Happy Valentine's Day!

A sweet memory for me was my mom would always make us sugar cookies to take to school - when I was in elementary school.  My mom always loved the holidays, and made Valentine's Day so special for us.

Later, when we were all grown and gone, she would mail us all valentines with a dollar for each person.  The last time she did this, she mailed 78 valentines!!!  

This is my first Valentine's Day without that sweet woman.  She is my hero.

Hope everyone enjoys their holiday.

This is one of my favorites.

We had a GREAT week at work this week.  For Valentine's week we had coworker appreciation week.  In clinical meeting last week we all made a large Valentine envelope and put them by our offices.  Some people put something in every day, some put things in on Friday.  Some of my office buddies wrote cute notes of appreciation.  

When I went home Friday night I really felt the love from the office.  It was an awesome week.

We finished the week by bringing a red, white or pink treat for our Friday meeting. I knew everyone would bring something sweet, so I made pink artisan bread.  It is very simple, and it was a hit.

This is a recipe from my sister-in-law, Kathy.  THANKS, Kathy.

3 cups warm water
2 packages of yeast, or 2 Tablespoons
2 Tablespoons salt
6 - 6 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Mix together.  Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 3 hours. Punch down and shape, or store it in the fridge for up to 14 days. The longer you wait to bake it, the stronger and more sour dough flavor it gets.  This makes 4 round loaves or 3 large, long loaves of bread.  

Put some flour on your hands to form loaves.  I use cornmeal on a pizza stone to bake my bread.  The bread bakes at 450 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes.  Also, add a pan of water to the oven to make a crisp crust on your bread.

Now for some options.  I have also added a couple of tablespoons of coconut oil and sugar to my bread.  When I made this bread pink, I added the color to the water.  That's the best way to get an over-all color.  I have used 2 cups of whole wheat flour instead of all white.

I added a little more sugar, some orange peel and craisins for a delicious sweet bread.  Play with the recipe.  Have fun!