Innovative guest blogger Susan Kirchner offers up a few simple ideas for putting a little food, fun and conversation into your family’s Valentine’s Day celebration this year.

Have a Heart. You can have so much fun with a heart-shaped cookie cutter. I surprised my daughter by cutting a heart into her peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwich. I cut a small heart shape into one slice of the bread so you could see the red jelly. You can also make French Toast and cut the bread into heart shapes and throw some cut strawberries on top for color. Or, spread a thick layer of whipped cream out on a cookie sheet, freeze it and then cut heart shapes out while frozen. Drop that creamy heart in a mug of hot chocolate for some fun!

Seeing Red. Be silly with your Valentine’s Day dinner and serve only red or pink food. Spaghetti with red sauce, red peppers and chocolate fondue with strawberries, raspberries and red grapes is a fun red menu. Here’s a super easy recipe for Chocolate Fondue.

Turn Dinner Upside Down. Let the kids eat dessert first on Valentine’s Day. Anything that breaks routine is big fun for kids.

A Night Out, at Home. Can’t find a babysitter for Valentine’s Day this year? No problem. Read about how you can still have a special night at home with the kids by cooking dinner together and having the kids serve you as waiters.  Read how to make it happen.

A Sweet Treat.  Since my family seems to be obsessed with sweets, we like to try out a new dessert every year. This year we made Valentine’s Day Brownies, Chocolate Mousse and Chocolate Strawberry Pound Cake Hearts.

How do I Love Thee? During Valentine’s Day dinner, we  play a game where we go around the table and say three things we love most about each other. It’s a great ego boost and forces you to say the little things that sometimes get lost and never said during the daily grind.

Sue Kirchner is the founder of the e-boutique ChocolateCakeClub.com and the ChocolateCakeMoments.com blog, both designed to inspire and help busy families have more fun so they can have more “Chocolate Cake Moments” – when they are smiling, relaxed and enjoying their family time. Sue and her family fun ideas have been featured in several TV programs, newspapers, magazines and blogs. When she’s not working, she is CFO (Chief Fun Officer) for her family. A longer version of this post originally appeared on Sue’s blog.