The extra day in a leap year has historically been inserted after the twenty-fourth day of February, not simply tacked onto the end of the month.

Japanese tailors, collect their broken needles throughout the year, and then honor them for good service on February 8 in a ceremony called Hari-Kuyo.

In 1420, Henry V of England hired the writer John Lydgate to pen a valentine to Catherine of Valois. The note   must have made a good impression‑the two married that same year. A little more than a century later, Catherine's great-grandson Henry VII declared Valentine's day a national holiday.

In 1849, Worcester, Massachusetts, became the birthplace of the first commercial valentine cards in the United States. A stationer's daughter and her friends produced them assembly-line style, on English lace paper.

As a group, teachers receive the most Valentine's Day cards every year, followed by children, mothers, wives and sweethearts. Red, the customary color for Valentine's Day is also the color of good fortunate for the Chinese, who use it in festive displays for many celebrations.

The heart shaped box if chocolates is still the consummate Valentine's Day gift. This year more than 30 million were expected to be sold.

President's Day is celebrated on February 16 to pay homage to all presidents. Actually, Washington and Lincoln both have birthdays in February. We think of these two on this day. They both had a passion for hoecakes. Common breakfast fare during Washington's time, hoecakes were originally a mainstay of field hands, who cooked them, no surprisingly, on the hoes.

At Washington's Mount Vernon estate in Virginia, according to his step-granddaughter Nelly Curtis, he ate them "swimming in butter and honey" every morning.

Lincoln once said he could eat hoecakes "Twice as fast as anyone could make them." Sure, Honest Abe was probably exaggerating. But try a stack of the following recipe.  Warm and dense and slathered with butter and honey, you'll see why.

Hoecakes

 1/12 cups yellow cornmeal

1 cup flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon soda

1/12 cups buttermilk

2 large eggs

4 T canola oil, more if needed.

Mix all the ingredients and whisk until smooth. Heat griddle or skillet until hot adding 1 T oil coating pan. Drop 1/3 cup batter on pan (making sure it sizzles) Cook, turning once, until g olden and cook through about 4 minutes. Add more oil a s needed and reduce heat if sides brown too quickly.

Serve immediately topped with butter and honey.

From Mama's rules of livin

True friends are those who, when you've made a fool of yourself, don't think you've done a permanent job.

Valentine or any sweetheart day desserts

Few days of the year are considered as sweet as this day. From the sentiment behind the holiday, the celebration of love, to the many sugary morsels that actually change hands, Valentine's Day is about expressing your feelings to the ones you love.

Giving little gifts and mementos to all of the special people in your life is the perfect way to embrace the spirit of the day. Sharing sweets on Valentine's day is a custom that could date back as far as the fifth century, when the holiday was first declared.

At that time Pope Gelasius I set aside February 14 to commemorate the martyrdom of Saint Valentine. A third-century Roman priest, Valentine had conducted clandestine Christian weddings, many for soldiers and their sweethearts, at a time when Christianity was outlawed and solders were forbidden to marry.

Cherry Angel Food Cake

Easy, low in calorie desert.

1 Betty Crocker Angel Food Cake mix

1 can no sugar added cherry pie filling

Mix together cherry pie filling and cake mix together. Add nothing else

Bake at 350 degree in angel food cake pan for 35 minutes or until lightly browned or when cracks feel very dry.

Turn upside down onto glass bottle until completely cooled. Serve with sugar free cool whip or what every you prefer.

This cake cuts calories and you still have a great taste.

Cookies and cream bonbons

1 package Devil's Food cake mix.

¼ cup oil

2 eggs

18 foil wrapped white chocolate kisses with chocolate cookie bits.

Spray cookie sheet, Mix cake mix, oil and eggs in a large bowl with a spoon until dough forms (Dome dry may remain). Remove foil from candies and cut crosswise in half. Cover completely.  Place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet, Bake 7 to 10 minutes or until cookies begin to look dry and cracked on surface. Cool 1 minute. Remove to wire rack. Let cool 20 minutes. Make white and chocolate glazes.

Microwave 1 ounce white baking bar, ½ tsp oil, for 20 to 30 seconds.  In a separate bowl, melt 2 T chocolate chips and ½ tsp oil for 20 to 30 seconds.

Drizzle over cooled cookies, first the chocolate chips and then the white chocolate.

You could box these up in a pretty container and tie in a red ribbon around it for a nice gift.

Here are a few quick ideas for lunch or dinner. All you need to add to the Enchilada pie is a side salad. For a soup and sandwich lunch you can't beat this idea. Because it's okay to make quick meals once in awhile. It's more about being together sometimes than the food.

Enchilada Pie

2 pounds ground chuck

1 onion chopped

1 green bell pepper-chopped

2 (10 ounce) mild enchilada sauce

1 (15.25 ounce can corn drained

2 cups shredded cheese blend, Colby, montery jack

2 cans (10.1 ounce) Pillsbury crescent rolls

In a large skillet, combine ground chuck, onion and bell pepper.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Cook over medium heat until meat is browned and crumbly, drain. Return meat mixture to skillet. Using a medium heat stir in enchilada sauce, drained corn and cook 10 minutes. Should be slightly thickened and then add cheese stirring until melted. Spray a 13x9x2 inch baking dish. Unroll 1 can crescent rolls; arrange dough on bottom half way up sides. Press seams of triangles together gently to form crust.

Bake Crust at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. Spoon beef mixture evenly over crust. Unroll remaining can of crescent rolls. Arrange dough over top of beef mixture, press seam of triangles together gently to form an even crust. Seal edges. Bake pie 35 minutes or until crescent rolls are golden brown.

Service with a side salad. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Floating BLT's

1 (10.75) cans of your favorite tomato soup

12 melba toast rounds

Mayonnaise

½ cup shredded lettuce

2 T cooked and crumbled bacon or more if you like.

Heat soup and divide into four servings in shallow serving bowls. Generously spread mayonnaise on melba toast rounds. Place rounds on top of soup and top with shredded lettuce and chopped bacon. Serve immediately.

Serve with grilled cheese or grilled ham sandwiches, or if your time is of the essence just toast your favorite bread in the toasters.

Mama's rules for livin

When you become a parent remember; if raising children was going to be easy, it wouldn't have started off with labor.

 Life is not one game; it's a whole season...Never quit!