Valentine's Day

Well I was completely uninspired, almost all the way to the end. But on Friday I took Jessica to a Valentine's party at my friend Scerinda's house. I was telling her I'd probably make a cake for my family, and she pulled out a bundt-cake pan that is in the shape of a rose. Someone had given it to her, but she'd never used it yet. So, knowing my interest in fancy foods, she lent it to me. So I made a red-velvet, chocolate rose cake, and topped it with tangy whipped cream and fresh raspberries. That was one thing.

I had planned to dip strawberries for a treat, but decided it would be more fun to let the kids help out. Most of them were off doing their own thing, but the girls enjoyed dipping the berries in chocolate—and licking up the leftover chocolate when we were done. :-) Then I skewered the chocolate berries and arranged them in large, crystal vase (so it kind of looked like a bunch of roses) and I used it for the centerpiece on the dinner table. That was the second thing

We grilled burgers for dinner and had home-made fries too; both of them all-around family favorites. I made home-made buns, and had thought of making them heart-shaped-—-I considered making the burgers heart-shaped too—but by the time the cake and the strawberries were all made I'd had almost enough fun in the kitchen. (Yes, even I can have too much of the kitchen!) So they were just ordinary, round burgers. But they were yummy, and they disappeared fast!

After dinner and clean-up, we all sat around and watched the incredibly romantic, Valentiney movie, Pirates of the Carribean, The Curse of the Black Pearl. We all enjoyed cake and chocolate strawberries while we watched the movie with a nice fire going in the fireplace.

So maybe it wasn't the coolest, most original Valentines Day, but it was cool enough. The main thing is that the family really seemed to enjoy their treats, and I like doing it for them. And that's what it's all about.