I have since held on to the faintest hope that somewhere in my parents' garage, like a stealthily hidden ninja, sits a large card board box marked "Ry's V-Day Kitchen Stuff," begging me to find it.
In the meantime, I can only cling to a blind hope that one day I will be able to hone in on its' location, scoop it up into my grateful arms, and that myself and those beautiful heart shaped kitchen items will never again know the absence of one another.
This whole ordeal has caused quite a daunting dilemma for me. Whenever I get the idea to purchase any replacement Valentine's baking tools, I immediately start to feel as though I am a dutiful wife whose husband is off at war indefinitely. Even during the times when the loneliness and waiting began to seem unbearable, I still could not give up hope that we might be once again reunited.
After all, what if he does end up returning to me one day? What then? How horrible I would feel about myself if I was caught canoodling with some shiny, new heart shaped spring board pan? The mere idea of shameful infidelity, however unintentional, has caused me to slap my own tempted hand as it has reached out to caress and admire a post Valentines Day kitchen sale item more times than I am proud of. Thankfully, in these instances I have always been able to come back to my senses in the nick of time, right before reaching the point of no return.
I have been able to work around my self-imposed guilt ban on purchasing any Heart's Day baking tools by allowing myself the freedom to only buy items in this category as long as I am absolutely certain that I have never owned the same item previously. This way if my box of kitchen tools ever do return it is not as though they have been replaced, they still remain my one and only of their kind. I am in no way cheating on them or at least that is my rationalization.
Unfortunately, considering the size of my elusive collection my options have been few and far between, yet somehow I make do. For instance, I have rationalized these adorable heart and rose silicon candy molds (Pictured Below) and intentionally used them like crazy on tons of non-Valentine's Day days only to prove that they are in no way a replacement for my real, long lost, true loves.
"No, I haven't given up on you," I whisper solemnly each time I use these molds, making sure to emphasize that haven't broken any rules, just to be safe.
As a result of all this, my collection has been reduced to the above mentioned candy molds and a few, solitary heart shaped cookie cutters. Yet I preserver, because life must go on.
Even though they're not as fun, fancy, quick or convenient as my long lost heart shaped pans and tins of various sizes, these make-shift tin foil molds keep my flame of eternal love shining bright, hoping against hope that someday my large box of Valentine's Day kitchen treasures finally finds it's way back to me. Godspeed.
Tin Foil
A Heart Shaped Cookie Cutter