A late response to Valentine’s Day.

Maybe it’s true that we only acknowledge Valentine’s Day because of good ‘ol Hallmark, but that doesn’t make it any less worthy of being celebrated. Yeah, yeah, people complain that Valentine’s Day is really just “Singles Awareness Day”…but then couldn’t you also argue that Mother’s Day is just a painful jab in the stomach for those whose mothers have passed away, or even for those who desperately wish to be mothers and simply can’t do it? I don’t think there’s any good argument against anything that provokes us to spend an extra moment considering the ones we love. There are definitely worse things in our lives that were born for commercial purposes.

Anyway. Loren and I spent a lot of time debating what we should do this year. After much indecision and procrastination, we decided at almost the last minute that we wanted to spend this Valentine’s Day (and coincidentally, Chinese New Year) up in Montpelier, Vermont. It was frigid, it was snowy…but it was also gorgeous and amazingly fun. We rented a car (a shiny black Volkswagen Beetle!) and drove all around. On Sunday Loren surprised me by slipping a heart-shaped box of chocolates into my bag before I woke up. So adorable! (And, of course, delicious.)

A dozen random photographs from our trip, in no specific order:

A list of places we especially enjoyed, for anyone thinking about venturing up there:
- Vermont Historical Society
- Morse Farm Maple Sugarworks & Cross-Country Skiing
- Cold Hollow Cider Mill
- Bear Pond Books
- Rivendell Books
- Samosa Man
- Coffee Corner
- The Skinny Pancake (we ate there three times in two days — it was that good)

We thought it was a pretty good itinerary for a fun weekend trip.

And equally necessary — a list of the yummy things we purchased:
- Grade A Dark Amber Maple Syrup (Morse Farm Maple Sugarworks)
- Pure Maple Cream (Morse Farm Maple Sugarworks)
- Pure Vermont Honey (Butternut Mountain Farm)
- Maple Apple Sauce (Cold Hollow Cider Mill)
- Peach Butter (Hidden Orchard Farms)
- Pumpkin Butter (Hidden Orchard Farms)
- Berry Berry Rhubarb Conserve (Vermont Harvest)
- Pure Maple Candy (Morse Farm Maple Sugarworks)

Scrumptious is an understatement! I really can’t wait to dig into some of these jars…the maple cream is probably my favorite.

Aside from all that, happy Year of the Tiger!

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