Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!  Even if you, like me, are sweetheart-less this year, I hope that you find a way to share the day with the folks whom you love and care about and who love and care about you (or at least reach out to them on Facebook).

These gorgeous treats are a present that I'm bringing to a friend I'll see next weekend.  They are from Sweet Loren's, who won the Next BIG Small Brand competition.  Not only do they look good, but I can also personally attest as to how delicious they are.  Loren and her wares were at the Brooklyn Winery yesterday, so this was another great excuse to grab some last-minute holiday gifts (the other is that the New Amsterdam Market is still open for today).

Today is going to be my last real-time post for another couple of weeks.  For better or worse, I have given the keys to the blog to some of my nearest and dearest while I am out of town having some adventures and exploring some great new food things to share with everyone when I return.  My siblings (and in-laws) have very kindly offered to post some of their food-related stories.

This idea sort of came from one of my sisters (the one in this post).  She said isn't it interesting how a group of us all raised in the same household, with more or less the same cultural and culinary influences (our parents) each have a different relationship and love of food.  Some of use really like to eat and cook and try new things, some of us are o.k. with that but not adventurous, and some are really meh about food in general.

We also all now live in different parts of the country and around the world so that adds to the variety of the experiences we brought with us when we relocated our lives and have collected based upon where we live right now.  For those who are married and have children, those experiences have changed even more.  I hope that you enjoy reading these stories.  Aside from cooking and eating, as those who know us personally can tell you, the other thing we all love to do the most when we get together as a family is to tell stories.

Buon appetito!