Ah February....Glimpses of spring, love and lots of chocolate!❤️

Ah, Thank goodness February has arrived and with it comes thoughts of springtime and warmer, longer days, and yes of course chocolates, preferably boxes of them!

February is also the month we celebrate our Valentine’s!

You may have guessed by now that I love the opportunity to research the history and facts surrounding all of these occasions that we celebrate and Valentines day is no different, so here we go!

❤️Valentine Trivia

We celebrate this day in honour of St. Valentine, he was a priest who served during the 3rd century in Rome. When Emporer Claudius II announced that single men made better soldiers than those with families and wives, and therefore outlawed marriage for young soldiers St. Valentine went against this and started performing secret marriages for young lovers.
Did you know that In Scotland, Valentine’s Day is celebrated with a popular party game? Men and women write their names on pieces of paper, fold them in half and then put them in a hat. One hat for the women and one hat for the men. A woman then draws a name from the men’s hat and that lucky fella is her Valentine for the rest of the evening! Easier than online dating no? I also read that the first young man or woman encountered on the street on Valentine’s Day morning will become his or hers Valentine and the day should be celebrated with them. Going out on the morning of the 14th is going to be so much fun!
Wearing your heart on your sleeve is more than just a phrase. In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names to see who their Valentine would be, and they would wear the name pinned to their sleeve for one week so that everyone would know their true feelings
Every year, thousands send letters to Verona in Italy addressed to “Juliet,”(as in Romeo and Juliet) The letters are then answered by a team of volunteers from the Juliet Club. Each year, on Valentine’s Day, the club awards the “Cara Giulietta” (“Dear Juliet”) prize to the author of the most touching love letter.
The Valentine’s Day tradition of giving a box of candy was started in the 19th century by Richard Cadbury! Yes, the very same Cadbury we know and VERY much love today!
History’s first valentine was written in maybe one of the most unromantic place, a prison! Charles, Duke of Orleans wrote the love letter to his second wife at the age of 21 while captured at the Battle of Agincourt

❤️Ideas for how to spend this Valentines day!

Breakfast in bed, how about a fry up or some toasted crumpets with jam and a good cuppa tea! (We have all of these here😍)
Take a nice hike…weather permitting of course, but sure even it its cold you can snuggle up with a delicious hot chocolate afterwards! (oooh we have lovely hot chocolate here at the shop too!😍)
Go for a drive, explore and find somewhere new together, why not pop into the shop and pick up some treats together😍
Watch a romantic movie
Cook a nice dinner together.
All of the above! Sounds like a perfect day…

❤️Valentines Dessert Recipe Idea!

Here is a lovely recipe to try for your valentine from https://www.janespatisserie.com/2020/08/01/jammie-dodger-cheesecake/

We have everything you need in store to make this lovely dessert, don’t forget if you can’t make it into the store you can buy everything you need online!

ps. We know the cheesecake mix is a little cheat, but hey whatever makes life easy and Valentines is on a Monday this year, so we need all the help we can get, am I right?