The Love Affair I Just Can’t Quit

Each year, nearly one billion Valentine’s cards, including the homemade variety, are given across America.  And while some people dislike its commercialization, I enjoy Valentine’s Day for its simplicity. The very thought of February 14^th transports me back to elementary school days, carefully cutting out half of a heart along a folded piece of construction paper, and trading chalky multicolored candies with little inscribed messages.

As an adult, I continue to appreciate the holiday because it offers me a chance to creatively celebrate love with my family, but I must admit that I mostly enjoy it because I get to cozy up to one of the its most famous celebrities -  chocolate.

Chocolate doesn’t last long in my presence, but it goes a long way to making me feel insanely happy. I’ll even admit that my love affair has at times verged on extreme. I have attended the famous International Chocolate Festival, and eaten at chocolate restaurants. I have tried lavender chocolate, spicy chocolate and visited chocolate boutiques in Atlanta, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.

 

 I always joke that since it comes from a plant, it should be considered a vegetable, and indeed the dark variety does have healthful properties. But from whence did this wondrous substance originate?

My brother visited Ecuador and prepared chocolate from cacao beans. I'm so jealous...

Historically, the Aztecs were one of the first groups of people to appreciate chocolate. And their admiration was also extreme. They used its raw ingredient, cacao beans, not only in a frothy beverage served daily to the king in golden goblets, but also as currency. (These people had it right!) Upon his arrival, Spanish conquistador Cortez was so impressed with the stuff that he brought the beans back to Spain, where sugar and spices were added. Spain kept chocolate a secret, and it was enjoyed exclusively by Spanish nobility for nearly a century before spreading throughout Europe and eventually to America. Yes, my favorite of all confections thankfully lasted the test of time and lived up to its original Greek name which is translated to mean “food of the gods.”

Chocolate pizza at NY's Max Brenner's is an all-time fave.

Store shelves stocked with heart-shaped boxes bring a smile to my face every February. I always know that when Valentine’s Day rolls around, I will at least receive one or two gifts of chocolate from my family, and another three of four from myself, leaving me perfectly happy. Last year my husband even splurged and took me to a chocolate fondue restaurant. In honor of that amazing memory, I developed an affordable confection that is easy and fun to make, and beyond delicious to eat. I hope the following recipe inspires you to enjoy the simple pleasures of chocolate with your family this month. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Becca’s Chocolate Covered Crispy Rice Heart Pops

1 bag of marshmallows
8 ½ cups of crispy rice cereal
¼ cup of butter
1 bag of Ghirardelli chocolate chips
Sprinkles or other candy to decorate
Cake pop sticks

Melt the butter in a large pot, add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Add crispy rice cereal and mix well. Spread mixture firmly and evenly on wax paper using the back of a greased spoon and allow to cool. Cut out hearts using a heart-shaped cookie cutter and insert cake pop sticks. Place in freezer for 30 minutes.

Over a double boiler, stir chocolate pieces constantly until completely melted. Remove hearts from freezer, quickly dip into chocolate and place on wax paper. Freeze for an additional 30 minutes to cool if you can handle waiting. Enjoy!

I always seem to bump into chocolate, even on the streets of NY!

Turning Over a New Page

Last Christmas I spent a surprising amount of time and energy shopping for the perfect art journal to give my seven-year-old daughter, Madelyn. The girl has a natural talent for drawing. After finding just the right book, I brought it home and wrapped it excitedly. What a joyful moment it was to watch her rip away its wrapping paper on Christmas morning with a beaming snaggletoothed smile.

“Oh mom, I love it!” she exclaimed, carefully looking it over and flipping through its blank pages.

She ran her hand over the journal’s sparkly black cover, studying the embossed image of the Eiffel Tower. She sat down to draw in it right away, grabbing up a handful of carefully selected colored pencils. 

Only half an hour later, she brought it to me crying.

“What’s the matter?” I asked in shock.

With tears flowing, she handed me the book and whimpered, “I don’t like my picture, and I can’t tear it out."

Curious, I looked down and discovered that she had started drawing not on the book's first loose page, but rather the inside of the front cover. Seeing the predicament, I argued that the picture was quite good to be sure. I further explained that the point of an art journal was to show how you progress over time while experimenting with techniques and mediums. She wasn’t having it. Her crocodile tears became a heartfelt gushing fountain.

Finally, I gave in to my little lady in distress, cut out a piece of blank paper, and glued it over the adorable picture she disapproved of. Problem solved.

Or so I thought. The next day, I entered the kitchen to find a pile of torn out art rejects littering the area around Madelyn’s chair. And there she was, once again, sobbing over her journal. 

Madelyn's art rejects did not make the cut.

 

At that moment, her frustration resonated with me, and as I looked into her big hazel eyes, I understood where she was coming from. She only wanted to keep the best of the best.  By tearing out the pictures that she felt didn’t accurately reflect her finest work, she always had a clean canvas on which to start over. Recognizing her fear of displaying something less than perfect for others to see, my heart longed to impart to her the knowledge that all of her sincere efforts were valuable as guide-stones, and by no means were they cause for shame.

“I want to show you something,” I said gently, as I grabbed her hand and led her over to the bookshelf. I reached up high and pulled down an old journal covered in black velvet.

“This used to be mine,” I said, "and as you can see, I liked to draw and write in it, too. Some of my work looks silly now, but I like keeping it, so I can see how much I have changed over the years.”

Madelyn began intently analyzing the contents of my journal, and her tears faded away into distant memory. After inspecting, admiring, questioning and giggling at my handiwork, she agreed that she would try to keep the remaining pages of her own art journal intact. She was wise enough to even do a trial run of her next drawing on a piece of printer paper. It was a picture of the Eiffel Tower with colorful dragonflies buzzing all around. “I think this one should be the first picture in the journal,” she decided. So we cut it out and pasted it in.

               

Later that evening, as I was telling the kids about the impending New Year and putting up the new calendar with all of its pristine pages, Madelyn’s journal once again crossed my mind. There really is something exciting about a new year full of unspoiled opportunities, like an art book full of unblemished pages. But I had to remind myself to carry forward all that I had learned from past failures, so that the year at hand wasn’t spent repeating them.

As your turn through the chapters of your story this year, I pray you enjoy the blank slate each new day offers, build on the lessons learned from your journey thus far, and write yourself an ever-more brilliant future.

Here's to creating a masterpiece. Happy 2013!

Another keeper! Art by Madelyn Conn.

Happy New Year!

Beauty surrounds us at all times, sometimes you just have to hunt it down.

Happy hunting, and Happy New Year!

Twas the Day after Christmas

Twas the Day after Christmas

Twas the Day after Christmas and all through the house

Lay tatters of paper and crumbs for the mouse

The stockings were strewn on the table with glee

The kitchen in shambles, seemed hopeless to me

But out from a bedroom came giggles and chatter

That brought back to mind it was well worth the matter

For Christmas had come and its joy was still ringing

In laughter and wonder and children still singing

So I settled myself on the couch and admired

All the wonderful blessings that somehow transpired

And all of these good things were gifts unto us

From Him who came lowly without any fuss

The greatest of blessings from whom blessings flow

Left heaven above and was born here below

The greatest of gifts and the greatest of friends

Keeps Christmas joy flowing even after it ends

So today, the day after, I’ll rest and enjoy

The peace of Lord Jesus, who came as a boy.

A Christmas to Remember

It was a cold and cloudy December night four years ago. Only two more days remained until Christmas, and I had run out of supplies to wrap a few last gifts. I hurried into the dollar store, taking my umbrella along since it seemed the sky would start dumping freezing rain at any moment. While browsing amongst the remaining selection of gift wrap and bows, I noticed a mother with her two children- a boy who looked to be around eight years old, and a girl who seemed to be about ten. As the young girl picked up a little snowman, I overheard her commenting to her brother, “This will be the perfect gift for Becky- she will love it! I only have five more people on my list now!”  

 After wandering around the store for half an hour, I finally decided on my own purchases and headed toward the register. As it happened, I was in line behind the girl and her family. While the cashier was ringing up the mother's items, she asked him if the store had any job openings. Her young son immediately piped up in protest. “Mom, you already have a job!” he said. “I know,” the mom responded, “but we could really use some extra money right now.” The cashier handed her an application, but told her there were no positions available at the moment. After her transaction, she took her son towards the front door where they stood and looked out the window at the rain that had just begun to fall.

Her daughter was still in line in front of me. She smiled brilliantly as the cashier rang up each item she had so carefully chosen. She had her allowance in hand to pay for them, and she was overflowing with excitement. Finally the cashier said, “That will be eleven dollars and seventy-seven cents.” The young girl’s face melted into disbelief. She was more than a dollar short, and she had been so careful to pick just the right presents for everyone. Whose present would she put back? Her disappointment was terribly sad to see, and that’s when I knew I had to take action.

The mother never noticed the girl’s dilemma as she and her son waited at the front door looking out the window. I quickly told the cashier I wanted to take care of the girl’s purchase, and asked her to add an umbrella to the tab. The little girl simply stared at me in disbelief. Not wanting her to feel uncomfortable, I said, “Hey, Christmas is all about giving. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas, and I am sure everyone will love the gifts you picked for them.”
 

As I finished paying for her things and my wrapping paper, the girl ran and gave her mother the umbrella at the front door. The mom had tears in her eyes as her daughter told her what had just transpired. She mouthed a silent “thank you” as she and her kids huddled under the umbrella and turned to walk out into the parking lot. As they were departing, the little girl turned around and said with conviction, “I wish I knew someone like you!” She waved goodbye and the family exited into the cold and rainy darkness.

I do not tell this story to highlight a good deed. I tell this story because it has made an incredible impact on my life, and not a Christmas goes by that I don’t think about it and feel like I was the fortunate one to be in line behind that sweet child.
 

Even though I didn’t have a lot of money to spare, what a difference eleven dollars and seventy-seven cents made to one struggling family that night. I believe one day that little girl will grow up and do the same for another person in need. Christmas truly is all about giving, and I can say that I’ve never felt more blessed than in that moment. I hope this story inspires you to do what you can to help someone else this season. Happy giving!

Originally published in my column, "The Upside," in the Ellijay Times-Courier.