Happy Sweetest Day Heart Treats


10 cups popped popcorn
3 Tablespoons butter
10 ounce package marshmallows
red food coloring
red sanding sugar

Spread the popcorn in a greased 13x9 baking pan and keep warm in 300 degree oven.

Melt butter and marshmallows together in a large heavy saucepan over low heat. Stir until smooth. Mix in food coloring until you get your desired tint.

Gradually add popcorn, stirring until coated.

Cool for 10-15 minutes. Press into individual one cup buttered heart shaped molds. Cool, remove from molds and sprinkle with sugar. Makes 10

Wrap up individually in red cellophane and pile in a basket. I found this recipe in a cookbook I have, called Seasons for Sharing.

Sweetest Day, the holiday observed on the third Saturday in October



I was recently in a greeting card store, and saw a whole section featuring cards for Sweetest Day, to be celebrated on October 17th, this year. I wondered, what is sweetest day? I recalled hearing of it before, and wanted to look into it more. Here is a little of what I found.

Sweetest Day is observed on the third Saturday in October every year, and mainly in the Northeastern United States. This may be changing throughout the years as its popularity grows. It is popular also in the Great Lakes Region of the US.

Originally, it was a day intended to spread love and cheer to the less fortunate. Candies and sweets were a big part of this. I think that is a great idea, to spread love and cheer to the poor and needy in any community. It is now more common to spread the love and cheer to the love in your life. It is much more than that to many though, as it is a day to spread kindness to those in your life that you are thankful for.

It is not as popular as Valentine's Day is, naturally, but I am curious to watch where this holiday grows and spreads over time. It is not new, and one of the first mentioning of the day was back in 1921 in Cleveland Ohio. Evidently, 12 confectioners, along with candymaker C.C. Hartzell, planned a day on October 8. A committee distributed over 20,000 boxes of candy to orphans, the poor and many elderly people, etc.

I think its a neat idea, and I love the whole spreading of kindness and love and cheer to the less fortunate. Despite its criticisms of being a "Hallmark Holiday" or encouraged by top candy makers in the country, I think the idea is still a great one. The cards I saw were really cute, as well. Why not spread a little love and cheer on this day, or just any other day? We all need a little more of that in our life, don't we? Happy Sweetest Day to you and yours :)

Some quotes on Love, below:










**You can feed these little fish by clicking the screen, and it will put some food in there for them. They will follow your mouse around the tank too.