Valentines Day Coupon Book for kids

This is a great coupon book for the kids.  There is a little sugar involved since one is for soda and another is for ice cream, but at least it doesn't have to be all on the same day.  I found it here, so if you are looking for a good kid gift that requires little effort and no cash (yet anyway) check out this printable!
Happy Valentines Day from Traffic Stopping Threads!

The Best Triple Chocolate Cake

I made this cake recently for my brother's birthday and it was a hit.  My husband is actually the one who suggested a layered chocolate cake and this is a mixture of several recipes that came together to form this one.  I like the process involoved because you only use one cake pan (a 7, 8 or 9 inch round) and then you just cut that horizontally twice to form the 3 layers.  It is a rich cake but is small, which means not having cake sitting on the counter for a few days, which also means I am not eating it for days afterward (always a plus!).

Triple Chocolate Cake

4 eggs, yolks separated from whites and whites stiffly beaten
3/4 C. plus 2T. sugar
3oz. semisweet chocolate, melted
3/4 C. all purpose OR cake flour
2 C. chocolate buttercream (recipe below)

Rich Chocolate Glaze:
2oz. semisweet chocolate
3oz. confectioners (powdered) sugar
1T. butter
2t. water
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

For the cake, mix the egg yolks and sugar with a whisk for a minute or so till they are pale yellow. Fold in the melted chocolate, flour and blend well and then gently fold in the egg whites.  Butter and flour one 7, 8 or 9 inch round pan.  If using a 7 inch pan, it should be at least 3 inches high.  I used a 9 inch pan, which makes a shorter, wider cake but of course, thinner layers.  Bake at 350 for approximately 30 minutes.  A tester in the middle should come out dry when done.  

When the cake is cooled, make two horizontal cuts to create 3 cake layers.  Layer buttercream on the first cake round, topped with the second round and another layer of buttercream.  Top with final cake round.

For the chocolate glaze, mix all ingredients except the egg yolk into a small saucepan, melting the chocolate with the the sugar, water and butter over low heat.  Remove from heat and add the beaten egg yolk, which binds the icing.  Pour this evenly over the top of the cake.

Buttercream Recipe

1 box powdered sugar

10T. butter

1/2 C. milk

1t. salt

2t. vanilla extract

1/2 C. cocoa powder

Melt the butter and mix with the cocoa using a hand mixer or kitchen aid.  Add the salt and vanilla and then alternate adding the milk and sugar, mixing between additions.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Valentine nail decals

This is the first post!  This is new to me so it's been a fun learning process and I'm excited to get started.  This is really a test post to see how it all lays out, but my daughter and I were experimenting with Valentines fingernails, so I thought I'd share the process!!  I have always loved painting fingernails since I was probably 5 years old.  And as a teenager I learned how to paint all kinds of things on them since I wasn't going to pay someone else to do it.  Now, I still love to paint my nails, but don't have time to paint on details.  The bummer with sticker decals is that they always seem to stick up in spots and get caught on something and fall off early.  We saw this way to make your own decals and thought we'd try....just in time for Valentine's Day!  

So you start by painting some white finger nail polish (we got ours at the dollar store) onto a plastic bag.  You let it dry for several hours or overnight.  I don't think we let our dry long enough the first time...probably should go for at least 4 hours so that it is not sticky at all because then it will stick to the punch (the second time worked great with more drying time).

Do a few coats.

.Use a heart shaped hole punch to punch out some hearts.  We just got a fiskars brand punch at JoAnn.

Now you are ready to start painting.  Paint nails pink, red or whatever color and while they are still wet, lay a white heart in the center of each fingernail.  After they are dry it really helps to top with a coat of gel/nylon based topcoat.  This makes them last for about a week, whereas with a regular topcoat I only get about 3 days.....that's with doing dishes every day of course...hey, maybe I should cut that out of the schedule?  Ha, anyhow, The Sally Hansen Hard as Wraps Acrylic Gel and Nylon is a good one.  Try this sometime and let me know how it works...it doesn't even need to be near Valentines Day!!