Lake Louisa State Park, Clermont, Florida
This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ~ I John 4:10
But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ~ Romans 5:8
Blaine called General RV several times today in an attempt to get information. Eventually, he was told that Nick was off today, the part shipped, but they didn’t know anything about a tracking number for it. Now you tell me – when does Fed Ex, or UPS, or Amazon for that matter ever ship something these days without providing a tracking number for it? She said she’d call back, but she never did.
This is not how we intended to spend Valentine’s Day.
So, let’s shift gears. Do you know any history about Valentine’s Day – other than the massacre in Chicago in 1930’s, and buying ‘romantic’ things?
The history of Valentine’s Day–and the story of its patron saint–is shrouded in mystery. We do know that February has long been celebrated as a month of romance, and that St. Valentine’s Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. But who was Saint Valentine, and how did he become associated with this ancient rite?
The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.
While some believe that Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine’s death or burial–which probably occurred around A.D. 270–others claim that the Christian church may have decided to place St. Valentine’s feast day in the middle of February in an effort to “Christianize” the pagan celebration of Lupercalia. Celebrated at the ides of February, or February 15, Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.
To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would gather at a sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or lupa. The priests would sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification. They would then strip the goat’s hide into strips, dip them into the sacrificial blood and take to the streets, gently slapping both women and crop fields with the goat hide. Far from being fearful, Roman women welcomed the touch of the hides because it was believed to make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city’s bachelors would each choose a name and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage.
In addition to the United States, Valentine’s Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France and Australia. By the middle of the 18th, it was common for friends and lovers of all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes, and by 1900 printed cards began to replace written letters due to improvements in printing technology. Ready-made cards were an easy way for people to express their emotions in a time when direct expression of one’s feelings was discouraged. Cheaper postage rates also contributed to an increase in the popularity of sending Valentine’s Day greetings.
Americans probably began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700s. In the 1840s, Esther A. Howland began selling the first mass-produced valentines in America. Howland, known as the “Mother of the Valentine,” made elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as “scrap.” Today, according to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated 145 million Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year, making Valentine’s Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year (more cards are sent at Christmas). Women purchase approximately 85 percent of all valentines. ~ taken from History.com (the History Channel people)
And I found this little tidbit as well –
75% of chocolate purchases are made by women all year long, but during the days before Valentine’s Day, 75% of the chocolate purchases are made by men. Do they know their women, or what?? Over $1 billion of chocolate is purchased for Valentine’s Day! Can you believe that???
We didn’t sit around all day waiting for the phone to ring. After a quick run to the grocery store for things for dinner, we found a trail to walk on, and found some very unexpected things!
An hour later, we were back home for lunch, and then went out again for another hour on our bikes.
Dinner was scrumptious, if I do say so myself! Linguini Diablo, although why ‘diablo’ I have no idea. It means ‘devil’ in Spanish, and is sometimes used to describe spicy things, but there’s nothing spicy about this recipe. Just marvelous goodness! The recipe’s at the end, if anyone wants to give it a try.
And what Valentine’s Day would be complete without chocolate?
The cake we bought at Publix was not only beautiful, but delicious as well!
And a gorgeous sunset to top it all off!
LINGUINI DIABLO (Bennigan’s clone, but tastes almost identical to The Bistro’s (in Green, Ohio) seafood pasta!)
3 T. vegetable oil
1 C. onion, diced
2 cloves, PLUS 1 clove garlic, minced – DIVIDED
1 can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes
3 ½ T. fresh parsley, minced
2 ¼ t. dried oregano
1 ¼ t. dried basil
1 whole bay leaf
1 ½ t. salt
1 # linguine
6 T. butter, melted
1 ½ t. lemon juice
12 sea scallops
12 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 filet firm fish (like salmon, grouper, etc.)
¼ C. Parmesan cheese, grated
To make marinara sauce, in a large sauce pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions. Cook, stirring often, until the onions start to become soft and translucent. (about 5 minutes) Add 2 cloves garlic and cook, stirring constantly for 2 more minutes. Add the tomatoes, parsley, oregano, basil, bay leaf and salt. Bring the sauce to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered for 30 minutes. Remove the bay leaf.
Cook the linguine until al dente (about 8-10 minutes). Drain well. Rinse and set aside.
Make the garlic-lemon butter by mixing together the butter, 1 clove garlic and lemon juice. Pour the butter mix into a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Be sure not to burn the garlic. When the butter starts sizzling, add the seafood. Cook, stirring constantly for about 5 minutes.
Remove seafood, along with 2-3 T. of the butter sauce and mix into marinara. Serve over linguine and sprinkle with cheese.
Serves 4