Food is Love

Happy Valentine’s Day my sweet friends! I have to admit, Valentine’s Day is my second most dreaded day of the year (New Year’s Eve comes first). But today I am going to focus on all the love that I feel from y’all. I just really love feeding people, even vicariously through She Cooks, and your comments make me happy! It’s like you are really gathered around my table and we are cooking together and enjoying great fellowship

I have always used food to fill the empty spaces in my life. The day that my husband went to be with Jesus I ate an entire pan of chocolate frosted brownies. Yes I did. Food has always been my drug of choice. I eat when I am sad. I eat to celebrate. I eat when I go out with the girls for fun. I eat when I am under a great deal of stress. You get the idea.

Food is also the way that I show love. That’s what She Cooks is all about. It’s a place where we gather and celebrate life through food. Now this does not have to mean over-indulging… nor should it. It’s about preparing food with love and serving those we care about… and serving strangers that need to be cared for. It’s about preparing good-for-you everyday meals and the more decadent “only every now and then” treats that we share with others so our scale doesn’t scream when we stand on it. (It could happen!)

Tonight I will be sharing my own struggles with food as well as sharing what it feels like to be alone, once again, on Valentine’s Day on Lysa’s Made to Crave webcast. I confess… I’m nervous. But fortunately, I get to share the sofa with my dear friend Karen Ehman. Yay!

Karen and I are all about togetherness today so… I want to invite you to pop over to her blog for two great Valentine’s giveaways. I love giveaways, don’t you?

Not so fast. Don’t leave me just yet. I invited Karen to my kitchen to share one of her favorite Valentine’s Day treats with us. Make up a batch of Karen’s homemade peanut butter cups and wrap them up with a pretty bow and give them as gifts to those you love… and to those who need to be loved.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Karen’s Homemade Peanut Butter Cups

Ingredients:

• 24 ounces chocolate chips (Karen uses semi-sweet Ghiradelli but says milk chocolate is delicious too – apparently she isn’t aware of my personal feelings about milk chocolate – hehehe)
• 1 cup natural style creamy peanut butter (must be natural style)
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar

Extra Stuff:

• Muffin tins (regular size or mini)
• Foil muffin or candy baking cups (size for the muffin tin you are using)
• Pastry brush

In a saucepan over very low heat, melt the chocolate until smooth. DO NOT OVER HEAT!

Insert the liners into the muffin tin (you will need 12 if you are using a regular size muffin pan and 24 if using a mini muffin pan).

Using the pastry brush, brush the melted chocolate on the bottom and up the sides of the liners. You want it thick enough to hold the filling. Set pan(s) in freezer for a couple of minutes to set.

Combine the peanut butter and butter in a mixing bowl. Add powdered sugar and mix until the mixture is the consistency of the inside of a peanut butter cup. Place a dollop of the mixture inside each chocolate shell, making sure the mixture doesn’t come up higher than the top of the foil liner.

Top with more of the melted chocolate making sure the peanut butter mixture is well covered and the chocolate touches the sides.

NOTE: Karen said that her daughter took these to the county fair and won a blue ribbon!

OK – now you can pop over to visit Karen at www.KarenEhman.com and enter to win one of her fabulous Valentine’s Day giveaways.

And y’all… pray for me and Karen tonight

I’ll be praying for you, too. I’m praying that, no matter what your situation is, you know that you know that you know, that you are loved beyond measure by Love Himself… and by me.

Sweetest Blessings,
LeAnn