Mini Jam-Filled Valentine Heart Pies

The more I experience the commercial push of the Valentine’s Day as an adult, the more I want to go back and celebrate the holiday in the classic “classroom style” of my youth.  This means valentine cards for everyone and plenty of treats to share.  Emphasis on sugar and hearts. My early school years were spent at Hurd Elementary in Wakefield, MA during the late 1980’s, where the Valentine’s Day party was one of the biggest classroom events of the year, as perhaps it was at your elementary school. Each February I was allowed to choose a box of assorted valentine cards from the drugstore. Inside the box were strips of flimsy, perforated paper cards, each with a matching white envelope. It was agony choosing which card was best for which friend, and since there was usually a special boy that was admired more than the others, his card had to be distinguished in a manner specifically unique to 7-year-old’s. He got three penciled hearts on his envelope, while all of the other boys got one or two. Oh boy, did that extra heart mean something. Leading up to the party we made “valentine mailboxes” in art class, which were thick stapled oak tag envelopes, decorated with pink hearts and paper doilies, to hang over the fronts of our desks. On party day, promptly at 2:30, it was pencils down and time for red fruit punch, cinnamon heart candies, chocolate kisses, pastel conversation hearts, and mini bags of Cape Cod potato chips. We circled the room, slipping our valentines into pouches and hoping that someone had put three hearts on an envelope destined for our mailbox, or at least that someone’s mom had splurged on the “good cards” – meaning the kind that came with candy. Those days of classroom fun are long gone, but there’s no reason why we can’t keep the youthful spirit of Valentine’s Day with us as adults! Getting back to V-Day basics is simple. Take some time to pen a few simple valentines for the people in your life that you are fond of, or bake up a batch of cookies or treats like these Old-School Valentine’s Day Mini Heart Hand Pies to show that you’re feelin’ the love.  That’s all it might take to make a difference in someone’s day, and what could be sweeter than that? Happy Valentine’s Day! View and Print the Recipe for Mini Jam-Filled Valentine Heart Pies!