In the spirit of the week, Happy Valentine’s Day! How do you tell someone you love them?

I’m not a huge fan of this holiday although you’d never know it by the amount of baking and candy coming in and out of here the past few days! My mother called it “a card store” holiday. She always said if you love someone, tell them or show them now, don’t wait for a card company to tell you to do it. Of course she was was right, and I’m glad she taught me that. The last words I said to her were I love you. I have held that that in my heart everyday for the past 21 years.

That’s the funny thing about love, you carry it with you even when the person lives far away, doesn’t call, forgets your birthday, or is no longer with us. So in light of this, how can you not be captivated by a holiday that is all about love? How do you tell them you love them?

If you have someone you are in love with, infatuated with, smitten with, enchanted by, fascinated by, or bewitched by, don’t wait until tomorrow to tell them. Do it now – never wait – pick up the phone and say I love you. My 10 year old niece Amanda knows this. On Monday she put a little bag of candy in her mother’s purse with a note on it. She does things like this all the time. When she comes here for a visit, she leaves little love notes and drawings on post-it notes all over my house which I find for weeks after – pure love. On Tuesday, I received a package in the mail from my niece Brette and her husband Adam. It was a box of ruggalach from a new place in NYC I wanted them to try. I had no idea I would be trying them too! I was so surprised. I’ll be writing more about this in an upcoming post. Last week I sent a cozy blanket to my sister-in-law Cathy, “just because” It’s something she did for me in the fall which I have been meaning to share with you  – see the photo below.

Most holidays I send baked goods to family as friends. Valentine’s Day, I send cookies to people that aren’t expecting them and it’s quite a surprise. I’ll usually pick someone I haven’t seen or spoken to in years. Tomorrow I’ll go into the post office and bring Janet a bag of cookies too. I’m always mailing out cookies and this year, I think I’ll bring some to her. So follow my lead. Bring someone candy on the 10th of February, call me and order a special box of goodies for your college student – for no reason, send someone flowers on March 14th, apologize to someone if you’ve upset them, write a love note just because, send someone a cozy blanket, leave chocolate kisses on a loved one’s pillow, bring a friend or co-worker a cup of coffee with a note on the cup, give beautiful strawberries without chocolate on them, write a poem – it doesn’t have to rhyme, send someone something in the mail by surprise, and most important… tell them you love them every single day – don’t wait until tomorrow!

On this day, Friday, February 13th (yikes! it’s Friday the 13th!) I am heading into my kitchen to get ready for the farmer’s market. Tomorrow, you can find me at 400 West Rich Street Farmer’s Market sharing the love with… Red velvet caramel popcorn, caramel apples all decked out for that special someone (could be yourself, in fact why not you?), valentine candy, and maybe even a special valentine granola mix! Time to get to work!

But before I go… Here is a challenge for you. How do YOU tell someone you love them? Share your answers with me and I’ll post them. Then, show me how much you love me, by sharing my website with a friend or family member. Ask them to subscribe to my blog and like me on Facebook. Happy Valentine’s day! Try it and see what happens, I might surprise you with a little love from Splash of Sherri’s… Kitchen!