29th February, a Chance to redress the balance

Tomorrow is the 29th February.  look upon it as a prize, an extra day to do something special.
You all know the rhyme that goes like this:-
year.

30 days have bright September, April ,June and dull November
All the rest have 31 excepting February
Which has but 28 days clear
And 29 in each leap year.

The 29th February was introduced to balance the calendar.
At school we were told that women could ask men to marry them on that day. This seemed very exciting and we would discuss at length who we would ask to marry us given the chance. Most of us though prefer the man to do the asking.
Legend has it that St. Brigid of Kildare made a deal with St.Patrick. She thought it would be a good idea for women to be able to make marriage proposals every four years, to balance equality between men and women, like the date 29th February balances the calendar.

So here is a special wish for anyone who has a birthday tomorrow, or a wedding anniversary or any special event marked by 29th February.

February flowers have done a great job at cheering up the winter days

It's Only Love

The other day I read an article in a magazine that asked you to reflect on your top five values in life. I straight away asked my oh (recently picked this up, it stands for other half), without hesitation he replied, ' You only need one, it's love'.
Yes well, centuries of songs and poems and books have told us that, the Beatles summed it up for us 'All you need is love.'

Bertrand Russell describes love as a condition of absolute value as opposed to relative value. Love as a value is not only romantic love, it covers everything with everybody, from friends and family to complete strangers. It covers honesty, loyalty, fairness, justice, bravery, mercy.
It's love that keeps us together, from couples to families to society.
But where does it come from and what is it and how can people learn to love if they
don't?

It's love that makes someone give you an anti stress colouring book full of hearts

It's love that makes someone give you a heart to keep away the evil eye

It's love that makes a special cake for a special little girl

It's love that makes a rose bloom in winter

It's love that welcomes you to a friend's house

Finding the Way to a Vegetarian man's heart

Most of us while growing up probably heard the saying 'that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach'.  Preparing the first meal for a new man was always very special, and also a bit fraught with emotion. It is a sort of test, will he like my cooking? Will we like eating together? This may sound old-fashioned now in a world of celebrity master chefs and when so many men happily do the cooking.
Whenever we went out for Sunday lunch my mum and I would have the fish, my dad would have the steak. So for me men equalled meat eaters, so I would prepare steaks or casseroles or Boeuf Stroganoff or Boeuf Bourgignon to try and find my way to my man's heart.
Nowadays there are many macho men who are vegetarians, Here is my recipe which will appeal to meat eating and vegetarian men alike. There are mushrooms in it to give it a sort of meaty appeal. You can prepare most of it in advance so all you have to do is assemble the tart and put it in the oven, then relax and share a glass of wine while waiting for it to cook. Hope you like it and it finds its' way to your man's heart.

Leek and Mushroom Savoury tart

I baked pastry case
1 -2 leeks, washed thoroughly and sliced thinly
olive oil
butter
salt
500g mushrooms, washed and sliced
150g cheese, grated
2 eggs, beaten
300ml cream
pepper and salt to taste

Gently cook the chopped leeks in a small amount of butter and oil on a low heat until soft. Drain on kitchen paper and set aside.
Put the mushrooms in the same pan and cook gently for about 5 - 10 minutes and then drain on kitchen paper.
Beat together the eggs and cream then stir in the cheese season to taste.
Place the cooked leeks on the bottom of the cooked pastry case.
Scatter the mushrooms over the leeks and then pour the egg, cream and cheese mixture over the tart to cover.
Bake the tart in  the oven at 180  for about 25 - 30 minutes until golden and set.
Serve with a green salad.