He got me tulips because they’re my favorite flower.

He got me French red wine because I love French red wine.

He made a delicious meal of rice, chicken and green beans (that he served on our wedding china).

He brewed yummy coffee for the end of the meal and served it in our new teacups.

He gave me the cutest earrings.

He also gave me a box of chocolates and a sweet card, put on my favorite Bon Iver CD and lit the apartment with beautiful candles. I am the luckiest.

They used to keep me company in my car, their cute heads bobbing up and down. Now I have no idea where they are:-(.

Hmm, 66% less fat than beef, 50% less fat than chicken and less cholesterol than beef, chicken or pork? Sign me up! Where can I get this succulent, healthy meat? Based on the back side of this pamphlet, it shouldn’t be too hard to find…

I just did a little Google search and it appears that a meat market near me (in Malden) sells ostrich meat as well an many other type of “exotic” meat (including rattlesnake, kangaroo, antelope, wild boar and caribou). Maybe I will venture over there one of these days for a little adventure…

Chocolate-covered football strawberries

Football pizza

]]> http://christinedunne.wordpress.com/2012/02/12/cute-food/feed/ 1 christinelaubenstein Football strawberries 100_4192 http://christinedunne.wordpress.com/2012/02/12/valentines-day-article-i-wrote-five-years-ago/ http://christinedunne.wordpress.com/2012/02/12/valentines-day-article-i-wrote-five-years-ago/#comments Sun, 12 Feb 2012 15:55:06 +0000 Christine Dunne http://christinedunne.wordpress.com/?p=6680 ]]>
The article isn’t online, and I don’t have a scanner to upload the paper version onto my computer. So I will type out the article. It’s about a couple who had been married 74 years.

Jeanette and Louis Steve of Groton mark 74th Valentine’s Day as wife and husband

When Louis Steve’s Alzheimer’s disease took a turn for the worse a couple of years ago and he had to go to a nursing home, Jeanette Steve knew right away she’d be moving with him.

Her 90-year-old body and mind were healthy, but she couldn’t bear the thought of being away from the man she had loved deeply for more than 70 years.

“That’s the most important thing – being together,” Jeanette, 92, said Monday, massaging her 96-year-old husband’s hand as he slept in his rocking chair beside hers.

That thought has guided the couple’s love since they first started dating 75 years ago, and reinforces itself today, on Valentine’s Day.

While many couples grow apart over the years, or break up after a setback, the Steves’ is a story of continuous faith, love and patience, even during the toughest of times.

The couple, who just celebrated their 74th anniversary on Groundhog Day, first met at a dance in Ithaca 75 years ago. Jeanette was just 16, but she told her 20-year-old admirer she was 17, just to ensure he’d still want to date her.

“I didn’t want him to think I was too young,” she said.

They immediately hit it off and started dating. Jeanette still remembers the lengths to which Louis would go to see her, walking two or three miles from his home on the north side of Ithaca to her home on the west side.

“The first night he had to walk up the middle of the road because it was so snowy,” she remembered.

The couple built a life together, raising a son and daughter.

They moved around to different locations in the region, including Cayuga Lake, Trumansburg and Watkins Glen, and Louis held a variety of jobs during the course of his life, ranging from a toolmaker to a motel owner to a saddle shop owner.

Her husband never stopped learning, Jeanette said, and that made such experiences as vacations fun. They would always investigate new things together, whether it was the opera house in Nashville or roadside restaurants during drives to California to visit their son.

“It was a challenge every time you started something different,” Jeanette said. “You never knew what was going to happen.”

She said other happy memories included sitting around a fire with friends by their trailer on Cayuga Lake and eating Italian pastries and drinking beer, fishing with her husband and her dad, raising ponies together and the completion of the couple’s first home, which Louis built.

“We’ve done about everything anyone would want to do,” she said.

Now that Louis has Alzheimer’s, can’t hear well and is losing his sight, he has stopped being himself, Jeanette said, losing interest in things and sleeping a lot.

But that doesn’t keep the couple from spending almost every minute of the day together, said Debbie Hubbard, activities director at the Groton Nursing Facility where the couple lives.

“They go to all of the activities together,” she said. “Where one goes, the other goes. You could tell it was special from the day they came in. They’re always holding hands.”

Patricia Scott, the couple’s daughter, who is 72 and lives in Freeville, said her parents are the same when she visits them twice a week at the nursing home as she always remembers them being.

“They need each other, I guess,” she said. “They’re two halves of a whole. It’s been that way for 74 years.”

Jeanette said the best part about being with her husband in the nursing home is being able to sleep beside him at night. Prior to bed, they hold hands and talk for a couple of minutes.

