I do appreciate the cupcake idea as well as the one to make a larger heart shaped cake by combining a square and a round. However, this was intended as a dessert for two people (college kid #2 and partner) and has to be gluten free. I've moved on from working on how to help make a dessert, as college kid #2 isn't showing any initiative. I'm already cooking dinner for them (I offered), and I've decided to let college kid #2 figure out dessert without me. I'll be making a gluten-full dessert for DH and I, lol.
One thing this challenge is reminding me of is how much I love to cook, bake, and decorate for holidays, special days, feast days, and liturgical seasons. Yesterday I decorated for St. Valentine's Day, and remembered that I'd been interested in buying pink twinkle lights last year but didn't think of it in time. Because of the challenge this year I didn't even look at buying them. Then I wanted pink taper candles because I've burned all of my red and white candles and only have unbleached beeswax tapers which don't look nice in the pink candle holders. I did look at those online, but then decided that for this year I should make do with what I have and remember to get pink beeswax tapers when I do my yearly candle order at Black Friday/Cyber Monday (which I skipped this year as I felt I had enough to get through the winter, and I do).
The funny thing is that my St. Valentine's decor is all simple and frugal. I have handmade streamers hanging from the dining room light, made from curling ribbon I've had for 30 years. There is one little paper "love" banner I printed several years ago, and a paper bunting I bought some time ago at Target for $3. I have some sheer pink ribbons tied around the lamps, leftover from helping my kid make a corsage 7 years ago. Then I gather up anything pink or red I happen to have in the house such as the vintage pink candle holders, baskets with red accents, red and white enamel tins, a couple of pink bottles, etc. It's not that I don't buy anything for the holidays, special days, feast days, and liturgical seasons, but the purchases are either very frugal or very mindful.