Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Love hurts

I have a several lady friends who are young enough to be my daughters. When they faced problems in their relationships with their partners, they have often come to me and poured their hearts out . Perhaps, they felt safe to confide in me because they knew I would not judge them. Very often, I have urged them to read this beautiful poem about love by Kahlil Gibran and try to begin to understand what love is all about. It is one of several poems my Quay Lo has introduced me to. From my first reading of it I felt that if we can gain an understanding of this passage: "love crowns you... so shall he crucify you", perhaps we will not be so surprised when love brings pain. We may even be able to blunt that pain with wisdom, understanding, and when neccessary, forgiveness. I hope you might see what I mean when you read the following.

On Love
(From "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran)
When love beckons to you, follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams
as the north wind lays waste the garden.

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.

Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.

All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart.

But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.

When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but rather, "I am in the heart of God."
And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips

Today is Valentine’s day, a day which we have always celebrated every year. It is a very SPECIAL day for Quay Lo and I. We declared our love for each other on this day 16 years ago.

To celebrate our love, I started the day by giving my Quay Lo a Valentine’s gift at 1.45 a.m. in the morning. I bought him a new music player for use with the ipod and iphone. Yesterday I was busy loading his complete music library into the ipod. Just before bed time, I turned on the player so that when he walked into the bed room last night he would notice it immediately. He has always loved to have some music on at bedtime and takes great care to prepare elaborate playlists for relaxation. However, a few weeks ago his favorite ear phones quit working. 

When it came time to retire for bed he hung back saying he wanted to do a final email check and see the stock prices before retiring. I went ahead upstairs and waited. Almost 30 minutes later I had to go back downstairs to urge him to come to bed. As I had guessed, he was absorbed in his work, but a gentle nudge was all he needed to switch off the lamp and the computer.  When we got upstairs it was a BIG SURPRISE for him!  He was so pleased and he loved the player. He kept saying it was SO COOL! and WOW!! What a nice feeling for me to hear him say that and see his obvious delight. To my Quay Lo music is the salve that soothes a man's soul. (Well, maybe that and a good meal.)


Today I knew my Quay Lo would not want a heavy lunch because he has plans to take me to a nice romantic dinner at our favorite French restaurant in the city this evening. So, I made a simple brunch for him - home made grilled pork burger, with egg and cheese on ciabatta sandwiches. What do you think?





Ingredients:
2 pcs ciabatta bread (cut into different size heart shape)
4 pcs of cheddar cheese (cut into different size heart shapes)
lettuce
2 eggs for frying (stir with a fork and fry flat, over medium)
cherry tomatoes
mayonnaise
salt and pepper to taste
pork burger

For the pork burger:

10 ounces hand chopped pork shoulder
2 tbsp duck fat
1 tbspn finely chopped spring onion
1 tbspn finely chopped fresh coriander
2 tbspns finely chopped fennel bulb
1/4 tspn chili powder
1/4 tspn ground carraway seeds
ground black pepper and salt to taste
1 raw egg, stirred with a fork

Mix ingredients in a bowl by hand until all are well distributed throughout, cover bowl with cling wrap, and place in the fridge for thirty minutes.

Remove from fridge and make patties to the desired size.

Heat duck fat in skillet over medium flame and fry until the meat is slightly pink inside. Turn down heat to low and place slices of cheese on each pattie. When cheese just starts to melt remove patties to a plate topped with paper towels to drain. Cover with aluminum foil. Prepare grilled ciabbata bread and assemble sandwiches. Serve with stone ground corn chips, cole slaw, sweet gherkins, and an ice cold beer (tip: place beer glasses in the freezer for 5 minutes before pouring the beer.)
Serves two 

Though quite simple  to make this is one of my guy's  favorites. He literally moans with pleasure as he bites into the sandwich, LOL.

Hope you too will be having a wonderful and memorable Valentine's Day and remember -
"Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love"


I'm submitting for Valentine Hearts: Heart-shaped dishes for Valentine's Day!

65 comments:

  1. So ramrod and cute. Love the heart burgers.

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  2. Oooo...I love sandwiches. So romantic - heart-shaped ones...and they look soooo delicious. Yummm!!!! Why my missus did not make any like these for me leh? Humph!!!! LOL!!!

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    1. Don't forget what you said, it is two way. So, did you did anything romantic for Lucy? hehe

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  3. Replies
    1. Who? Quay Po or Quay Lo? Oh, you mean the heart shape sandwich?? LOL!

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  4. Ooh my! this is the most lovely burger EVER! Not only it looks sweet but YUMMY too! So romantically done! Happy Valentine's Day! :)

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    1. Yes, I wanted it to be special:D I am quite pleased with the result.

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  5. It's all the small efforts that build up to a really lovely gesture yet it's the daily actions that is so representative of your love for each other. I would love me and my other half to be the same way in the years to come - you two are such role models. :)

    And the Kahlil Gibran poem is lovely, and illuminating.

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    1. Yes, it is the small things that matters most:D Wow, me and Quay Lo are role models?? We are honored! Yes, LOVE LOVE, LOVE Kahlil Gibran's poems. His is truly a LOVE GURU!

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    2. I mean it - you and Quay Lo truly are role models for Devil and me.

      And I'm gonna find more Kahlil Gibran poems now, thanks to this post of yours. :)

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  6. What a romantic post :) Your heart sandwich looks so adorable :)
    Tes
    http://tesathome.com

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  7. Happy Valentine's Day! Nice presents. Both of you are so romantic. That what keeps the love alive, right? :) Enjoy your dinner later.

