Be Brave and Love

LOVE IS BRAVE

Whilst in our Linden store a few weeks back I helped a young man to choose a gift for a new love prospect. The poor man was so nervous that it took an hour to select the right gift. I recall going through a similar process the first time I bought my husband a gift. It took real bravery to put myself out there and to show him that I loved him. 

It is therefore so fitting that our message for the month of Love is ‘Love is Brave’. In a world where time seems to speed up annually and where it is so easy to live ‘past’ the people we love the most it often takes Bravery to love someone. To stand up and say to the world that you Love is as brave a declaration as what I have ever seen and so this month we at Rialheim are obsessed with the concept of Love being Brave and celebrate every individual that is brave enough to love themselves or someone else.

Whilst the first step in showing our affection is probably the bravest, one’s bravery gets tested when trying to determine how to celebrate Love on anniversaries, birthdays and most obviously Valentine’s Day. It would be easy to just let these occasions past by unnoticed but we believe that ‘Love is Brave’ and therefore a declaration of Love must be made. For this Valentine’s Day my declaration of Love is a big one as I have asked my husband to celebrate our love with an intimate ceremony in which we renew our vows. Having left everything to help me start Rialheim my husband is the bravest person I know and this year I want to declare my love by recommitting myself to him. 

I have also planned a dinner at home for the two of us. We have always enjoyed spending time in the kitchen preparing a meal and with our busy lives we hardly find time to do this anymore. Whilst planning the menu I naturally looked to the family recipe book that my mother hand wrote for her children and handed to them the day that they got married. I’ve picked all of Daniel’s favourite recipes for the occasion and have included his favourite dessert recipe, below, to give you a little insight into what our dinner is going to entail.

In closing I leave you with one of my favourite quotes-‘A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave’, Mahatma Gandi.

Be Brave, Love

Daniel’s favourite dessert- Pavlova with Strawberries and Cream 

Ingredients:

3 Egg Whites

1/4 teaspoon Cream of Tartar

1 cup Caster Sugar

1 punnet Strawberries

2 Flakes (broken into small pieces)

1 cup Pecan Nuts

250 ml Dessert Cream

1 tin Caramel  

Preparation Time: Overnight
Method: Pavlova-
Pre-heat oven to 140 degrees Celsius.
Whisk the 3 egg white until peaks form and add cream of tartar. Slowly stir the caster sugar into the mix until the sugar has dissolved. Bake until light brown. When done switch off the oven but keep the Pavlova in the oven overnight.
Filling-
Chop strawberries and pecan nuts into small pieces and mix with the Flake. Keep this mixture in the fridge overnight. 
Before serving-
Fill Pavlova with caramel and whipped cream. Spread the strawberry filling on top of the Pavlova and serve immediately.