Happy Valentine’s Day! I’ve shared a few posts about my little book titled Suppers before, so I won’t tell you too much about the book from 1907, other than to outline the suggestions for the Valentine’s Day dinner. In Denmark, apparently, the snowdrop is (or was a century ago) is the flower of Valentine’s Day, and small bouquets of them were sent by hopeful young men to the lady of their choice.
The supper plans in the book incorporates this snowdrop theme into their supper, starting with painting them on the corners of the invitations and the heart-shaped menus. The decor is to be of cherry red and white, and everything is hearts and snowdrops. To be honest, I think that incorporating snowdrops into our modern Valentine’s day would be a fun and fresh idea. I love snowdrops so much, and unlike roses, they are actually in season at this time of year, at least in many places. This year, however, on Vancouver Island at least, they are completely buried under far more snow than we normally get (about 8 inches.)
While they don’t provide a whole menu, they suggest tiny heart-shaped cups of cherry crepe paper at each place, with a little bunch of snowdrops. The ices are to be heart-shaped, with a candied cherry in the center of each one, and my favourite, little hearts cut from slices of rare roast beef to adorn the salads. Both pretty and delicious!
Love’s first kisses are the snow-drops,
Ringing here like fairy bells;
Let thy heart bend low and listen
To the tale their music tells.
Above is one of a few verses suggested for the occasion. I rather like the image of delicate innocence suggested by the comparison of first kisses to snowdrops. The verses were to be used as a guessing game to let the guests know who was to take who into dinner. A novel idea from the era when a woman couldn’t walk into a dining room on her own. How times have changed.
vintage cookbook shelf 