Event Specialist Artraya Daniels shares with us 5 tips on planning a creative and fun Valentines Day with the kids.

When I became a parent it became clear to me that my Husband and I weren't going to have another Valentines Day alone. So it became a tradition of ours to incorporate the kids in our planning. By starting this tradition, we learned that sharing this day with our kids made it more special than any Valentine's Day that we ever had. Here are some tips on how to plan a creative and fun Valentines Day on a budget with the kids.

We found this recipe on guilty kitchen.com but the Better than sex cake has mysterious origins.  Wikipedia describes the origins as unknow. Some credit Paula Deen for bringing it to light.  Other may have watched an episode of "Real Housewives of Atlanta" and heard it mentioned there.  Check out the recipe that is supposedly...Better than sex.

The DC Examiner has a great article on top Romantic and memorable settings for restaurant picks in Washington DC on Valentine's day.

On Valentine's Day Weekend, lovers are looking to spend the most affectionate evening of the year doing what many people do to celebrate most special occasions – dine out! Washington, DC area Chefs are prepared to pamper you and your darling with deliciously dreamy dishes, passionately prepared to tempt the taste buds and to set the stage for a romantic evening. Capitol B's resident foodie offers her Top 14 picks for a memorable meal. Valentine's Day is closer than you think, call and make your reservations today! For singles, several restaurants, like Againn and Zentan offer special diners just for singles.

Article by Lisa Shapiro

The Labs at the Brooklyn Kitchen;  Feb 11th: Forking Fantastic! co-authors Tamara Reynolds and Zora O'Neill are serving up hearts on a plate. Join the pair for their two-hour Anti–Valentine's Day dinner class ($50). The low-pressure tutorial starts with dessert (screw tradition) and progresses through several courses, including roasted radishes, bitter green salad, duck heart on toast, and duck-leg confit.

Once upon a time people did a lot of things for themselves. Harry and David’s was not the end-all and be-all of fresh fruit preserves and corn salsa.People canned, preserved, and pickled all kinds of delicacies and used mason jars to keep them stored. Growing up, my grandmother made pickled watermelon, by using its rind – the kind of thing you do to make the most of your money. That pickled watermelon wasn’t half bad. Neither were thepeach and apple preserves lining the kitchen cabinets. Now before you go purchasing a butter churner, there’s no need to turn the hands of time back quite that far, but during the holiday season it can be fun and useful to break out those old mason jars and fill them with a few handmade and store-bought goodies. It may just save you some change and give you a little taste of the”Do it yourself” nostalgia of yesteryear.