This evening for Valentine’s Day, I decided to reprise the Ginger Beets recipe with a few slight variations. Mainly, I added rutabaga, chard, cilantro, and broccoli. Most of this came from our local farmer — only the broccoli was from the store. Mushroom soy sauce helps the sauce, since it is so dark. And I added peanut butter to make the sauce a little richer. Siracha sauce helps spice it up.
And what would Valentine’s day be without chocolate? We had a truffle from our favorite chocolatier in Spirit Lake, Iowa, Goodies. I discovered them one year when trying to get some good chocolate to my mother in time for the holiday. We’ve been addicted ever since, so it’s fortunate that Valentine’s day comes but once a year (and that it falls in the winter months, when we can have it shipped without dry ice and overnight mail!).
Published by Kendall Dunkelberg
I am a poet, translator, and professor of literature and creative writing at Mississippi University for Women, where I direct the Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing, the undergraduate concentration in creative writing, and the Eudora Welty Writers' Symposium. I am Chair of the Department of Languages, Literature, and Philosophy, and I have published four collections of poetry, Tree Fall with Birdsong, Barrier Island Suite, Time Capsules, and Landscapes and Architectures, as well as a collection of translations of the Belgian poet Paul Snoek, Hercules, Richelieu, and Nostradamus, and the textbook A Writer's Craft: Multi-Genre Creative Writing. I was born and raised in Osage, Iowa, and have lived for over thirty years in Columbus, Mississippi, where my wife Kim and I let wildflowers grow in our yard to the delight of spring polinators and only some of our neighbors.
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This evening for Valentine’s Day, I decided to reprise the Ginger Beets recipe with a few slight variations. Mainly, I added rutabaga, chard, cilantro, and broccoli. Most of this came from our local farmer — only the broccoli was from the store. Mushroom soy sauce helps the sauce, since it is so dark. And I added peanut butter to make the sauce a little richer. Siracha sauce helps spice it up. 
Kendall Dunkelberg 