Professor Butter Beard and Valentine’s Day
“here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows higher than the soul can hope of mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart
I carry your heart (I carry it in my heart)” – E.E. Cummings
The night before Valentine’s Day, 1970. Earlier that day, in 4th grade art class, I had finished my shoebox Valentine’s mailbox decorated with Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus and Snoopy stickers. I placed it alongside the other twenty-five mailboxes on the windowsill of our elementary school homeroom feeling very proud of my creation. Now, at home after dinner, I fanned out the plethora of Valentine cards ready to be signed and “addressed” to each classmate. I carefully and quietly chose one from the lovey-dovey lions, tigers and bears and wrote my best friend’s name in red marker and taking a deep breath, drew a bright red heart by his name.
I made it to school the next morning without fainting and took my turn “mailing” each card to into its waiting mailbox. I sailed through morning math and social studies, gulped down my packed lunch and re-entered the classroom with a slight swagger. We all grabbed our mailboxes and my heart began to audibly thump. I shuffled through my own mail keeping one eye steady on the desk beside me. I watched him sweep through his treasure trove and gulped as he focused onto my offering. And then it was swept aside as he picked up and held close the card sent to him by the girl with the long dark silky hair and rather annoying tendency to giggle. I took a deep breath, smiled internally and chomped into the heart-shaped chocolate lollipop our teacher had placed in each of our mailboxes. I knew his birthday was only a week away and I already had another plan in mind.
But what exactly is the historical inspiration for this “Hallmark Holiday?”
According to Christian historians, in the third century CE, the Roman Empire was ruled by Emperor Claudius II, or Claudius Gothicus. Claudius was generally tolerant of most religious policies, but persecuted the Catholic Church. He passed an edict forbidding the young to marry, based on his belief that unmarried soldiers fought better than married soldiers, who were constantly worried for the health and well-being of their family in the soldier’s absence, or what would happen to the family in the event of the soldier’s death.
Despite the restricting edict, marriage became a special mission of rather radical bold clergyman. The priest, Father Valentine, secretly married young lovers in the Catholic Church, going against Roman law to secure the bonds of love between young couples. However, the Roman authorities eventually captured and imprisoned him. After questioning and grueling torture, the priest was put before the Roman law for his acts of sealing love in the Catholic Church against the laws of the Emperor. He was martyred and his body was buried at a Christian cemetery on the Via Flaminia on February 14th, which has been observed as the Feast of Saint Valentine since at least the eighth century.
The feast day became associated with romantic love in the 14th and 15th centuries when notions of courtly love flourished, apparently by association with the "lovebirds" of early spring. In 18th-century England, it grew into an occasion in which couples expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards, known as “valentines.”
In 1797, a British publisher issued “The Young Man's Valentine Writer,” which contained scores of suggested sentimental verses for the young lover unable to compose his own. Printers had already begun producing a limited number of cards with verses and sketches, named “mechanical valentines.” But it was 19th century Victorians who took it all to the next level. Cards were lovingly printed with images of plump cupids, arrows at the ready, floating between real lace and ribbons and containing sonnets by Shakespeare, poems by John Donne and verses by Edmund Spencer:
“She bath'd with roses red, and violets blew,
And all the sweetest flowres, that in the forrest grew.”
The United States Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately 190 million valentines are sent each year in the US alone. I am still a true believer in the joy and beauty of sharing Valentine wishes. Mine now come in a more edible form like these Hazelnut, Dark Chocolate and Clementine Shortbreads. Just like Vianne Rocher in “Chocolat,” I believe that I may “know your favorite.” Go ahead and share some Valentine’s Day lovin’ from the oven. And remember to keep a few for yourself – you deserve an edible hug too.
This blog entry, along with all the others, is dedicated to Zelma Valentine Campbell McClellan, my Grandma Mac, who was born on February 14th, 1907.
Professor Butter Beard’s Valentine Shortbreads
8-10 dozen cookies – depending on your chosen cutter
4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp fine sea salt
18 ounces (4 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar (plus ¼ cup more to top the cookies before baking)
1 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar
Zest of one orange or two clementines
2 tsp vanilla paste
1 Tbsp hazelnut extract
1 ½ cups toasted and finely chopped hazelnuts
11 ounces mini dark chocolate chips (one full bag)
1) Place the granulated sugar, the confectioner’s sugar, orange zest and the butter in the bowl of a standing mixer and cream together on low for 5-8 minutes.
2) Whisk together the flour and the salt.
3) Add the vanilla paste and hazelnut extract to the creamed mixture and mix for 30 seconds to fully incorporate. Slowly add the flour on low speed until fully incorporated – do not overmix.
4) Add in the mini chocolate chips and one cup of the chopped hazelnuts and mix briefly on low until evenly incorporated.
5) If you have time, divide the dough into two pieces, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for one hour. You can go ahead with the recipe if you are in a hurry.
6) Stir the remaining ½ cup of nuts together with ¼ cup granulated sugar. Set aside.
7) Preheat your oven to 325 degrees and line your sheet pans with parchment paper.
8) Roll ½ the dough on a lightly floured surface to ¼” thick. Cut into 1 ½” hearts and place them on the baking sheets about 1” apart. Gather the scraps and roll again and cut into the circles. Then do the same with the second half of the dough.
9) Before baking, sprinkle the tops with the hazelnut/sugar mix and lightly press in with your fingers.
10) Bake the cookies for 12-13 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through, until the edges are just beginning to brown. Remove them from the oven, let them cool 5 minutes on the pans and then move them to a wire rack to cool completely.
(Note – this dough freezes very well. Go ahead and make the full recipe and have some dough ready for future cravings.)
