Sunday was Valentine's Day, a day when sweethearts show their love for one another with gifts and tokens of appreciation. Although every day provides a chance for romance, holidays serve as reminders that we need to celebrate and share the joy of what is most pleasurable in life. The three things that come to my mind when I think of celebration are Nature, good food, and doing for others. My husband thrilled me with three miniature rose plants in which I lost no time creating my window garden. Now when I look outside at the wintry landscape I have the cheery heads of budding flowers to remind me that Spring is right around the corner. My garden gives me much pleasure, but I have to be careful not to over-mother the plants as I am apt to do.
I decided it was a good day to bake, and so I made my husband shortbread heart cookies. There were only three ingredients: 2 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 cup of sugar and one pound of sweet butter. The dough was sticky and before rolling out on a floured surface, I had to refrigerate it for an hour or so. It felt good to use a rolling pin, as of late I have been in favor of the drop cookie, but it was challenging to get them even. Even more challenging was getting the sprinkles to stay on the unbaked cookie. My bunny rabbit has a sweet tooth and I had to shoo him out of the kitchen with a broom as I swept the colorful jimmies off the floor. They baked at 3oo degrees for about 30 minutes.
I am a big fan of a hearty stick to the ribs type of meal and I love vegetables more than any other food. After I baked my token of love, Gerry took over in the kitchen. He carefully defatted a pork roast and browned then braised it with red cabbage, sauerkraut, onion and carrots. He then made a medley of brussels sprouts, parsnip, and garlic in a mustard glaze and baked them to caramelized perfection. To spice it up a bit he also baked some large jalapenos, which as long as you don't eat the seeds are hot but tasty. There was even a fat free gravy to pour over the top of the rich, hearty, vegetable laden meal. We had our dinner by candlelight ( which we usually do on the weekends) and I ate slower than usual to savor every morsel of the dinner. Then we retreated to the TV room to watch our Saturday night British sitcoms with tea and dessert. Since I am on a lowfat diet (not for weight loss though) I had mango sherbet with a topping of wheat germ while Gerry enjoyed the butter rich shortbread hearts. We even stayed up like regular grown-ups to watch a movie before retiring to bed to enjoy each other's night time company. A day spent like this is worth more to me than all the world's diamonds and jewels!
