty treats!