Food is the heart of St. Valentine’s Day.
On a bitterly cold day this winter, the Rev. Stephen Adkison came home to find his daughter had cooked a giant pot of chili, along with cornbread, shredded cheese and Fritos. One look at the spread was enough.
“I love you!” he blurted, wrapping her in a hug. The pastor of the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church felt cared for. The chili was delicious, too.
For many people, that’s what Valentine’s Day really looks like — not roses or crowded restaurants, but food made with care.
The Hallmark holiday began as a feast day honoring a third-century martyr and only later became associated with courtly love.
But history was not on the minds of the limber participants in my regular Saturday morning exercise class when I asked them how they celebrate. They wanted to talk about how, and whether, to celebrate a day that can feel like a store-bought performance.
Connie Lustofin and her husband stopped celebrating Valentine’s Day after their first one, when he stood in line for an hour to pay $50 for a dozen roses they could not afford. She implored him not to do that again, and since then they have skipped the holiday.
For some couples, love looks like dinner. Barre instructor Suzette Smith and her husband, Steve, have a Valentine’s Day tradition of eating oysters and lobster followed by a “Chocolate Rose Cake.”
Rory Satran prefers to go out for a special meal — just not on Feb. 14. She hates the prix-fixe menus and the crowds, so she and her husband pick a night a week or so earlier for a nice dinner and order something special from the menu.
Love is Maria Serrano’s inspiration for everything she cooks at restaurant Maria’s Kitchen, symbolized by the photograph of a heart on what appears to be aluminum foil that hangs framed near the door to the kitchen.
Source: The Suffolk Times
