Untamable Heart

Who can tame a woman's heart?

Not even she who owns it.

The Fates may see that love will be,

but nobody controls it.

Pegasus to Hercules,

her emotions to her heart,

will fly or walk where her heart please,

direction abstract art.

Heart memories are feelings,

not facts, or dates, or details.

Bad builds stiff, thick wall linings,

but with good her hope prevails.

Tucked away, held close inside,

a woman's heart is wild,

guarded, open, ardent, sure,

and still it does beguile.

by:  Paula D. Nevison

Chocolate Valentine's Cookies

These are the cookies I made on Valentine's Day while my husband worked his weekly 12 hour shift. I frosted them with store bought Hershey's Dark Chocolate frosting and used pink decorator icing to write on them. My teenage daughter was in an anti-valentine mood this year so I wrote some special for her, "Ugh, Never, Go Away, No, Get Real."

This is a Pioneer Woman recipe and can be found here.
I also made cupcakes from this my favorite chocolate cake recipe. I didn't frost them because this recipe is moist and yummy enough to eat without frosting. I didn't photograph them because they just look like chocolate cupcakes.

Today was the chocolate festival. I went with my daughter. We bought too much chocolate, but had fun.

 

The "White Trash" on the left (basically Puppy Chow renamed) was being sold by a black woman. My daughter was slightly insulted when she asked her if she would like to try some White Trash. It tasted good though, so we bought some. I think her favorite of what we bought is the green block of Key Lime fudge made by Bloomin' Lollipops. The most unusual thing we bought was the chocolate covered bacon made by Mrs. Wheat's Treats. I don't know how she managed to cook the bacon crisp without burning it. And somehow it stayed crisp even though it was covered in chocolate.

Let Them Eat Cake

Happy birthday to my daughter. Like Thanksgiving through the beginning of January was to Christmas cookies, today until St. Patrick's Day is to cake. Her birthday, Valentine's Day, Mardi Gras, my son's birthday, and my birthday all fall between those dates. Chocolate cake, brownies, Mardi Gras King Cake, chocolate chip cookie cake, Black Forrest Cake, and Green Velvet cupcakes. We will bake cake, many cakes, experimenting with new recipes. We will frost cake. We will decorate cake. We will eat cake. And then we will wonder why we never lost those last 10 pounds before spring break and swim suits.