Saturday, February 14, 2009

Valentine's, Photographing Grief

When I was a young woman, Valentine's Day was supposed to be for young lovers to mail a card anonymously to the person they loved. It certainly remained that way in the UK until I left and came to Canada where I discovered that in North America it was for kids to send cards to grandmothers or anyone else you wanted to send love to, familial love or friendship love, nothing, necessarily, to do with romantic love. Although even here, you see men crowding the florists to buy flowers for their wives, always at the last minute of course. Flowers are, of course, somewhat more expensive at this time of year. I wonder why? That being said, I wish you all Happy Valentine's Day. Matt and I just exchanged cards, last year I apparently didn't get him a card, but also, it appears I was pretty sick at the time. I am getting sick and tired of seeing people's grieving faces as a result of the air crash on Thursday night. I think it is WRONG to make a parade of the grief of all the family and friends of the crash victims. I would hate it if my face of grief was exhibited to the world. This is surely something private and not something you wish to share. However, as usual, reporters are everywhere asking questions "what was Susie/Fred/your friend like?" immediately making people more aware of their loss. If you are doing anything special for dinner tonight, a nice starter is Heart Shaped Smoked Salmon - my cookery group did this as part of our Valentine's Dinner one year and it was very effective. The picture was taken by one of my friends in the group - my picture didn't come out so well. Heart Shaped Smoked Salmon This looks attractive, feels indulgent, and goes very well with a glass of bubbly! Bread - sliced wholemeal (1 slice per person) Small tub soft cheese (e.g. Philadelphia) Smoked Salmon Lemon slices Fresh Dill to garnish (optional) 1 Spread 2 slices of bread with soft cheese. 2 Cover the soft cheese with a layer of smoked salmon. Use biscuit (cookie) cutters or a knife to cut into several little hearts (as bite-sized appetisers) or one heart shape per slice of bread. 3 Arrange on a plate and garnish with a slice of lemon and a piece of dill 4 A squeeze of lemon on the salmon adds to the flavour. Have a great weekend.

6 comments:

  1. Jo --

    I love the heart-shaped salmon!

    And yes here in France Valentine Day is for lovers and not children.

    By the way I've got something about Valentine Day on my blog too today; you will find it amusing ..
    Marilyn

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  2. We decided to have smoked salmon ourselves tonight and then follow it with the Cuban Tenderloin I posted the other day. That will be followed by creme caramel.

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  3. you have always some nice cooking ideas ^^ it's cool ! Mat must be a happy man !

    For me i'm more sick and tired about valentine's day : it should be every day !!

    Is it about bones you have problems like some kind of osteoporosis ? Hope you feel better and you won't need surgery ^^

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  4. Matt cooks too Gynie, so we are both happy.

    No, not osteoporosis more like osteoarthritis. Plus the cartilage tends to get worn down which necessitates replacing the hip. At the moment that hasn't really happened but the bone scan will show if there is arthritis in the hip.

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  5. ok you must cook some giant sushi so you can get fresh cartilamine in one time and glue your hips ! ^^

    hope you'll be better soon.

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