Accidental blessings

Valentine’s Day snuck up on me this year, as it does most years; its fat little ambassador likes to play games.

Hints, in the way of thoughtful cards, showed up in my mailbox throughout the week and I thoroughly enjoyed them. But, in my mad rush to get to the end of each busy day, I failed to make any plans of my own.

I’ve been down this road before, though, and I’m a pretty good driver through that particular terrain.

So, when I stumbled downstairs on the big day, all bleary-eyed and unfocused in so many ways, I did not let a nearly empty refrigerator daunt me.

No milk? No problem.

I stood there in my worn pink slippers and gold Packer robe and just. kept. moving.

I used a carton of coconut greek yogurt, not too far past its sell by date, the last of our oatmeal, which turned out to be about a cup, a little almond extract, the three-quarters of a stick of butter I found lodged in the back corner of the fridge, as much white sugar as I could muster which, together with the last of our brown sugar, turned out to be just enough, and some frozen cherries. Then, with absolutely unearned confidence, I whipped up some nice warm scone/biscuit thingies that, served with orange juice I squeezed from the last of our Florida oranges, made quite an appropriate feast for my loved ones.

I’ll be honest, they weren’t expecting too much, and therefore they were thrilled.

We lingered over breakfast and ended up at our church’s Hispanic mass, always a challenge as I am the only Spanish speaker in the family and I am not that great.

But another beautiful blessing grew from my incompetence and I’ve been laughing about it ever since.

I whispered translations to Molly, an accomplished French speaker who probably understood more of the Spanish mass on her own than I conveyed through my spotty translations.

Still, I worked hard.

I got us through the whole mass and most of the announcements, which went on and on. Together, we appropriately wished happy anniversary to a couple summoned to the front of the church by our bilingual priest, Father Bill.

About 75 minutes into the mass, though, I hit a wall. My mind wandered and I began making a mental grocery shopping list.

Mea Culpa.

I actually thought mass had ended when Vince, Molly and I stood with most of the other parishioners.

Then, I saw Molly’s face as she sat back down in horror.

“This is a MARITAL blessing!” she hissed.

Whoops.

So, here’s the thing, if you’re a husband, a friend, a relative, a reader, or a 17-year old girl who has no plans to marry for at least a decade and is still a little peeved at me, I sincerely hope you felt loved on  Valentine’s Day and every day since.

Here’s the recipe in case you want to recreate those awesome scone/biscuit thingies.

Accidentally Yummy Cherry Oatmeal Scone/Biscuit Thingies

Ingredients

1 5.3 ounce container of coconut greek yogurt

2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar (brown and white mixed, if you like.)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/14  ish cup oats

The last dredges of milk in the container (I’m guessing about 1/3 cup)

3/4 stick of butter

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup frozen cherries

Mix the dry ingredients and cup the nice cold butter into them. Add yogurt, milk and almond extract. Mix a little but not too much. Add frozen cherries. Gently, so you don’t get the red from the cherries all over.

Drop by 1/4 cup unto parchment paper lined baking sheets.

Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned.