Growing
up Valentine’s Day was so important to me.
Remember the joy of making valentines for all of your classmates? In elementary school when we brought our
valentines to school we were also supposed to bring a decorated box, usually an
old shoebox, so that when the time came, classmates could drop a valentine in
your special box. At the end of the
school day we would be given time to look in our boxes and open our valentines.
There would be lots of construction paper hearts decorated with paper doilies
and some purchased items and every now and then a box of conversation hearts or
a lollipop.
As I got
older I kept the tradition of sending cards to my close friends for many years
but once I had children my time was spent helping them get valentines prepared
for their classmates. And each year I
made a special valentine cookie which you might know as the cream wafer. It’s an old recipe my friend Aggie gave me
in 1975. I would cut the cookie into
heart shapes and tint the filling a lavender color. (See the recipe below in case you want to make
these delicious, melt in your mouth butter cookies).
As my
last child left the nest I’d stopped celebrating Valentine’s Day until a few
years ago. Now it is a big deal and the
planning starts in January. Why, you
ask? It’s Valentines for Veterans!!! Last month we encouraged employees and
their families to start making valentines at home. We've got craft supplies in the break rooms so employees can make a valentine on their breaks. Already we've shipped boxes of Conversation Hearts and handmade valentines to a military concussion center in
Afghanistan, and sent beautiful valentines to our military friends and family
serving overseas. Next week children from our employee day care will be
hand-delivering handmade valentines and candies to all of our veteran employees. We’ve got an enormous box of valentines going
to a VA hospital located in a rural area.
I’m seeing lots of red and really excited about it.
 |
| Nicole has been helping coordinate all of these activities |
Hope you
have a wonderful Valentine’s Day. Just in case you feel like doing some baking here's the best butter cookie you ever tasted!
Ingredients for the cookie:
1/2
cup butter, softened
1
cup all-purpose flour
3
tablespoons heavy whipping cream
Sugar
Ingredients for the filling:
1/4
cup butter, softened
3/4
cup confectioners' sugar
1/2
teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2
to 2 teaspoons heavy whipping cream
food
coloring
To make the dough cream the butter
add the flour and cream. Cover and
refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle.
On a lightly floured surface, roll
out dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 1-1/4-in. round cookie
cutter. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Sprinkle with a little sugar.
Prick each cookie 3-4 times with a fork.
Bake at 350° for 7-9 minutes or
until set. Remove to wire racks to cool.
In a small bowl, mix ingredients to
make the filling, adding whipping cream a little at a time until achieving
desired consistency.
