V-Day

We were able to use the Valentine's Day banner I made last year.  A week after Valentine's and it is still hanging, our Valentines are hanging as well, and I am still feeling warm and fuzzy about the holiday. It has become a big celebration for our small family. August and I made Valentine cards the night before to give away to friends and family.

On Valentine's Day, August dressed in the pieces of clothing she loves and passed out Valentine's.  We then gathered for our sweet. I made us a heart shaped cocoa Pavlova with a generous amount of vanilla whipped cream and  topped it with raspberries. We devoured the entire thing at our little party because you can't store a Pavlova, it must be savored at the moment.

We opened the Valentines we made for each other and it was at that moment I felt all was so dreamy. Valentine's Day has definitely become a celebration of love, day of the heart, family. When August opened our card, she became excited. She loved the felt heart and just seemed to treasure it, pointing out the colors and holding it close after Jacob and I read what we wrote her.

Later, Jacob went to work on dinner for us, a mole from scratch. Creating a mole is difficult and first timers usually have to try and try again. The mole needs to be cohesive and flavorful without being overpowering, it cannot have a watery consistency, it needs to coat the chicken without being too thick.  Jacob used several types of chiles, almonds, pumpkin seeds, raisins, cinnamon and Mexican chocolate in his Valentine's Day mole. The result was truly Divine and thoughts of it still makes my mouth water. The whole house smelled festive, the unmistakeable and complex aroma of mole. It was a gastronomic success, no culinary miracle either, Jacob is talented and rarely errs in the kitchen. August and I loved our late dinner. 

Before Jacob and I were finished eating, August had already put her skirt back on, this time inside out so the shiny satin part showed, put her shirt back on and put on her black patent leather shoes. I told Jacob that dancing usually follows mole and maybe she knows that and wants to dance.  We followed August into the living room where we ended the evening with a dance party.