Valentine's Treats Day for Kids

I think it's sweet to do cute things for Valentine's Day for your kids. Although my daughter is only 19 months old, I still plan on doing something special for her for Valentine's day. I remember when I was little, I woke up one Valentine's Day to find a little package of cinnamon hearts under my pillow.

We have a great assortment of heart shaped cookie cutters, cupcake/muffin pans and cake dishes at the store. You could also make heart shaped pancakes, sandwiches or even eggs for breakfast!

Another neat idea is fondue--chocolate fondue is really easy to make (and we have some really affordable chocolate fondue sets starting at around $12). Your husband or wife would enjoy this too!

This recipe, from Food Network Canada, is super cute. Make fruit skewers for dipping in chocolate fondue, peanut butter and jelly fondue and vanilla yogurt dipping sauce.

Yield: 6

Ingredients

Fruit Sticks with Chocolate Dipping Sauce

• 2/3 cup whipping cream (35%) (150ml)
• 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped (100g)

Vanilla Yogurt Dipping Sauce

• 1 cup plain yogurt (250ml)
• 1/4 cup maple syrup (65ml)
• 1 vanilla bean

Directions

Fruit Sticks with Chocolate Dipping Sauce

1. Thread 6-8 skewers with a variety of your favourite seasonal fresh fruit. Here are some suggestions: Strawberries, Green Grapes, Pineapple, Melon, Orange or Clementine Segments, Peaches, Pears, Apples, Bananas. For a treat, you could also include marshmallows or cubed pound cake.
2. Heat the cream in a saucepan set on low until just steaming. Stir in chocolate and continue to heat gently until it melts, about 2 minutes. Stir until smooth and transfer to a small fondue pot to keep warm. Serve with fruit skewers.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Chocolate Dipping Sauce

1. Following the basic chocolate sauce measurements and method above, whisk in 1/4 cup/50 mL each smooth peanut butter and strawberry jelly to the warmed cream when adding the chocolate. Heat until melted, stirring to incorporate additions.
   Tip: This recipe could easily be doubled. And remember, the better quality the chocolate, the better the sauce. But in a pinch, baking chocolate or even chocolate chips, works wonderfully. You could “soup up” the sauce by trying flavoured chocolates in place of the plain chocolate.

Vanilla Yogurt Dipping Sauce

1. In a bowl combine yogurt and maple syrup. Cut vanilla bean in half and scrape out seeds and add to yogurt mixture.
2. Serve with fresh or dried fruit.

   Makes 1.25 cups/175ml