Cooking From the Heart
It's Cupid's Day to have his way... so just for fun, we asked some of our Penzeys customers named Valentine to share their favorite
recipes - seasoned with love - for the special people in their lives.
Happy Valentine's Day!
Cleosa Valentine
"I married into the Valentine family 33 years ago and it was the best thing that ever happened to me!" remarks Cleosa Valentine
of Fairfax, Virginia.
"I was introduced to John Valentine when I was in 6th or 7th grade by my cousin Carol whose family shared a community dock with
the Valentine family at Newman Lake near Spokane, Washington. John was the second oldest of 14 Valentine children. We eventually
married, and he became my best friend and true soul mate. Although John passed away in March of 2005, our Valentine traditions
live on in our four children, Resa, Paul, Steve and Molly, and in our grandchildren.
"We didn't exchange gifts, nor were flowers a part of the equation in celebrating this special day. We did look forward to a
delicious dinner at a good Italian restaurant each year," Cleosa recalls. "After dinner we would come home to a Red Velvet Cake
baked in heart-shaped pans, one of my first Christmas gifts as a member of the Valentine family."
Paul, Cleosa's oldest son, says, "The cake took on a personal character beyond its shape and color. Never made from a box, our family cake was the product of true love and genuine Valentine's spirit. As soon as we'd arrive home from our dinner out, small dessert plates were set out before allowing the cake to even see the dining room table, heightening the anticipation amongst my siblings and myself.
"The cake would make its appearance... and 'Mmmm' could be heard while forks stood at the ready in our hands. Finally sinking my teeth into that first piece of cake was like finding out that heaven could actually fit on the end of a fork! Over the next day or so, the heart cake would disappear from the cake plate and the countdown would begin in my mind again... 364 days, 363, 362."
Steve, Paul's younger brother, remembers the frosting as "the fluffiest I'd ever had. We only had that frosting on this cake and only once a year. This was a treat, a little secret that made us smile all day long on our special day."
Cleosa adds, "When my children began school we started a new tradition regarding the exchange of valentines with their classmates. Instead of paper cards, their valentine cards would be in the form of large cookies. I made two double batches and used a large 4-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter. These were not wimpy cookies! After baking, I frosted the cookies with a classic pink butter cream icing and then added the name of each child in the class, handwritten in red decorating icing. The cookies were packaged in individual fold-over sandwich bags and the kids handed them out with the others' valentine cards."
Paul reminisces, "When the day of the 14th finally arrived and I walked into school with that carefully packed box of goodies, I would find a day's worth of popularity waiting in return."
Recalls Steve, "I can remember from an early age that at the beginning of the year children were eagerly checking to see if I was in their classroom that year, because that meant they would get cookies for Valentine's Day. Kids would start asking me about cookies in mid-January. I remember seeing their faces when I would bring in that big box of heart-shaped cookies and every now and then someone would be eyeing it from across the room all day waiting for it to be time to pass out the valentines!"
In addition to baking cookies for their children and their classmates, Cleosa also made valentine cookies for her neighbors, friends at church and even John's co-workers. "Each year the task got bigger," she notes. "It became a two-week process. I had started something BIG and it wasn't about to stop. This tradition followed my children through high school and by the time I handed over the baking to my youngest daughter Molly in 2002, I was baking about 130 four-inch cookies each Valentine's Day. Resa, my oldest daughter, is now making the cookies for her sixth grade students."
Paul comments, "I still run into my old grade school chums when I visit home and usually the first thing I get asked is, 'Does your mom still make those heart cookies?' Tradition for us, treats for them and remembered by everyone."
Cleosa adds, "Even my husband's co-workers remember the cookies. I made the cookies for those in my water exercise class on Valentine's Day. One lady took hers home to share with her husband. The next class session she told me her husband remembered a co-worker whose wife used to make cookies just like that. That was when her last name clicked and I realized the 'wife' was me. What a small world!"