Love is in the Air! It’s a great time of year to watch a good romantic comedy that you can laugh at and connect with.

“To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” is a franchise inspired by the books of the same name by Jenny Han. The series follows Lara Jean Covey, a sixteen-year-old Korean American girl living in Portland, Oregon, with her sisters, Margot and Kitty, and her father. Lara Jean’s family is very close, as her mother passed away when she was young and her family grieves her loss together throughout the movie. Lara Jean has written a letter to every boy that she has ever had a crush on but has never gathered up the nerve to send them. Kitty sneakily takes these letters from Lara Jean and sends them out to all five boys, including her sister’s ex-boyfriend, Josh. In order to hide her feelings for Josh, Lara Jean agrees to have a fake relationship with Peter Kavinsky, another boy who received a letter. He tells her it would benefit them both, as he wants to make his ex girlfriend jealous, who cheated on him. Lara Jean realizes that she can relate to Peter since he is also being raised by a single parent and they both end up falling for each other. This story is not just about romance, but about stepping out of your comfort zone and trying new things. This is a big reason why she falls for Peter because when she is with him, she feels free to be herself.

One of Lara Jean’s favorite hobbies is baking. She finds that it relieves stress and uses it to cope with her emotions. In the second movie, “To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You,” Lara Jean bakes cherry turnovers for Peter on Valentine’s Day. The movie shows a satisfying sequence of Lara Jean’s process making the turnovers. They are as sweet as the movie.

(Recipe Courtesy of Cinemakery.com):

Pie Dough:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2 eggs, beaten (for egg wash)
• 4 tablespoons ice water
• Pinch of kosher salt

Cherry Filling:

• 3 cups pitted cherries
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• Pinch of kosher salt

Directions:

1. Pie Dough: Sift together the flour and salt.
2. Pie Dough: Dump the chilled butter into the flour using a pastry cutter or pinching the flour and butter together with the tips of your fingers, leave no large lumps.
3. Pie Dough: Mix the ice water with the egg yolks using a fork. Slowly pour the mixture into the flour.
4. Pie Dough: Dump the dough onto a floured surface. Knead the dough until it becomes a cohesive disk. Make sure there are no cracks or any pockets of flour. Wrap the disk in plastic wrap and chill for one hour.
5. Filling: Stir together the cherries, sugar, and salt in a sauce pan over medium heat for 5 minutes. Bring to a simmer and cook for another 5 minutes.
6. Filling: Spoon out 2 tablespoons of juice from the simmering cherries. Stir the cornstarch into it, and put it back into the pan to simmer. After 6 more minutes, remove from the heat, stir in the lemon juice, and allow to cool.
7. Pie Dough: After the dough has chilled, flour a work surface and unwrap the dough onto it. Use a rolling pin to flatten out the dough by pressing firmly on it in multiple places. Then begin to roll out your dough. If there are any cracks, smush them together and roll out until smooth. Roll until the dough is about 1/8 inch thick.
8. Pie Dough: Cut rectangles out from the dough using a pizza or pastry cutter. Put the rectangles on a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet and place back into the fridge. Chill for 30 minutes.
9. Pie Dough: Preheat the oven to 350˚F while the dough is chilling.
10. Assembly: Remove the chilled pie dough rectangles from the fridge. On half of the rectangles, cut 3 slits to allow the steam to escape when in the oven. Set aside. Space out the remaining rectangles on a few cookie sheets, leaving space in-between. Spoon out about 1 tablespoon of the cooled cherry filling onto each rectangle.
11. Assembly: Cover the cherry-topped rectangles with the rectangles with slits. Use a fork to press the edges of the two together on all sides. Brush the pastries with an egg wash (2 eggs beaten).
12. Bake: Bake the pastries for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.