I really love cooking and while I don’t often have time to cook big meals during the week, I like to make big family meals on the weekend.  Coming up with different menu ideas can be a real challenge sometimes. For one thing, we have a vegetarian in the family, so whenever I make a meal that includes meat, I have to make sure there are some good side dishes for her or make an additional vegetarian entree that I’m sure she’ll enjoy. Plus we have food allergies to deal with, so that means avoiding foods with eggs and baking without eggs, which can be pretty tricky.

As challenging as cooking this way can be sometimes, we’ve found ways to be creative with our food and make everyone happy. The hardest part I’ve had to overcome is believing that a meal needs to be based on a meat entree. But I’ve found some great cookbooks and recipes online that have helped me make many great meals that don’t revolve around a meat dish.  However, there are some nights when it seems like everyone is eating a completely different meal, but that’s okay.  I don’t mind the cooking as long as someone else does the dishes!

We are deep into the coldest time of the year and across the country the weather is looking very frigid, except perhaps in Florida where my niece just spent New Year’s Eve watching fireworks at the beach in shorts and a tee shirt. I just read on the web today about a town in New York buried in 55 inches of snow with more still coming. Now while some of us do love playing in the snow, I think that 55 inches of snow steadily coming down for 9 days is a tad too much! But all of this cold makes me want to turn on the oven and cook lots of big hot meals and bake cookies and cakes. If you like baking cakes, you’ll love this Nonstick Heart Shaped Cake Pan from Kaiser bakeware - it’s perfect for Valentine’s Day.

Many people celebrate Valentine’s Day by enjoying a romantic dinner in a nice restaurants. We’ve done that in the past but sometimes it can be so crowded and expensive that sometimes over the years we’ve chosen to dine in with a special meal made at home. Or even take-out from one of our favorite restaurants if we don’t feel like cooking. I find baking a scrumptious chocolate dessert is always fun and having great nonstick cake pans to use makes the job so much easier. So whether you’re on a tight budget or just don’t feel like dealing with a crowd, why not enjoy Valentine’s in the comfort of your home.