News Taffy

So we all know Tuesday is Valentine’s Day and while it may seem difficult to go on a nice date on a budget, there are plenty of things to do with very little cash. You just have to have a little imagination.

Of course, we all know that I am all for cooking at home (or in the dorm) but for a little different twist than the normal, Lady and the Tramp-style pasta and cheesy music type dinner date, try making fun tasty treats and desserts together. Simple things like a fondue dinner (with chocolate fondue for dessert) are fun and fairly cheap depending on what you choose for your dips and dippers. This is also a much more fun way to have some tasty chocolate treats rather than getting stuck with a box of “gamble chocolates” (You really never know what you’re going to get).

If this is the route you decide to take, here’s a tasty recipe to try:

INGREDIENTS:
*1-1/2 cups of chocolate chips (any will do whether they are semi-sweet, dark, milk or white. You pick!)
*½ cup of heavy cream
*1 tsp vanilla

DIRECTIONS:  Put chocolate chips in a slow cooker and cover with cream and vanilla. Cook on low for an hour and stir occasionally. Serve with whatever sounds tasty to you!

If fondue isn’t your thing and you’d much rather go somewhere for your meal, you can always pack a fun picnic and go to your favorite spot on campus or at the park. If you have the money to spend, you can always have a picnic with take-out from you or your Valentine’s favorite restaurant.

As for the rest of the date, a few fun and cheap ideas would be to go out during the day and take photos together. These can be silly, sweet or both and cost you nothing but your time – and that’s time well-spent for sure. Then when you get done taking the photos, there are plenty of ways to get creative with them.

A friend of mine suggested to me www.designmosaics.com, a website where you can make personalized photo gifts such as mosaics of your photos that make up one of your most favorite photos. But if you’d much rather put it together yourself, you can always print the photos from the day out and collage them on to canvas or letters with a little bit of Mod Podge and creativity. What a cool way to remember a good Valentine’s Day? Homemade gifts are always the best!

And finally, for all of you out there who may not have that “special someone,” there are plenty of friend dates you can have with your besties. Sometimes the best thing to do is call up all your friends and sit around with your favorite snacks or take-out and watch chick-flicks (my favorites are Pretty in Pink and Drive Me Crazy). There’s nothing wrong with it and your best friends are some of the people you love the most. That’s what the holiday is all about, right? Enjoy the company!

I hope that you all have a great Valentine’s Day and use some of these ideas to come up with a fun gameplan for the day.

See ya around Campus!
- Beth