Valentine's Day Feast

I made these fun heart rolls for dinner tonight. My kids were impressed and they made a festive addition to our Valentine's Day feast. They are really easy to make too. I'm all about easy on the days when I have as much going on as I did today. I came across a video tutorial here, but here's my own picture tutorial version for future reference.

1. Start with a thawed but still cold ball of Rhodes (or some other brand) roll dough.

2. Roll the dough into a club shape (so easy a caveman could do it)--fatter at one end and coming to a point at the other. You can do this on your work surface or between your hands, whichever you prefer.

3. Using kitchen shears, make an inch or inch and a half snip in the fat end

4. It will look kind of like this.

5. Now shape the dough a little more. Round the corners and maybe shape the point of the heart a little better. At this stage they look a little strange and sad, but don't worry. It will look better as it rises.

6. Arrange the rolls on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Cover with plastic wrap sprayed with more cooking spray and allow to raise for another hour or two. You can just kind of tell. You don't want to let them get too big because then the bread is yeasty and has a weird airy texture. They'll continue to raise a little as you bake them as well.

7. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until nicely browned. Usually I would let mine get a little browner than this but I was literally standing at the over with mitts in hand waiting for the timer to go off so I could rush out the door to an appointment. Brush with soft butter while hot.

8.  Pile in a linen lined basket and serve.

9. They are especially good with real butter and raspberry freezer jam.

Our fancy Valentine's Day dinner was: baby field greens with cherry tomatoes and raspberry vinaigrette, raspberry Jell-o jiggler hearts, whole wheat angel hair pasta with two sauces--traditional spaghetti sauce and puttanesca sauce--and meatballs and of course, the heart rolls.

This was dessert:

Yum.

I'll be honest. I pretty much hated Valentine's Day until I had kids. I even told my husband when we were dating that if he asked me to marry him on Valentine's Day I would say no. Now, with kids, it is so much more fun. Having a great husband (who surprised me with tickets to see a local theater production next weekend) helps too. And as with many things in my life, it's all about the food. Good food makes for a good celebration.

Did you have a special Valentine's Day celebration or dinner? I'd love to hear about it in the comments.