Do you recall the excitement back in elementary school of the annual valentine celebration? The idea was to exchange child-sized valentine cards with each person in your class. After your mother bought home a new package of cards for you, part of the fun was to choose a card for each of your classmates. Maybe there was a special someone you wanted to receive the most perfect card with the most heartfelt saying. Of course, you also hoped to receive a meaningful card back from that person. Maybe your heart went pitter patter waiting to see. Class snacks included cookies, juice, and little candy hearts with sayings on them like Be Mine.
Here is a vintage cookie recipe sure to sweeten up your Valentine’s Day:
LOVE LETTERS
Ingredients: 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 cup butter, 2 teaspoons lemon rind (grated finely), rind of 1 orange (grated finely), 1/2 cup sour cream, several candied cherries cut into tiny slivers.
Directions: These cookies are an adaption of an old German recipe and are baked in a hot, 475 degree oven. Measure flour by dipping or sifting. Mix together flour, sugar, and salt. Cut in the butter and the lemon and orange rinds with a fork or cutter. The mixture will have the coarse texture of meal. Mix in sour cream. Gather dough into a firm ball, and then divide in half. Roll out on a floured board to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into pieces that are 3 inches by 2 inches. Fold the ends to the center and overlap slightly so that the cookie resembles an envelope. Seal with a tiny sliver of candied cherry to look like old-fashioned sealing wax. Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Brush the tops with a bit of water, and sprinkle with sugar. Bake 6 to 8 minutes. The recipe makes about 4 dozen cookies.
I wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day with your family and friends. Thank you for making my days brighter.
Cheers & Happy Reading!
Flossie Benton Rogers, Conjuring the Magic with Paranormal Romance
I’d completely forgotten about exchanging Valentine Day cards in elementary school and having snacks, Flossie. What fun memories your post brought back! Those were such fun innocent days 🙂
Yes, they were, Mae. Thank you for stopping by and commenting.
I hope the celebration kept its sentimental values in a world dominated by MONEY, Flossie. For several years, this holiday entered our country, too. But all is about commerce: gifts – the more expensive, the better.
They tried here to revive a Romanian tradition Dragobete, similar in many ways to Valentine Day, but without much success.
Happy Valentine Day to you!
It seemed like innocent fun back then, Carmen, when we were children. I hate it when wonderful holidays get overly commercial. Thank you for telling me abut Dragobete. I looked that up and found it quite interesting about when the birds begin building their nests and the boys and girls singing– good harbingers of spring. What an interesting name the son of Baba Dochia has. Apparently she was known to insult the winter? With all this freezing weather up north–not here in Florida–some people are feeling that way right now.
Yes. I had a post last year on Dragobete
http://shadowspastmystery.blogspot.ro/2015/02/romanian-valentine-day.html
Here is unusual weather with rain instead of snow.
I remember now, Carmen. Thanks so much. No wonder the word itself sounded so familiar to me.
I loved the way we did valentines this year my grandkids had a plain brown bag they wrote their name on and just had to sign the cards if they wanted to drop in others bags.. The making the shoebox mailbox in class the week of valentines was the most fun.
great post and the cookies sound yummy
Oh, what fun you all had, Cathy! I like that way too. I want to make those cookies. I always loved the look of sealing wax.
We didn’t do Valentine’s cards in class at primary school. A great pity as it all sounds such fun. When I was a little older in secondary school we would send cards to boys we liked, but it was done secretly with no names from the sender. People had to try to guess who the cards came from. The talk about the cards would go on for weeks after.
I love the cookies.
Oh, I love how you did the cards in secondary school– in secret with no names. What fun!