almond butter blossoms

“Live in the moment!,” “Savor the moment!,”

“Yeah!” we all think to ourselves, “obviously that’s a great idea!” when we read these word in magazines and hear them from our friends.

Then we brush these words off and continue worrying about what’s for dinner, whether one of our friends might be mad at us, and the future in general, because, as humans that’s what we tend to do (I tend to do this a lot).

I recently read this article about a woman who is trying to sue her wedding videographer for a ridiculous amount of money because she hated her wedding video.  I watched the video and I couldn’t find anything offensive about it… but that’s totally beside the fact!  The fact is that she had a beautiful wedding and is now happily married.  Sweating the details of the video of it all totally killed the “happily ever after” vibe.  Instead of savoring the moments of her happy new life, she’s now preoccupied with a mega-lawsuit against her poor wedding videographer.

Speaking of weddings and such — today is Valentine’s Day, a totally perfect day to start living in the moment!  Personally, I think that the reason a lot of people hate Valentine’s Day is because they have totally unrealistic expectations.  The media has told us that today, we are going to get taken out to a fancy dinner,  someone will profess their love to us, we’ll receive heaps of cards in the mail, and eat buckets of chocolate and not feel sick.  Unrealistic? A little bit.  Unrealistic expectations are the antithesis of “savoring the moment.” If you keep waiting for what’s next, or keep wanting more, no matter how wonderful your day was, you will always feel dissatisfied and upset. 

Thus, instead of wondering why you didn’t receive two dozen roses today, why the cute guy who takes your bus route didn’t profess his love to you today, or why you feel sick after eating two heart shaped boxes of chocolate,  think about the love that you did experience today, no matter what it was.

Today, I felt lucky to be woken up by doggy-kisses from my dog Carly this morning. I was relieved that since today is Valentine’s Day, eating 20+ of those Dove chocolate hearts with the messages inside of them was totally acceptable.  I was really happy that I wore my rain boots today so I could stomp through puddles, instead of having to walk precariously around them like everyone else.  I savored the weather, as today was the first warm, sunny day in weeks.  I delighted in the serendipity of running into my dad on the street and joining him for a cookie on my way home. 

No stereotypical Valentine’s Day shenanigans going on here — just a really great day… with cookies!

melty chocolate… now that’s a moment I want to savor

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, I made these almond butter blossoms with heart shaped chocolates instead of Hershey Kisses.  I know by now Valentine’s Day has come and gone, and you might think it’s silly of me to be posting a V-Day recipe this late.  But who said that heart shaped cookies are only for one day a year? Who said that today is the day to have a fancy dinner and send lots of cards to your friends and loved ones?  Who said today is the day you should be sent flowers?  This all seems super restrictive to me.  Today is just a day among many other days.  I think that sending flowers, eating heart-shaped chocolates, and telling those around you that you love them should not just be a once-a-year occasion. I’m for more flowers, more chocolate, more love, and more savoring the moment!  Who’s with me?

With love,
Erica

Ingredients 

• 1/2 cup butter or shortening
• 1/2 cup almond butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup white sugar (for rolling)
• 1 9oz. bag Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Hearts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, almond butter, brown sugar, and 1/2 cup white sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and stir in the milk and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the almond butter mixture until well blended. Shape tablespoonfuls of dough into balls, and roll in remaining white sugar. Place cookies 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 to12 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from oven, and immediately press a chocolate heart into each cookie. Allow to cool completely; the chocolate  will harden as it cools.

© Cannella Vita. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission/linking back to Cannella Vita. If you want to republish this recipe, please link back to this post.