Happy Friday! I enjoy this weekly gathering to recount the good, the blessed, the positive parts of our week with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story. Please feel free to join in.
1. Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite holidays. We enjoy celebrating it as a family with heart-shaped treats on heart-shaped plates, cards expressing love and appreciation, food, conversation, and fun.
2. Cute, creative garlic bread made by Mittu:
3. Parchment paper. Growing up, the only parchment I knew anything about was used for calligraphy. I didn’t know anything about parchment paper for cooking. Even once I knew about it, I never used it because I didn’t know its advantages. I’ve only recently begun to use it frequently to help food not stick to pans and make cleanup easier. Wonderful stuff!
4. Conflict resolution and good customer service people. There was a mix-up on eBay with something my husband sold, and it was going to cost him a few hundred dollars. Multiple attempts to communicate failed to yield any results. Finally he got hold of a real person who listened, understood the issue, and was able to rectify it.
5. Everyday love. As much as I love Valentine’s Day in all its expressions, it wouldn’t mean as much if love weren’t shown in everyday ways. I’m thankful for family and friends who are thoughtful, helpful, prayerful, loving, and kind in everyday ways.
Stray Thoughts 
I’m thankful too for parchment paper!! I discovered the use of it several years ago when baking cookies…..and it’s also recyclable if it’s not too badly soiled with oils. I love using that and I also use the non stick foil that Reynolds brand sells.
YAY for Valentine’s day. Is fun to celebrate with those we hold dear to our hearts.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend Barbara!!
I discovered the joys of parchment paper late in life too. I use it all the time and wonder how I managed without it!
I’m glad that your eBay problem was fixed. It is maddening to get recordings that send you here and there and you never get to what you need. I miss not speaking to real people when there’s a problem. Real people are out there but it takes a while to get to them.
I love Mittu’s fancy garlic bread! Very creative.
You make Valentine’s Day look so festive. I know your family loves all that you do!
I’ve started using parchment paper more, too. Interesting stuff. 🙂 Have a blessed weekend!
Parchment paper is wonderful! I’ve used it for several years now.
I think I would really enjoy Valentine’s Day at your house:) And Mittu’s bread is just beautiful.
I’m a late convert to parchment paper, too. It sure makes life easier now.
Glad your husband got the ebay conflict resolved. Things like that are so frustrating.
Amen to your comments about parchment paper. It works great in baking, but I never used it at all until recently. Your Valentine’s day looks creative and delicious! So much fun! So glad you got the ebay problem solved. It’s always a relief to get something like that taken care of. I hope that you and your family have a very good weekend. See you again soon!
I think I’ve only ever used parchment with cookies. I need to try it with more things! A big YAY on the customer service win. I had one this week too, with Amazon, and it was SO frustrating and difficult to try to locate some way to talk with a live person. Mine is still in progress, so I’m glad to hear Jim’s was resolved well.
What a special week you have had. All of your Valentine treats look yummy! I enjoyed seeing Mittu’s creativity with the garlic bread. What a blessing that Jim was able to reach a person and get things straightened out with eBay.
Wow your Valentine’s treats look yummy and yes Yay for parchment paper. Glad the eBay issue got resolved. It’s so hard to get to speak to a real person in customer service departments these days! Enjoy your weekend.
Your treats look delicious! That is a beautiful pan of bread and I get it tasted really good too! Parchment paper is great for cookies. I plan on using it when I make meatloaf. Yes, love is year-round! Have a great weekend.
I agree with your #5– every day should be Valentine’s Day.
Oh my, Mittu’s bread looks amazing. What a brilliant idea. And I’m sure it tasted wonderful, too.
And, yes, The Professor, just fixed the internet an hour ago. Those magic hands…
Have a good week!
I’ve seen some very pretty focaccia bread made with a plant/flower design — Mittu’s (GF?) looks great. She’s got the skillz 🙂
Yes, agree with you. Parchment paper for baking is fantastic. So much easier to deal with (and versatile) than those silicon sheets like silpats.
Hurray for resolution on that transaction. Glad your husband was able to connect with someone who could help.