Tag Archives: she is red

Day 314: Happy Valentine’s Day!

14 Feb

Apple Blackberry Cobbler

The legend of St. Valentine – or at least one of the legends – tells us that St. Valentine was a priest in Rome during the third century.  Claudius, the emperor at the time, felt the need to build up a strong army to fight Rome’s many battles but he was having trouble recruiting men because they did not want to leave their women at home. So he did what any power crazy person might do and banned all marriages!

But our dear Saint Valentine was a kind man and he continued to marry young couples in love… that is until he was caught and sentenced to death.  Yet the legend goes further.  Before his execution, Valentine befriended the jailer’s daughter and left her a note signed, “from your Valentine.”

The reason I share this story is only to give some background to a holiday that has been reduced to just another reason to shop for gifts.  Saint Valentine so believed in love that he was willing to die for it.  That kind of conviction is not something we see very often.

On this Valentine’s Day, I chose to make a pie – actually an Apple Blackberry Cobbler – for my daughter Alexandra.  On her birthday, last October 1, instead of making her a pie, I brought one to the nurses at the maternity ward at Ashland Community Hospital where she was born to thank them for their patience and dedication.  (I made Alexandra  cupcakes for her birthday!)

Alexandra was my first-born and tested my mothering skills from the beginning.  It has been such an amazing journey watching her blossom from a fearless little girl into the remarkable woman she has become. This past year, Alexandra created a blog, sheisred.com, and she has also been a tremendous support to me with my blog as well. I am so grateful to her for all she has done to help me with this project.  Tonight I wish my dear daughter Alexandra, a very Happy Valentine’s Day!

A daughter may outgrow your lap, but she will never outgrow your heart.  ~Author Unknown

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Day 137: For Mikey

21 Aug

My daughter Alex writes a blog that you can see here. She shares her thoughts on fashion, food and living in Copenhagen. About a week ago she shared a post about a food blogger named Jenny who had lost her husband suddenly.

At the time, I was not able to read Jenny’s blog because I was gearing up for this past weekend’s wedding. However, today I took the time to read through some of it. If you can do this without crying (or at least choking up a bit) you are probably made of stone. My heart goes out to Jenny and her children during this very difficult time.

And this from Jenny’s blog: For those asking what they can do to help my healing process, make a peanut butter pie this Friday and share it with someone you love. Then hug them like there’s no tomorrow because today is the only guarantee we can count on.

How amazing that in her grief she came up with such a wonderful idea – asking us all to take the time to show our loved ones how much they mean to us – and to do so with such a delicious treat. It is similar to what I am doing with my pies – taking the time to focus on someone and let them know that they are cared for and appreciated.

Because this weekend is sort of an unusual one (our neighbor Daniel is visiting from Houston, and our Rotary exchange student Stephan is visiting from Germany), it seemed fitting to share this pie as part of our Sunday night family dinner with our dear neighbors. (I made only one change – I used gluten free peanut butter cookies for the crust).

I encourage you all to follow Jenny’s suggestion and make this pie- the recipe is easy, the pie is delicious and you will be spreading love in the world. What a lovely thing to do.

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