Breakfast in Bed is a wonderful way to start a day of romance (although, admittedly more challenging when you have a family with children!)

Try this simple, but easy to please, breakfast meal to woo your sweetheart first thing in the morning.

Ham & Potato Hash

Chop up 4 cups of potatoes in small cubes, and 1 cup of cooked ham (great way to use up leftovers!). You can add extra things like bell peppers and onions chopped up if you like them.

Heat a little oil in your frying pan. Once it's warm, add the potatoes and ham (and any additional things you want). Over medium heat and stirring frequently, until the potatoes are cooked and browned. Remove from heat, sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese and serve.

You can finish off the meal with a cup of freshly squeezed orange juice, some coffee or hot chocolate and, of course, a good morning kiss.

One of the most romantic treats a couple can enjoy is fondue for two. Let's face it - with the ability to combine well-known aphrodisiacs like chocolate and strawberries, pineapples and bananas, fondue is a powerful romance tool!

Here are some simple fondue recipes that you can enjoy with your sweetheart.

Toblerone Fondue:

Simply melt 2-3 mini Toblerone bars in a small ceramic fondue pot. If it starts getting too thick, add a splash of cream or milk and mix to thin. If you would like to "kick it up a notch", add some cognac or orange liquer.

Caramel Fondue:

Melt a dozen of caramel squares in your ceramic pot. As above, add a little bit of milk or cream to thin if it starts to thicken.

Mint Chocolate Fondue:

Melt some after dinner chocolate mints or some mint flavoured chocolate chips with some cream.

Classic Chocolate Fondue

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Heat the cream in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat until hot, about 2 to 3 minutes.  When hot, add the chocolate and stir until it is just melted and smooth. Stir in vanilla. Transfer to a warm ceramic fondue pot.

Chocolate & Alcohol Fondue

• 6 ounces semisweet chocolate
• ½ cup whipping cream
• 2 teaspoons Kirsch brandy, Grand Marnier or rum (or to taste)

Melt the whipping cream and chocolate in a double doiler. Turn the heat down to low and melt the chocolate with the whipping cream, stirring constantly and making sure the chocolate doesn't burn. Pour the mixture into a ceramic pot and stir into the brandy/rum.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Fondue

• 2 (1oz) squares of unsweetened chocolate
• ½ cup light cream
• ½ cup sugar
• 1/8 cup peanut butter
• 3/4 tsp. vanilla

In medium saucepan, combine chocolate and half and half. Cook over low heat until mixture is smooth and blended, stirring frequently. Add sugar and cook 2-3 minutes longer, until sugar is dissolved. Add peanut butter and vanilla and stir until blended. Remove from heat and pour into fondue pot.

Some tasty dipper ideas:

Cookies, cheesecake, banana chunks, strawberries, pineapple, pretzels, Jube-Jubes, wafers, graham crackers, pound cake, marshmallows, Rice Krispie Squares, dried apricots, brownies, banana bread, honeycomb, ladyfinger cookies, cherries, biscotti … anything you can envision covered in chocolate!

It's closing in on Valentine's Day quickly, so I thought I'd post a bunch of ideas to share with your special someone on the 14th. 

Starting with a tasty little drink called Champagne Surprise.

Ingredients:

• 1 Package of fresh, ripe and red strawberries.
• GOOD champagne
• Large wine goblets. 

• Wash the strawberries and cut them into small bite size pieces.
• Place them into the wine goblets filling them almost to the top.
• Pour the champagne over the berries.
• Place the glasses in the fridge until ready to serve. The longer they stay in the fridge, the more the berries will absorb the champagne

With Christmas here, we are all scrambling to

put together fun and exciting Christmas gifts - and I just wanted to offer you an idea on a way to package your Christmas gift baskets and goodies! 

Baskets are costly (and if you are like

me - less is better!). So my favourite box of choice? A clementine's box! 

My kids LOVE their clementines and we go through so many oranges a week. I just keep all the boxes and save them for gift baskets. This year, I've wrapped them in Wrapping paper and am planning to add some co-ordinating tissue paper before putting the presents and baked goods. 

Economical, Environmental, Resourceful…

Just thought I'd share :) 

Easy to make, Fun to play with and Safe for the kids, here's a recipe I received (with thanks!) from our local Ontario Early Years centre. 

• 3 cups of flour
• ½ cup of salt
• 1 Tbsp of alum or cream of tartar
• 3 Tbsp cooking oil
• 1½ cup hot water
• food colouring or koolaid

Combine dry ingredients, stir. Combine water, oil and colouring in a measuring cup. Add liquid to dry ingredients and stir. Mix and Knead well.

Store in an airtight container (like Tupperware!) :) 

As seen in the fall 2009 edition of the Life in Clarington magazine, I'm going to share with you my family recipe for Apple Butter. I love this stuff - it's SO great spread on toast, etc. 

First you have to get a TON of apples - and I'm not exactly kidding… you will need a lot! Then you need to make it into applesauce. Personally, this year, I used my Slowcooker Applesauce recipe I've posted before. There's a lot of peeling, chopping and coring involved, but it turns out great and SO tasty. I omitted the sugar in this step, because I figured there'd be enough in the apple butter itself. 

Once you have 16 cups of applesauce - you are ready to get started. Combine:

• 16 cups of applesauce with 
• 1 cup of apple cider,
• 2 Tbsp of cinnamon, 
• 3 lbs of brown sugar (~approx 6 cups). 

Place in the large roasting pan and cook at 350F for 3 hours. Place into jars. 

Enjoy!