Happy Valentine's Day

 So much in love with us are we
That you could kiss you
And I could kiss me.
- Tommy Smothers (I think)

Happy Valentine's Day!!

from me
and from

Tommy & Smokey

(Tuppence isn't into holidays.)

***

 Coming to my garden in May
I cannot wait!

***

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Valentines! And Burned Cookies??

 I WON A GIVEAWAY!!!

Look what came in the mail from Arlene of Nanaland blog.
A lovely Valentine card and a pair of pretty fingerless gloves.
Aren't they just the perfect Valentine color!!
Thank you, Arlene!
Y'all be sure to stop in at her blog today.

An unexpected Valentine from a dear friend, who talked me into starting my blog back in February of 2010!

There was more to the package, but I forgot to include it in the photo, like the dark chocolate Dove bar which I ate before I had a chance to remember that I could take just a bite and save the rest for later. Who comes up with those dumb theories anyway. Deb makes her own beautiful cards and of course she knows how much I love dogs and the James Herriot stories.Thank you, my friend!

And now on to a couple family Valentines

You might notice that there are two types of Valentine cookies in the collage above: Pink and not so pink. The pink ones were baked in a 375 degree oven for 10 minutes.

The second type is the forgotten in the oven another 4 or-5 minutes after the timer went off slightly darker variety. They needed just ONE MORE MINUTE. But who sets the timer for one additional minute?! It looks like I should have. I'm going to blame it on my cute and distracting helper/decorator, because I walked away and totally forgot about them. Anyway, they were not burned, miraculously (because I bake them on heavy jellyroll pans), but they weren't quite as pretty. On the other hand, they had a much better crispy crunch, so they are my favorite. Crunch is a very important factor in my world. Next time I will probably bake them in a 350 oven for 12+ minutes to get a crunchier cookie without that less-than-desirable color which makes everyone reach for the pinker ones instead. And if they, for some reason, need an additional minute, I will be sure to set the timer.

***

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Have a wonderful Valentine's Day, everyone!

Valentine Treats

It kinda got away from me. Having signed up to bring treats for the break between the church service and Sunday School, the plan was to bake enough cake to serve 120 people. I found Pillsbury strawberry cake mixes on sale for 88c each, so baked two in each of the three half-sheet foil pans I have.

I think I've got enough cake, so that part worked out okay. So far, so good. Then I frosted them. It took two entire bags of confectioner's sugar and one cup of butter, a half teaspoon of vanilla and about a quarter teaspoon of almond extract.

Now, I know that a little Wilton Cake Decorator's Rose Gel goes a long way, but had no idea just how long that was. No kidding. I only put in a teensy little bit, so I was quite surprised to see the screaming pink that resulted. Oh well. Here are the cakes, sprinkled with a variety of Valentine candy bits, and in a color certainly not known in nature - except maybe for the time when Mt. St. Helens erupted. I do remember some intensely pink/red sunsets.

Still, I'm hoping the kids at church will enjoy the cakes. I remember as a child how excited I was to get frosted and decorated cookies or cakes, and how much I loved the garishly decorated treats from the bakery. I'm counting on that running true in the youngest generation also. We'll see. It just occurred to me that after tomorrow, I may be called upon to replace the church carpet.

I still love frosting. I wish I didn't. Even wedding cake frosting, which everyone else thinks is way too sweet and disgusting - and yet they keep using it for wedding cakes!

How about you? What are the treats you remember best from when you were a kid? You know, the ones that caused us to be child slaves to Little Debbie and Hershey's, the ones we longed to find when we opened our lunch boxes - instead of a hardboiled egg and a tomato.

Two Old Hearts

Yes, I said
'Hearts.'

The neighbor boy is still here, even after 40 years. What keeps us together? To begin with, I'd say, first and foremost, the grace of God. That's definitely what has brought us through the years with a stronger relationship now than ever before. Believe it or not, I can remember being young. I shudder to think of how naive, selfish, and unrealistic I was when we got married.

What else keeps us together? A well-tuned sense of humor. How generous of God to give me a husband who has a good sense of humor! We spend a lot of time laughing at things that would probably not be funny to anyone else.

Yesterday, while running a few errands in town, we were talking about Valentine's Day and the unrealistic expectations that a lot of young people have toward one another. This conversation had waxed on at great length, when my Valentine turned to me and asked, 'So, Honey, what would you like for Valentine's Day?' With that kind of setup, what could I say?? I turned to him and, soapmaker that I am, said pleadingly, 'Please, could I just have a bottle of lye?' He smiled lovingly at me and replied, 'Honey, I can do better than that! I'll get you TWO bottles of lye.'

Okay, so I know it's corny and lame, but we got a good laugh from it. And this is the kind of silly banter that truly enriches our lives. Humor is a great gift that God has given us.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on humor, funny incidents, things that make you laugh.