V-Day is just Around the corner!!

Some little-known facts about Valentine's Day:
Valentine's Day has its origins in the ancient Roman feast of Lupercalia, an annual festival held on Feb. 15 to help keep dangerous wolves away from townspeople and their crops. On the eve of the festival, Feb. 14, the young women of the town would write their names on slips of paper, put them in a jar, and every young man would pick out a name at random. The pair would then be partners for the remainder of the festival.

It was 270 B.C. when St. Valentine stood up for love, after Roman Emperor Claudius II forbade Roman soldiers to get engaged or married, believing that married men would rather stay at home than go to war. The priest named Valentine, in defiance of Claudius' orders, secretly married young couples, and on Feb. 14, was punished for his "crime," thereby becoming the patron saint of lovers.

Some old beliefs:

During the Middle Ages, Europeans believed that birds chose their mates each year on Feb. 14.

Some people used to believe that if a woman saw a robin fly overhead on Valentine's Day, it meant she would marry a sailor; if she saw a sparrow, she'd marry a poor man, and be very happy; if she saw a goldfinch, she'd marry a millionaire.

If you cut an apple in half and count how many seeds are inside, you will know how many children you will have.

Some charming Valentine's Day Customs:

In Wales, wooden love spoons were carved and given as gifts on Feb. 14. Heart, keys and keyholes were favorite decorations, which meant "you unlock my heart!"

In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be. They'd wear these names on their sleeves for one week -- hence the term "to wear your heart on your sleeve."

Flowers on Valentine's Day appeared in the 17th Century. A daughter of Henry IV of France gave a party in honor of St. Valentine. Each lady received a beautiful bouquet of flowers from the man chosen as her valentine.
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Now that we got the history lesson out of the way we can move on to the fun stuff. The next few days were going to post some menu's for a heathly valintines Day. Keep an open mind. You may be surprised how delicious healthy can be!!!