Ya' Gotta' Have Heart

This weekend, I was reading interesting Valentine’s Day food facts. Did you know:
• It didn’t become a romantic holiday until the Middle Ages.
• It was removed from the Roman calendar in 1969.
• Over 35 million heart-shaped, chocolate boxes are sold each year for the big event.
• Over 8 billion conversation hearts are purchased in the two weeks prior.

At any rate, my children gathered around me ready to continue our Valentine project. We’ve been baking giant heart-shaped sugar and gingerbread cookies to decorate and give away on Valentine’s Day. That’s when it hit me, that Valentine’s Day isn’t about the chocolate (ok, well maybe just a little) or the Sweathearts candies (I do love reading the sayings), but rather about gathering with the one (or ones) you love to celebrate that love.

With all the turmoil going on in the world today, don’t ‘cha think we could all use an extra generous dose of love? I think this Monday would be the perfect time to tell those who are close to us that we love them (only HR appropriate Valentine’s at work of course). Let’s all call mom (mom’s love that kinda stuff), dad (dad’s love it too, they just don’t show it like mom does), grandmas/grandpas/brothers/sisters, BFFs, all those really special people in our lives. A hand made card (or cookie or chocolate) can make someone feel extra special.

At Specialty’s we even have the CookieGram feature to send that someone (or someones) a special online cookie credit (www.specialtys.com/cookiegram.aspx).

My research also revealed that The International Committee for Relatively Pointless Abbreviations and Badly Misspelled Acronyms (SPUDS) has just released a new, internationally approved list of abbreviated signoffs perfect for this holiday. They include:

ooo = hugs
xxx = kisses
OOO = big hugs
XXX = big kisses
oo = hugs for everybody but you
OO! = big, excited hugs
xx@ = kisses and earlobe nibbling
zzz = snoring
yyy = anything that occurs between kissing and snoring

Well, back to my cookies. The egg whites are separated, there’s powdered sugar all over the place and several more batches of Royal icing to whip up. Our Specialty’s Family sends everyone a virtual hug (because everyone needs a hug) and we wish everyone a heartfelt Happy Valentine’s Day!

OO!

Dawn