Happy Anti-Valentines Day
Gosh, that sounds like the start of the most boring newsletter doesn’t it?
We’re nudging closer to the V-Day and I have zero Valentine content on the website. Sure, I have pink-coloured recipes but the 14th February has never really been on my radar.
In a relationship or single, that day has never held much allure for me, and certainly not as a food blogger.
I wrote this about Valentine’s Day wayyyy back in 2007 and I’ve probably repurposed it elsewhere on my blog, but I share it here anyway:
Valentines Day. The second most money spinning ‘special day’ of the year, swiftly following Christmas. No sooner are the red and green decorations that signal Christmas taken down, than the red ones are hawked back out again, cut into heart shapes and displayed gaudily in shop windows. I think that my own animosity towards Valentines Day stems from the fact that I have never received a Valentines card or gift in all my life (and I’m not counting the pity gifts from my mum) and obviously, as a moody teenager, all you want is some pink and red (and perhaps glittery) card from an anonymous beau. Flowers better still and chocolates best of all, particularly if heart shaped and caramel stuffed. But no. No anonymous gifts were ever forthcoming. So, to spite the fat, pink symbol of Valentines Day, Cupid, I walk past his tokens of love and spend the money on food or cookbooks instead of overpriced teddy bears clutching pink hearts to their chests.
Goodness, I was quite ornery about it, wasn’t I, but even today seeing all those pink and red hearts in the store leaves me a little cold. It all smacks of commercialism, cynicism and frankly, it’s all just too gaudy for me.
That said, I once made this delightful little savoury tart, and in a moment of crazed madness, I put them in heart shaped tins! My bloggers brain screaming to me, think of the Valentine recipe searches on Google!
Ha, so my own concession to Valentine’s Day, no less cynical than the supermarket swathes of red and pink, simply to garner myself some blog hits. But isn’t that, then, a Valentine’s card to my blog? Fellow bloggers, you’ll know that the constant seasonal content struggle never ends.
My worst valentine’s gift was from an ex who gave me a box of milk tray chocolates and a bottle of Echo Falls Strawberry and Lime wine. And gifted it to me in a bag I’d given him a gift in! This sounds ungrateful but he knew that I couldn’t eat Milk Tray because, hello, plant-based, and that I didn’t drink wine. Oh and and surely if I did, I was worth more than a £4 bottle on sale in Tesco. Did I also mention that as he gifted this to me, he remarked that he was going home to play with his “gift to himself” which was an £800 iPad Pro. I am not bitter. But this kind of experience is perfect anecdote fodder.
What was your best or worst Valentine’s experience? Leave a comment and let me know!
Bad memories aside, my ultimate valentine’s day would probably be one spent with the person I love, with no expectations, just a nice meal, great conversation and a corny horror film. Because, after all, gifts do not reflect the sum quantity of our love for one another (although, please leave the Echo Falls on the supermarket shelf).
And whether or not you’re celebrating the big-V day, you will not want to miss my delicious vegan tomato, cream cheese and red onion tart. Sounds fancy, but is so simple and quick to make!