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    1. Yes, I think these small things we do for each other truly keep our love alive. They are also things that we can fall back on and helps dissipate our anger for each other on bad days.LOL!

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  8. So thoughtful of u..I didn't buy anything for him just dinner will do..Can I ask where did u get the duck fat?

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    1. We got our duck fat from Jaya Grocers. I don't think they have stocks anymore. They brought in a batch for Christmas. I have not check out B.I.G. yet.

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  9. Happy Valentine and enjoy your lovely dinner tonight, so lovely! I think my husband forgot today is Valentine day as we dont celebrate after married. But my daughter asking me to prepare Western meal for tonight to celebrate this lovely day ^_^

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    1. Haiyah, why don't celebrate after married? Next year, surprise your hubby with a nice western dinner at home and surely he will flip!! hehe

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  10. Replies
    1. Sharon, I prefer pork burgers over beef burgers:D

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  11. Happy Valentine's Day to you & your loved ones, Veron. Hope you're going to have the most romantic evening. Enjoy! Btw, your heart shape burger look fantastic. Making me salivate.
    Cheers, Kristy

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    1. Kristy, I am sure you enjoyed your Valentine's day too. It was not the most romantic dinner last night but it was fun and enjoyable. Will tell you about it soon.

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  12. Love hurts and love is sweet too. I experienced more hurts than being sweet. Well, that's life and it will makes one to grow stronger. Your heart shape burger looks fantastic. Wish I can have one and be all love over again!

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  13. The 2 of you are the perfect fairy tale couple. And the perfect Valentine's burger too :D
    A lovely poem, beautifully worded.
    Happy Valentine's Day to the both of you. xxoo

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    1. Hahaha, fairy tale couple? Wait till you see I throw pots and pan at my Quay Lo! Oops.. not me, should be Lucy! hahahaha ... Hey Woman, did you have a lovey duvey day yesterday with your hard headed man? XOXO

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  14. Happy Valentines Day to you and yours, sounds like love is alive and well in your home, ,, what a lovely gift you have given him, enjoy your lovely dinner,

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    1. Thanks you. It is so difficult to buy any gifts for my Quay Lo. I think it hard to buy gifts for old people like us. I jumped up with joy when I found that player for him. I made the heart shape sandwich because I cannot bring myself to buy those expensive chocolates for him. LOL!

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  15. Happy Val's day to you...
    wow ur Quay Lo is so romantic....
    French lesson 101 .. Please your Quay Lo Je t'aime ...

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    1. Thank you. He is very romantic and thoughtful. He is also very creative in giving me surprises. Sometimes I wonder, when he is going to run out of ideas. LOL!

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  16. Happy Valentine's to you and your Quay Lo !!!! Enjoy your romantic dinner ;D And throw some of that fantastic burger over here hahaha

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    1. We enjoyed our dinner and will write about it soon.

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  17. Wow... what perfect combination.. gift, brunch and a romantic dinner.. hmmmm... by the way, any more "Quay Lo" whom you can recommend to me? LOL....

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  18. Such a loving couple. and what a hearty brunch. Quay Po Happy Valentine's Day ya.

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    1. Thanks dear. I am sure you had a great day yesterday:D

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  19. Wow, a labor of love that's for sure! I would like to have these for my breakfast, my husband would have them for lunch :) Of course they are perfect for a bento box lunch! I wish I would of done this for my husband, I just love the whole picture.

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    1. Oh ya, they could be good candidates for bento box. You gave me an idea. Maybe next year, make him a nice bento box. SSHHH!! hope my Quay Lo miss this comment.

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  20. The Burger looks really nice, I would like to taste it. You must have had a lot of work on this article.

    Greetings,
    Filip

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    1. Oh if you are staying in the same town with me, you would have tasted it already:D Not much work actually, just cut the bread, eggs and cheese with heart shaped cutters.

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  21. Your burger is so cute! Never saw heart shaped buns! I hope you two had a lovely Valentine's Day!

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  22. Lovely present for your Quay Lo. Most men are into gadgets and gadgets :)

    And the heart shaped burger, such a hearty meal ~~

    Happy (belated) V Day!

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    1. Yes most men love gadgets and me too! Hope you enjoyed your Valentine's day too.

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  23. As always, too cute! I like your poem too.

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    1. Thank you. All Khalil Gibran's poems are brilliant!

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  24. awwww I feel so loved by this post. Happy V day to you ..

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  25. If you haven't been hurt by love and you'll never know what love means! The love heart burgers are so sweet and hope you've a great time dinning out!

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    Replies
    1. Veronica, we had a great time last night. I can't agree with you more on love.

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  26. It is so sweet of you and Quay Lo. Cool gift and hearty meal, both can kill men softly. You both sure have a very wonderful Valentine's day.

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  27. Oh how sweet is that!
    I would like to receive such gift too regardless of the day or date! Ahahaha

    You guys keep the love flame burning.
    Keep the sparks refreshing your everyday.
    By keeping coming up with surprises and caring.

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  28. After so many years, you guys are still so sweet, buying presents and making love burgers on Valentine's :)

    What did u get from Quay Lo?

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    1. Quay Lo took me out to dinner and you will see the gift he gave me in my next post:D

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  29. thanks for sharing the poem. i have to read it a few times to at least understand that..i know..love is not a bed of roses, i just hope that i can handle all that without drowning myself. it's always so romantic and funny reading your stories between you and your quay lo.

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  30. You are welcome. Me too, I read it many times before I get it. It is a very beautiful poem on love.

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