The pressure to offer an appropriate gift is not quite so pretty.*
Nor is the thought of the unmated who long for but are unable to find a lover, or worse yet the ones who recently lost their loved ones, or who were DUMPED by someone who didn't love them back....
I feel profound compassion for those groups. Valentines' Day rubs their noses in their grief and misery.
A word of advice from an old broad who has observed the world**: if you have a good, kind, committed lover, appreciate him/her! They may not be perfect, but they're a blessing! If you don't ... don't waste your time searching for one! You're wasting precious time chasing rainbows. Develop your talents, pursue something you're passionate about, DO stuff you love. I once read that "good things happen quickly" and my observations have confirmed it. Men (and probably women too, to an extent) may dawdle along in a superficial relationship for decades, but when "the right one" comes along, suddenly the anti-marriage individuals can't wait to marry. ... Re-watch the movie "French Kiss."
In consideration of all my attitudes about this day, i offer a personally-designed cocktail for your delectation. In order to keep carbs as low as possible, i left out certain flavor-augmenting embellishments that i might otherwise have included, but i'm satisfied with the result. My husband and i sacrificed our diets testing several incarnations of the recipe, to make sure this was worth your consideration! ;-)
BITTER VALENTINE
2 oz. kirschwasser (dry -- not a sweet liqueur but simple cherry brandy)
1 oz. heavy cream
2 drops almond extract
2 drops liquid sucralose (or 1 packet of splenda)
2 dashes chocolate bitters
1 drop red coloring (if desired)
Shake for 30 seconds with plenty of ice, then strain into a cocktail glass, and garnish with a maraschino cherry or a shaving of dark chocolate.
______
* i'm reminded of a friend's dilemma when i lived in TX -- his girlfriend had just lost her mother, and he wanted to make a gesture of support. He was concerned about sending the right message: enough to be impressive but not to "say too much." :-) I suggested a pendant necklace with her birthstone (in this case, a sapphire). ...He ultimately lost her through his ambivalence.
** i like to think that i'm in training to become a "Wise Woman." ;-)
Thanks for sharing a great cocktail idea.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
you're more than welcome! :-) I can see it being dessert for a lovely low-carb holiday dinner....
DeleteThe recipe sounds great, I will probably melt my 85% chocolate tonight and have a few berries----- all foods I would have eaten, but together. Big Whoop!
ReplyDeleteLove those flowers (orchids?). I do things that I love, with the people I love, Simple and easy. And yes, you are a Wise Woman! :)
not real orchids, alas! :-) they're just "Christmas lights" we bought at the Missouri Botanical Garden shop. our "conservatory" is full of green things, but there are only blossoms when the shamrocks or begonias decide to flower. when our new sun-room finally gets finished they'll find their proper home, along with the lime tree and kumquat, and whatever else we collect which needs to be protected from the St. Louis winter.
DeleteHappy Valentine's Day! I made some chocolate custard with eggs that pitched out of the cart and onto the parking lot--the same lot where my mother had her runaway wheelchair accident. (The eggs remained in the carton, but four of them broke.)
ReplyDeletehappy Valentines' Day to you too! what a pain that your eggs were what had to jump out of the cart -- couldn't have been something tougher, could it? maybe that parking lot has it in for you.... ;-)
DeleteI hope everyone had a happy Valentine Day ! It is the day when people suppose to celebrate a romantic love, the most short-lived love which exists. Probably, most of us at the moment of life when more stable emotions rule us, but it is nice to bring up the memory of the intoxication which romantic love causes.
ReplyDelete:-) i used to say that love is the little trick that Nature plays on us, to get us to reproduce.
DeleteNature plays a lot of tricks on us, it is for sure. I keep coming across more and more cases when a middle-aged female leaves her husband to live alone. It is not what in my mind, but such cases illustrate what may happen when reproduction is taken out of picture. Our society puts a significant pressure on people to be in a relationship, assuming most relationships are loving and satisfying, which is too optimistic.
Deleteso true! :-) i can understand why middle-aged women often divorce to be able to live their lives the way they want to! All their adult lives they've been attending to the needs of their children, and when that dwindles away their husbands retire and they have to become "mommy" again -- grrr! AMAZING how needy men can become when they no longer have a "purpose"....
DeleteI have never read the book "Several shades of gray", but I love the title. I think we should provide moral support to our friends whose life even farther from the unrealistic black and white picture (she met her prince, they got married and lived happily ever after) than ours in a such day. Life is never black or white, everybody suffers and enjoy life in million different ways.
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