Treats for my Sweets

Valentine's Day is fast approaching and with my goal to spend no money on gifts I knew the way to my lover's heart was through his tummy. Who am I kidding? We haven't exchanged Valentine's gifts in years. In fact the other day, number one son asked how often dad bought me jewelry. My answer - "Totally random, never when expected and always a surprise!" Like the Valentine's day 10 years ago when he gave me a beautiful "real" diamond heart necklace. I remember gasping when I later saw the receipt. "Really, for me" he did this for me! so yah - never expected, always a surprise....it obviously works for us :) And definitely no jewelry for Valentine's Day since.
Well this is not a budget year for diamonds so he is getting sweet treats! I recently tasted an awesome lemon cake that someone had brought into work and I knew this would be the treat for him. His tastes seem to run a bit to the unusual (lemon, rhubarb, coconut, need I say more) so when the kids were home he often got left out of "favorites." They tend to take after their mother - chocolate, chocolate and chocolate although I do like rhubarb and coconut too. Anyway, now that it is just US I try to think more about what he would like so I got the recipe and made the VERY LEMONY cake with very lemony glaze. I made mini cupcakes so he could just pop bites of goodness into his mouth but also made a loaf cake which in reality is better - more cakey - so I will remember that for next time. Then my other Valentine lives across the street and is four so I knew I had to make something that would make his eyes smile and his happy little laugh cackle and drive his mother crazy with the sugar high so I made cake balls. Chocolate fudge cake balls with white chocolate icing and candy heart sprinkles - oh boy! Yes I have eaten a few myself. Number one son was home and asked why I choose such labor intensive treats - just taste them I replied. They looked easy when I first saw them but labor intensive is definitely a more adequate description. I made dozens of these for my little Valentine's birthday last year only we put them on lollipop sticks and called them balloons. This year he wants a helium tank for his birthday. You see why he is my Valentine!
So to make a short story long, here is the end product of treats for my sweets. They have been tasted by all - including the dog and pronounced delish! The dog's version of a sugar coma is a long nap which actually sounds like a good plan to me. Happy Valentines Days