Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Doilies Forever!

V alentine cookies!  When I was a little girl in elementary school, we had THE best parties ever on Valentine's Day.   I'd say it was all because of the Valentine cookies (because my theme is food), but I'd be lying.  It was partly the cookies, but mostly the valentines.  We would spend days making the prettiest, frilliest, doilie-est valentines EVER!  (And yes, doilie-est is the newest word in the Judy Dictionary).   Not only did we make the greatest valentines ever, but we also decorated the most beautiful pink paper lunch sacks to house all of those coveted professions of love and friendship.  Then, on the actual day - Valentine's Day - mothers would bring the most delicious and beautiful homemade Valentine's cookies.  And red punch.    Always red punch.

Then, the moment we were all really waiting for - - passing out our valentines to each other, and hoping against hope that you would get one from your secret crush.   Some valentines would be store-bought, some would be handmade, but they were all treasures that you would look at over and over again. 

Valentine's Day is also my father-in-law's birthday.  Val - named after Valentine's Day - one of the greatest and kindest men I will ever know.  Cancer took him several years ago.   Now, Valentine's Day is a day to remember him and the great legacy he left for his family and all who knew him. 

And a day to toast his life with a delicious beautiful Valentine cookie!

10 comments:

  1. I always loved Valentine's day. I loved going home and going through the cards, looking for some hidden meaning in the ones given by boys.
    And, Valentine cookies? Thick, soft, sugar cookies with cream cheese frosting- not much better than that!

    ReplyDelete
  2. So sweet.
    And Valentine cookies are beyond yummy! I used to have my valentines from school, but they got lost in one of the moves...*sigh*
    But at least the memories remain. (:

    ReplyDelete
  3. Why is it that those wonderful sugar cookies taste better if they are heart shaped and have pink frosting on top? My BD is two days before V-Day, so the celebration just kept on going. I loved it and always felt particularly loved.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Gosh your post brought back memories!!!! Moms coming to the classroom with cookies and cupcakes, and all the time it took to fill out the little store bought Valentines for each person in my class. The paper chains, and construction paper/doily hearts. Those were the days!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am not a fan of valentines but you said the secret word " Cookies!" Very Beautiful as always miss Judy

    ReplyDelete
  6. So sorry he is gone, but what a lovely tribute!

    Visiting from A to Z Blogfest,

    Monti
    Mary Montague Sikes

    ReplyDelete
  7. Those dime store Valentines were so corny, but the best!
    Nice tribute to "Uncle Val."

    ReplyDelete
  8. How fast the letters fly .. all the way to V .. awesome

    ReplyDelete
  9. How did I miss this one? I still like V-Day. My kids are all too old to make or pass out Valentine's at school, but I have tons of ideas pinned on Pinterest. I can still make cookies though.

    ReplyDelete
  10. For some reason, the Valentine's Day party we had in fourth grade stands out so clearly in my mind. I got one too many cookies and stuck the extra one in my desk, where it hardened to a prettily decorated stone. My teacher that year had a thing she called Desk Dumping Day and she would dump any desks that she considered too messy or cluttered inside. Guess whose Valentine's cookie got dumped into a pile of books and wadded up papers sometime in mid-April? ;)

    PS--My mom's birthday was Valentine's Day. Her loving siblings always said that with her jet black hair and personality, she should've been born on Halloween. :)

    ReplyDelete