Valentine treats

If you're like me, then whenever you are presented with a snack sign-up sheet, you sign up for whatever day is available as far in the future as possible, because SURELY BY THEN you'll have your shit together enough to bake some cookies or something. So I invariably end up with Valentine's Day. Then February rolls around and it turns out that while I THOUGHT my shit would be together, in fact IT IS NOT.

The good news is that there's an easy way to make it look like you worked hard on something, when really it only takes five to ten minutes of your time. Also, these are good for ANY holiday.

Step 1: Buy a package or two of individually wrapped Rice Krispy Treats or some ready-to-decorate pre-baked cutout cookies.

Step 2: Buy icing that comes with tips. It comes in either bags or cans that work like Redi-Whip.

Step 3: Wander through the bulk-candy section of the store and purchase holiday-specific candies to decorate the tops of the treats. These can be anything: gummies, hard candies (depending on the children's ages), chocolates, etc.

Step 4: If you bought Rice Krispy Treats, unwrap them.

Step 5: Using the icing, decorate the cookies or Rice Krispy Treats. Stick on a candy, and you're done.

This year I bought pre-baked heart-shaped cutout cookies and used a large-sized conversation heart as the candy. I don't have a picture because our digital camera is broken. But last year I made these using Rice Krispy Treats and a large heart-shaped gummy candy:



Awesome, no? They're a HUGE hit and seriously only take a few minutes.