Red Letter Day

McCormick recently contacted me and told about how they are making Valentine's Day this year a "Red Letter Day" - a special day of significance that infuses red into baking and activities. Not only can you use food coloring for baking, you can also use it for crafts. They offered to send me a kit including a menu for the day, recipes, images and craft ideas...

...but I wasn't expecting this! I sent my reply Wed. night, and soon Thursday morning the FedEx guy showed up with a giant red box. Talk about special delivery! And I was definitely not expecting to find all this


Cookie cutters, stencils, measuring cups, paint brushes, food coloring, vanilla extract, cupcake liners, plus heart placemats, recipes and a menu

Amazing! Funny thing was I was going out to the store and had vanilla on my list. Another funny thing I was originally going to make McCormick's Red Velvet Cupcakes for my neighborhood spaghetti dinner, but because of the 24+ inches of snow, they cancelled it. Now that I received this kit, I was still determined to make them, but I made sure to cut the recipe in half. 30 is way too many for any family to eat haha



Before I talk about dessert, I want to share some ideas with you. Because Valentine's Day is on a Sunday, it is much easier to plan a whole day menu(i.e. breakfast, dinner, and dessert) rather than on a weekday with work, school, life, whatever. Start the day off right with Love Bug Cinnamon Pancakes, Very Vanilla Fruit Salad, and Hot Cocoa with Red Sugar Crusted Marshmallows. For dessert, try Cupid's Cupcakes, Tender Heart Cookies, or Red Velvet Cupcakes.



The red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting turned out delicious. Then again, I don't know what red velvet cake should taste like. Cutting the recipe in half made 15 cupcakes perfectly. Big thank you to McCormick for making the opportunity to bake these easier and to try their Red Letter Day kit. For more recipes and craft ideas, please visit McCormick's site.