Dessert

I have never been a huge fan of conversation hearts – the colorful candies with sweet sayings that are in abundance in February – but the wording on them always makes me smile. So naturally when I saw this recipe, I knew I was going to have to try my hand at making my own conversation heart cookies. It felt like such a creative way to take the part of these candies I liked {the writing} and add them to something I loved {frosted sugar cookies}. I’ve made them for years now to serve as a sweet reminder of my favorite holiday. Paired with pink champagne, it always feels like such a grown up way to enjoy the candy from my childhood.

Recipe:

Sugar cookie mix

Icing

Royal Icing –

Powdered sugar

Full fat milk

Food coloring {I used red, blue, green, and yellow}

How to Make it:

1. Bake heart-shaped sugar cookies.

2. To make the royal icing, I used three heaping tablespoons of powdered sugar {approximately, five tablespoons}, along with one and a half tablespoons of full fat milk. Stir it until it is thick, but not solidified.

3. Separate the icing into various bowls and add just a drop of food coloring. A little bit will go a long way. Stir until the color blends in.

4. Spread the color over the cookies.

5. Write sweet sayings on the cookies.

6. Enjoy!

x Paris

It always feels a little disappointing a few days into January, once the holidays have officially ended, festive lights and pretty ornaments have been packed away for the next eleven months, and even the excitement of the new year has begun to fade away and the year has simply turned into this year. To find a way of keeping the month feeling fresh and special, I always try to either travel someplace new or entertain at home. This year I decided to kick off January with a girls night paired with cocktails and crème brûlée. This was one of my favorite traditions in college – enjoying rosewater cardamom crème brûlée and girly cocktails at the local lounge, for a ridiculously fun and very feminine night out.

To recreate this, I purchased crème brûlée from our local bakery and chose to make the ultimate, girly drink – a cosmopolitan – using this recipe {except I’d suggest half the amount of booze and double the cranberry juice since this was a rather potent drink, or with no booze at all like I had it.} The tartness of the drink paired perfectly with the rich dessert, and catching up on our favorite TV shows, as well as one another, made the evening feel that much more special.