Happy Valentines’ Day folks. You guys should know by now that I love my holiday ‘fun facts’, so I thought I’d share a few of them with you all today too.

1. 73 percent of people who buy flowers for Valentine’s Day are men, while only 27 percent are women. You know, this may sound crazy and very ‘un-feminine’ (whatever that’s supposed to mean), but flowers and jewelry don’t move me. I can really take or leave them. Especially flowers. It’s like “Oh wow, how pretty!” for the first five minutes, then I’m thinking “….Ok, now what am I supposed to do with these?”
2. Teachers will receive the most Valentine’s Day cards, followed by children, mothers, wives, sweethearts and pets. I remember V-Day as being a very big deal in elementary school when I was growing up. Me and my sisters all got to go to the store and pick out our own set of Cartoon valentines to exchange with our classmates. I usually tried to get some kind of Disney-themed set. My mom also baked all kinds of baked goods to share too- cupcakes, cookies, ice cream cone cakes, sandwich cookies- she made us very popular with the other kids in that respect.

3. More than 35 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate will be sold for Valentine’s Day. Unless it comes from Godiva, I don’t know why anyone would want to eat boxed chocolate. It’s been forever since I’ve had any, but from what I can remember, it tastes old, stale and plastic.

4. The most fantastic gift of love is the Taj Mahal in India. It was built by Mughal Emperor Shahjahan as a memorial to his wife. Now THAT is a gift that would move me. Don’t bother with flowers. I don’t need jewelry. Just build me an iconic palace. Then you’ll have my attention.

5. Every Valentine’s Day, the Italian city of Verona, where Shakespeare’s lovers Romeo and Juliet lived, receives about 1,000 letters addressed to Juliet. Okay, but…to what address? Where EXACTLY do these people think Juliet lives in Verona? I just, I don’t get it.

Source

I knew I wanted  to make something for Valentines’ Day for the blog. For some reason Maraschino cherries kept coming up in my mind over and over again. Baked goods are the only way I like to eat them, so I knew I had to use them to bake something. For a while I thought it would be in some kind of cookies, but I changed my mind at the very last minute and wanted something else.  I’m really happy that I did, because  I love how this recipe turned out. It reminds me of something you’d eat at a fancy English tea party, which is why I decided to ahead and call it a Tea Loaf instead of just a regular bread. It practically begs for a nice cup of tea or cocoa to drink on the side. Plus, it’s just so cute and dainty and…pink.

For all of you that will be celebrating this holiday with a special someone, congratulations. That’s really wonderful. I’m happy for you. Here’s to hoping that you go to super swanky restaurants, entertaining movies, and get and receive wonderful gifts.

As for me, well….I won’t be taking part in any of those things. Yours truly is a solo act. So celebrating Valentine’s Day is out. Unless of course, I choose to treat myself to all of the above things. Which wouldn’t be too shabby of an idea to be honest.

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Maraschino Cherry Tea Loaf

Recipe Courtesy of Food.com

CLICK HERE FOR PRINTABLE VERSION

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 tablespoons maraschino cherries, chopped, juice reserved
• 2 tablespoons cherry juice (maraschino juice)
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a bowl, beat butter and sugar until creamy.
2. Add the egg, almond extract and vanilla while beating. Add cherries and the juices. Beat to combine everything.
3. Put flour in a small bowl. Add baking powder and salt. Add to the mixture of cherries.Stir just enough to wet the dry ingredients.
4. Pour the dough in a greased loaf pan. Cook in the oven at 350 F for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in it comes out dry. Cut in 8 slices.

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