Strawberry Pavlovas for Valentine's Day

With Valentine's Day approaching it is required to have a great dessert.  Or at least it should be and chocolate is by far the top choice for most.  I thought I would try to come up with something a little different this year, and lighter if possible.  Upon going through several old pictures I came across a pavlova I had done before with lemon curd and berries - very yummy - and I thought about changing it up a little for this holiday.

Pavlova's are a large version of a meringue cookie and will hold whatever shape you put it into before it goes into the oven.  I decided that instead of just going with the standard round, I would give it the festive heart shape for this season.  I also thought that I would go with the traditional color scheme as well and nothing says love in February like pink with strawberries and sprinkles.  Then because I was trying to keep this light, gluten free and do something new, I decided to add some coconut milk whipped cream also.

It is a pretty easy dessert for a lot of wow factor you just have to be ready to put a little time into it

Molasses Cookies - gluten free of course

Molasses cookies are one of my all time favorites, right behind a good chewy peanut butter one!  The recipe I have, is the one my mom used to make when I was growing up and it had to be rolled and cut out.  I don't make sugar cookies for the same reason; I'm too lazy to go to that kind of mess and trouble very often.  While I love decorating a cake, decorating cookies is somewhat tedious to me.  It's kind of like working in miniature, or accessorizing.  I'm more of a big picture kind of person.

So when I came across this recipe in my trusty box and my desire built for the soft, chewy, rich goodness I remembered - I decided to go through the trouble.  Then I let the card sit in the holder  I keep on my counter until it basically became part of the decor.  Finally I couldn't find enough excuses to ignore it any longer, rolled my sleeves up and went for it.

I started out doing all the same steps.  I floured the counter (which uses far too much of my precious gluten free mix I think) kneaded the dough a bit, rolled it out and cut the circles.  I thought I might put a glaze on the top when they were finished, then I thought to sprinkle some organic sugar on top before they went into the oven.  That was a great idea!! It took the cookie I loved and gave it just that little bit more in all the right ways!  They were the same soft consistency, same chewy goodness, same deep rich flavor but with a little sweetness on top.  Yet, I still hated the rolling.  So, I thought, "I'm already changing things up a bit, why not try a different approach".