Before these handmade hearts were swept into a plastic bag to be carried off to my nib's classroom for distribution on Friday, I took a quick shot of his heap, each card in a combination of colors he had deemed to be perfect for that kid and with a chocolate heart stuck to each middle. As it so often goes, in the end, there were more chocolates than valentines. Darn those bags of 20 when there are 27 cards to be made. You just know it's deliberate. I took it upon myself to dispense with the excess. 

This meal had such grand potential: the fresh ginger, the lime, the light through the window casting a romantic glow. Sadly, however, this was its best moment. My last second addition (wildly creative, I thought) of fresh basil leaves, tossed into the pan, turned the outside of the chicken into a frighteningly unnatural color of blue. BLUE. This is only the latest episode in a long line of embarrassing discoveries in my experimental kitchen. Thankfully, the taste was not hideously bad, but it will not be going into the recipe box of hits, that's for sure.

I will resist the overwhelming temptation to yap about "When you have lemons, make lemonade."

But faced with soon-to-be fossilized lemons, drying out in a glass bowl in the sun, it seemed the only sensible thing to do, cliches notwithstanding. The addition of the protective eye-gear was the sprout's idea. 

Definitely the ideal time of day in our kitchen for color drenched photos. No subsequent paintings resulted, at least not yet, but the photo shoot was entertaining.