Cup O’ Family

Most of Jason’s travels conflict with birthdays and sometimes even holidays, which is unfortunate, because I feel bad for the kids when their dad is not around. We’ve been together for almost 12 years now and can count on one hand the number of times that he has been in NYC for Valentine’s Day. But, this month, I’m thrilled that he will actually be home for my birthday, even though he will miss Valentine’s Day. But i’ll take one birthday for a holiday! It’s not to say we don’t celebrate, either before or after, but it definitely gets me blue when he can’t be a part of the celebration. So this year, I decided we can all celebrate Valentine’s Day a little earlier this year.

With Jason just out the following night, I planned a big dinner, capped off with a fun coffee and dessert bar for the whole family. You definitely need to show your love on Valentine’s Day, but it is doesn’t hurt to be surrounded by plenty of sweets.

I recently received the new Keurig 2.0 Hot Beverage Brewing System, which completely changed my world! In addition to the standard single K cups, it brews a four cup carafe as well! This extended capacity is a great feature for those of us who entertain, or if just want to enjoy more than one cup of coffee, on a sleepy morning. The brewer has other great features including an extra large water reservoir, a color touch display, an auto brew, a strength control setting for brewing bolder coffee, and you can choose from 400 varieties from 60 brands. There’s even a separate setting for hot cocoa and other specialty beverages like lattes and mochas.

I opted to create a dessert bar, and shopped for some individual treats for each of my special peeps. From cupcakes to cookies to mini chocolates we all had enough sugar to last us till the following Valentine’s Day. And with the help of my 2.0 Keurig I was able to customize everyone’s favorite drink.

I think I’ve mentioned it before, but Jason only drinks decaffeinated coffee, which is another characteristic of the individual Keurig cups that comes in so handy. So for my dessert bar, I brewed two types of coffee, a vanilla flavor for me, and a decaf blend for Jason.  And for the kids, I made some hot cocoa, topped with whipped cream and marshmallows! They lapped it up, and Ryder washed it all down with a small cup of hot cider.

I hope all of our Valentine’s Days can be as memorable as this year whenever you are celebrating!

 

Thank you Keurig for sponsoring this post!