Then they say their prayers, he takes out his hearing aid and they go to bed, she said.

“It’s a comfort,” she said. “I just get as much comfort out of it as he does. I’m so thankful to God we have each other.”

Wow, all this Super Bowl talk has really affected me: Last night I dreamt I was in today’s big game! All dressed in my Patriots garb, I was asked to play the first quarter. For some reason, we were playing soccer – not football, and I was “right wing,” the primarily offensive position I played for my eighth-grade soccer team.

At one point I was playing defense near the Giants’ end zone/goal. The ball was about to go in the Giants goal when I intervened and kicked it to the other end of the field. A teammate of mine kicked it even farther. The quarter was over and we both had done something good. Our teammates gave us high fives and were very happy with us.

Our coach, Bill Belichick, congratulated us too and started giving the team a pep talk. I wish I could remember everything he said. I know he was discussing strategy as well as random housekeeping tidbits. He was very nice. Oh wait, I remember. He said the first quarter was very much a throwing game (makes no sense because it had been a soccer game) and we were going to make the next quarter a running game. He also said it was so great the Patriots were taking on more female players – we were making history, he said. Then the whistle blew – the second quarter was about to start.

I remember my friend Jeannie was put in goal for the Patriots. She did awesome. At one point a Giants player pounded the ball toward the corner of the goal but she dove and caught it. She punted the ball to the other end of the field; it had great spin on it. Then, minutes later, another Giants player kicked the ball toward her goal. She caught that one, too, even though it was traveling so fast I seriously thought she’d miss it. She punted that one far too. I remember being so nervous sitting on the sidelines. Even though our team was up, I was scared to go back in (in the third quarter) and mess up the game. I didn’t want to make a stupid mistake that resulted in our team losing. The stakes were high.

For some reason, though, Bill Belichick seemed really laid back. At the end of the quarter he gave us another pep talk and then took a few of us for a ride around the stadium. I remember thinking “Wow, I am being driven around by Bill Belichick – how cool is this? He doesn’t even have a chauffeur or anything. He’s a man of the people.” He continued to be really nice – maybe because we were winning. I then thought “Now I can sort of see what Giselle Bundchen sees in him (haha, in my dream Belichick and Bundchen were together!).” Once he dropped us off at another part of the stadium, I had to use the bathroom. I remember there were no stalls – just toilets in a row.

After washing my hands, I ran into a black-haired girl talking to a red-haired guy (don’t ask me why a guy was in the women’s bathroom). All of a sudden she told him her name was “Terry Laubenstein.” I said “Wow, my name is Christine Laubenstein – we must be related!” She was like “Wow that’s pretty cool;” still, she also sort of acted like “Who is this stranger talking to me?” I contemplated giving her my phone number or email address, but then I realized the third quarter was about to start – and I needed to be in it.

However at that point I was wearing high heels and couldn’t easily get to the field. I looked over the balcony (yes, now I was on a balcony), and the game had just started. I was petrified. Didn’t they need me to help keep the ball on the right side of the field? What would they do without me? What would Belichick say when I returned? Would his niceness have turned to anger? I was really scared. But then, fortunately, I woke up! So only time will tell if the Patriots end up winning this evening.

Still, my dream told me they were winning at halftime. We’ll see if I was right!

Both my friends Lindy and Steve, and cousins Kristyn and Keith gave us this one.

This one's from my Aunt Pat and Uncle Don. It says "In love is a beautiful place."

I like this one for its simplicity (actually, that's why I like most of the ones I posted!). It's from my cousin Andy and his girlfriend, Alison.

This one's from my cousin Dan and his boyfriend, Pat.

I'd have to say this is my favorite card overall. It's from my husband's friend Tim, one of the groomsmen. I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but the dress actually sparkles.

This one's from our friends Jeannie and Chris.

This one's from my husband's friend Dave and his girlfriend, Caroline.

This was definitely the funniest card we received. It's from our friend Robin, and inside it says "Grab all the happiness you can! Congrats!"

Can you tell I love cards???

The Armory

Basically it’s a bunch of vendors selling their locally made produce, bread, meat, cheese and specialty products. Today they gave out plenty of free samples (including cheese, wine and chocolate), which we definitely appreciated! There was quite a crowd around noon.

We purchased some lettuce, eggplant, Riesling, chive white cheese (fromage blanc), green peppers and a baguette.

For lunch we made a salad with the lettuce, green peppers and cheese, as well as some olive oil, lemon and Dijon mustard. We accompanied the dish with a large piece of baguette so we could sop up the cheese sauce. Perfect.

The baguette was just right: crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside

I’m really looking forward to going back to the farmers market ; we’re so lucky it’s right down the street!