Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

For the last few years, I've done chocolate for our Valentine's Day dinners.  I decided to switch it up this time.

Baby has been begging for strawberries for months, but they've been so dang expensive, I just couldn't bring myself to buy any.

Five dollars a pound is insanity.  

Trying to explain to a three/four-year old that they aren't in season, isn't the easiest thing in the land.

Anyway, when I was trying to come up with heart-themed food for our Valentine's day dinner, I decided I'd splurge and make her a strawberry pie.

Lucky for me, they had gone down a dollar.  

Ha!

So I did a search on good ol' Pinterest and settled on this recipe:

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie

I had some chopped rhubarb in the freezer from last year's garden, as well as some frozen pie crust.

If you've never made your own, this recipe is SO EASY:

Quick and Easy Homemade Pie Crust

Anytime I make it, I do a double batch so I can throw some in the freezer.

The whole thing was super simple to make.

The only part that took any time was cutting out the heart shapes for the top, but I had a helper for that.

 We used two different sized heart-shaped cookie cutters and just went around the top, starting from the outside, until it was covered.

Here it is, ready for the oven.

About 30 minutes in the oven, and you get this.

Fun, no?

I served it up at room temperature, with whipped cream and a fresh strawberry.

 It would be delicious in the summer, with fresh, local berries and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Ahhhh, summer.

Happy almost Friday!

Valentine's Day Table Setting 2016

Years ago, we decided to forego the Valentine's Day hubbub of trying to find, (and pay for), a babysitter, make reservations, stand in lines, eat overpriced meals, and instead, I made a "fancy" family dinner at home.  It has become an annual tradition.

The kids probably don't care one way or another at this point, but every year, I set the table and make a meal, complete with cocktails, appetizers, dinner, and dessert, all with a Valentine's Day theme.
(Last night after writing this, The Kid made several very sweet  comments to me about these types of dinners I do for them.  I guess they notice after all.)

I know the food wouldn't necessarily have to be anything extravagant, but I like to make special things that I wouldn't normally bust out on a random weekday.

I'll share this year's entire menu with you in a separate post, but today I'm throwin' the table setting out there.

You know by now, that I hate buying a bunch of holiday or themed crap that just ends up in a garbage can.

So, as usual, I dug through cupboards and drawers to set the table this year.

The only non-edible thing I purchased was the mini rose in the center of the table.

It was at the entrance to the grocery store and I just couldn't help myself.

It was less than $4 bucks, so I figured it was my gift for slaving away in the kitchen for two days.  ;o)

My aunt just recently gave me the red glass ice bucket, so I plopped it down, pot and all, inside of that.

I found the red and white, and black and white, placemats at the Dollar Store last winter.

I pulled out a couple paper lace hearts, also from last year.

The little bottles got sprigs of flowers from the yard.

I put tea lights down inside two dessert dishes from my sister.

The multi colored napkins are one of my absolute favorite things, but I only have three, so I mixed in two others that I made, exactly like these, a couple years ago.

The old salt and pepper shakers have warped lids, but I still love them.

The little red plastic hearts came home with The Kid from a project at school.

The paper heart straws in the kids' glasses were in my stash - I think they originally came from Target's dollar bins.

I put the treats on the table for color.

I have no clue what pigs have to do with Valentine's Day, but they were pink and cute, so....

I even baked a pie!

From scratch!

And on a fluke, the bottle of wine I had open matched everything.  :)

The banner was from The Girl's Ladybug Birthday Party yeeeears ago.

I threw it up on the wine cabinet for fun.

And there ya have it.

Another Valentine's Day family dinner at home.

I'll be back to share all the yummy food!