HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1993-02-10, Page 8Page 8
Times -Advocate, February 10, 1993
From our
kitchen to yours
By T.A. ghost writer Heavenly Devine
The cynic always comes
out of me at this time of
year when I look around
and see the proportions to
which a relatively simple
saint's day have been
blown.
There are so many cus-
toms associated with Val-
entine's Day that no one
really knows where or when the customs started. In his play,
Hamlet, William Shakespeare has Ophelia say,
"Good morrow! 'Tis St. Valentine's Day
All in the morning betime.
And I a maid at your window.
To be your valentine."
It was.a custom at that time for a young woman to get out of
bed early do February 14, watch out the window, and the first
man to pass by, or someone who looked like him, would marry
her within the year. -
It seems that most customs have to do with finding a hus-
band! One involved writing the names of several men on piec-
es of paper, throwing them into a bucket or water and the
paper which rose to the surface first was supposed to carry the
name of the true love. Another custom had girls pinning five
bay leaves to their pillows and dreaming about their nue love.
(The scent would have been nice, but how depressing if you
couldn't remember your dream!) How would you like to have
been seen dancing in a circle around a churchyard, sometime
after midnight, with a group of other young women singing,
"I sow hempseed.
Hempseed I sow.
He that loves me best
Come after me now."
I would surely hate to be there if my true love didn't appear!
The saying "wearing his heart on his sleeve" may have come
from the practice of boys drawing a girls name from a jar and
wearing the paper pinned to his sleeve for several days. Often
the customs of the day required that young men give gifts to
their valentines, and wealthy men often hosted balls in honour
of their valentines, but, I have to say I would rather host a ball
than dance around a churchyard at midnight!
Just as there are so many customs associated with Valen-
tine's Day, so there are many thoughts as to its origins. Febru-
ary 14 is the name day of at least two St. Valentines, it may
have been the date used by the Romans to celebrate a festival
called "Lupercalia", or it may be linked to an old English be-
lief that birds chose their mates on that date.
One St. Valentine is credited with marrying young men and
women secretly when it had been forbidden by the Emperor
Claudius, who thought that unmarried young men made better
soldiers.
Another St. Valentine was thought to have been popular with
children, and when he was imprisoned they wrote him notes
and tossed them into the prison for him.
Whatever his deeds. it is said that Valentine was executed
February 14, 269, and made a saint about 200 years later.
Gift giving on Valentine's day gradually changed to romantic
messages, so that by the 1700-1800's, decorated cards, which
were blank inside for the sender to write his/her own message,
were being circulated. Most were hand painted works of art, or '
decorated with lace, dried flowers and feathers.
Some funny messages went into valer>itines as well, and these -
were usually called "penny dreadfuls", because they sold for a
penny and contained such verses as this one that I found in the
World Book Encyclopedia,
"Tis all in vain your simpering looks,
Yammer can incline,
With AU. your bustles, stays and curls,
To find a valentine."
This year instead of chocolate or roses, why not give your
valentine a tomato! The French believed for over 400 years
that the tomato was a powerful aphrodisiac, and even today
this fruit is called a love apple!
Here is a recipe which can be used now if you find some
good hot house tomatoes or saved and enjoyed next summer
when the fresh field tomatoes are available.
Stuffed Tomatoes
For four medium size tomatoes you will need about :
2 cups chopped ham
1/2 cup chopped cucumber
1 cup chopped celery
2 chopped green onions
1/4 cup mayonnaise
Wash the tomatoes, tum them stem side down and take a
slice off the bottom. Scoop out the seeds. Cut vertical slices,
not to the bottom so that the tomato partially opens into an
eight sided star burst. Put on a plate on a bed of lettuce and
spoon the ham salad onto it. Chill. Serve sprinkled with toast -1
cd slivered almonds.
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Granton
by Muriel Lewis
GRANTON - Pat Cornish hosted
the Anglican Parish Bible study on
February 4. The study theme was
the Purpose and Power of Prayer.
The St. Thomas' A.C.W. met at
noon on Friday for a pot -luck
lunch at the home of Cathie West -
man.
At the St. Thomas' Anglican
Church on February 7, Rev. Ste-
phen Emery celebrated the Holy
Eucharist. The theme of his mes-
sage was 'Anyone in Christ is a
new Creation'. Rev. Emery con-
cluded with some thought-
provoking questions such as; What
is God doing for you? What would
you like Him to do? Is there peace,
joy, love and repentance in your
life?
A time of fellowship followed
the service.
At the Granton United Church
on Sunday, Pastor Normalie
Voakes entitled her sermon "Half
Salt and Dimmer Switches' based
on the lessons from Isaiah 58, 1st
Corinthians 2 and Matthew 5.
The choir sang the anthem, "God
is Nigh". Pastor Voakes conducted
the Dedication and Installation of
Elders and Officers and also led
the Communion service.
U.C.W.
Unit one met in the common
room at the Parkview Place Apart-
ments in Lucan on the afternoon of
February 4 with Chris Hall as host-
ess.
"God so loved the world" was
sung and Diane Blake chaired the
meeting and led the devotional,
reading 1st John 4. The meditation
theme was "My red letter day". Au-
drey Westman continued the pro-
gram reading a love story about the
origin of the prayer Footprints. In
contrast, Audrey also had a humor-
ous reading entitled "Pressure
Cookers".
Audrey Harloff and the hostess
served lunch in a Valentine seeing,
after which the group enjoyed a
hymn sing.
Unit two met at Diane Dietrich's
home on Thursday evening. Diane
presided and opened the meeting
with tht. reading, "Are you too
busy"?
Exercise classes are in the plan-
ning for mid-April for six weeks.
"Fun day" was discussed as well as
other fundraising ideas. Pam Hayes
and the hostess served lunch.
Unit three members, husbands
and friends enjoyed a social time at
the United Church last Tuesday
evening playing euchre. After a
short business session, lunch was
served by April and Margaret
Bryan.
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