Valentine’s Day thoughts on how to find love, happiness and a really good dessert

Eliza Osborne
Just a few days ago it was raining so hard the bounce could fill your shoes.
Snow this week, though, with plenty of dark days still ahead giving good reasons for staying close to home.
Winter does have its pleasures, I think, although the foods of the season can pale a bit as it goes on. And on. Palates can tire. Mine has, anyway, although I like cold weather roasts and stews. But after a while there is a certain long-cooked sameness about it all, and the variety and abundance of summer’s fresh local produce can seem very far away.
Valentine’s Day offers one bright spot in the dreariness of mid-winter. Remember how exciting exchanging valentines was in elementary school? We all had our little crushes. And still, now, the day offers a chance to think for a moment about the loves in your life — friends, family, your dog if you have one. So do that — think the good thoughts about the past and the present, and make a plan to shake up an otherwise rote menu. One suggestion follows for how you might brighten a meal and the day, or any other day.
Serves 8
Start this one day ahead. Easy to finish and keeps well.
2/3 cup bourbon or brandy
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup dried mission figlets, sliced in half and hard stems cut off
3/4 to 1 cup dried apricots, coarsely chopped
1 cup jumbo raisins, or regular raisins, yellow or black
3 ripe Bartlett or Anjou pears, peeled and medium chopped
2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger
Vanilla ice cream
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans
I have a friend who has a stall on the boardwalk in Atlantic City — beat that, by the way — whose more serious business is supplying nuts to casinos. He recommended a place called nuts.com to me and I have ordered regularly from them ever since. Nuts, dried fruits, etc.; organic options, very high-quality products and good service. You might try them, although, of course, all the ingredients can easily be bought locally, weather allowing. Guido’s has them, among many others.
Cook the bourbon, spices and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in the figlets, apricots and raisins. Pour the mixture into a gallon-size zip-top freezer bag. Seal the bag, removing as much air as possible, and chill for 24 hours. The next day, put the mix into a large, heavy pot along with the pears and ginger. Heat this to a simmer. You can serve at this point, or refrigerate and later dip out servings into a microwavable dish with a cover. For four servings, cooking about 3 and a half minutes will be enough. You’re looking for nicely warm, not hot. Sprinkle with the walnuts or pecans, and serve with vanilla ice cream.
So that’s the really good dessert. The advice? Love and happiness, I have learned, are a moving target. Sometimes you just have to take a shot. Go on.
Clarification: the end of my previously published column, Really Good Chicken and Rice, was altered from what I originally wrote. It should have read:
“Anyway, I was thinking about the grocery bagging. What you want to do is put the heavy stuff into small bags, and put those onto the floor of the back seat. Then take your big bag, which you’ve filled with good bread, soft cheeses, berries, tomatoes, potato chips — all the fragile things that make life worth living — and sit that on top. You can’t ignore what’s weighty, and these things are going to be there if you’re leading an examined life. Keep them under control and in proportion. But you’ve got to protect the things that bring you joy. Keep them uppermost. Don’t forget.”
Several sentences were deleted from this paragraph, so that it appeared to offer only very basic instructions about how to load groceries into your car. I’m assuming most people already knew how to do this.
Pam Osborne lives in Salisbury.
The LED sign in front of Amenia's Town Hall on Route 22 warns passing motorists of the current temporary burn ban, in effect from Oct. 2 to Oct. 15.
A statewide burn ban is in effect as of Thursday, Oct. 2, the New York State Governor's office announced in a press release.
The temporary ban is in effect until at least Oct. 15, and the statement released by the governor's office said the restrictions will be re-evaluated prior to the Oct. 15 deadline.
Lighting fires for brush or debris disposal and large, uncontained fires for cooking or other purposes are banned until at least Oct. 15 under the statewide order. Backyard fire pits, contained camp fires no larger than 3 feet in height and 4 feet in diameter, and small, contained cooking fires are still permitted under the burn ban.
New York State has faced dry conditions all autumn, triggering drought watches and warnings across most of the state.
Dutchess County, along with the other counties in the Catskills region, are under a drought watch according to the Department of Environmental Conservation's drought condition map.
Dutchess County is currently under a "high" fire danger rating, according to the DEC.
LAKEVILLE, Conn. — Barbara Meyers DelPrete, 84, passed away Tuesday, September 30, 2025.
A Funeral Mass will be celebrated Saturday, October 4, 2025, at 11:00a.m. at St. Mary’s Church, 76 Sharon Rd., Lakeville.
A complete obituary will appear in next week’s Lakeville Journal.
To offer an online condolence, please visit ryanfhct.com.
Volunteers were hard at work putting the finishing touches on the crucial creepy decorations for the Haunted Fortress of Stanford on Sunday, Sept. 28.
STANFORD — Greg Arent led a devoted team of volunteers on Sunday, Sept. 28, in a final push to prepare Stanford’s Haunted Fortress for opening day.
Final touches included cleaning the bottomless pit, scrubbing the pirate ship, raking the graveyard and dressing the dolls. By 2 p.m., about 20 volunteers had assembled to creepify the beloved local landmark.
Many of the volunteers have been coming back for years, Arent said, dedicating time and valuable skills to the town-owned haunted house that was constructed by the artist Peter Wing.
Arent has been building sets in his free time for forty years, but he started out volunteering with the Haunted Fortress in 2014 when his children wanted to get involved, he said. At that time he would help out one or two days a year. That grew into a leadership position over the course of a decade.
On Sunday, Arent was touring the decrepit grounds checking light bulbs, soundtracks and other set details to contribute to that perfect spooky ambience.
Nathan Miller
When it’s all said and done, the Fortress will be ready to welcome visitors starting on Friday, Oct. 3, with shows running from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Sundays. The Haunted Fortress is entirely staffed by volunteers, Arent said, including the actors that don costumes to scare visitors. Anybody aged 6 and up can volunteer to act in the horror show, and families often will volunteer to take over a scene.
“I love it because every scene is different every night,” Arent said. “Sure there are going to be vampires in this scene, but this family is going to do it different from these three kids from Bard, who are going to do it different from these three middle school kids.”
The sets themselves were all built from recycled material to be as creepy and decrepit as possible, Arent said. Concrete culverts adorn the sides of a bridge over a stream, stacked vertically with a cone on top to elicit a fortress’s spires. Reclaimed lumber bolted to a fence evokes a dark and scary forest blocking any escape. A rusting tractor with a steel box welded above the seat sits on a set of rails with two cars attached to it, mimicking a wrecked train with it’s inner mechanisms exposed and blowing steam on passersby.
This year the Haunted Fortress is following a haunted circus theme featuring clowns and other carnival staples alongside the classic settings of the Fortress.
The team of volunteers is dedicated and numerous, and the Stanford Highway Department lends a hand too, Arent said, but there’s always a need for skilled labor at the local attraction.
And the group appreciates all the help they can get. “Whatever you’re interested in and capable of doing,” Arent said.
The haunted pirate ship marks the spot where groups of visitors are paired with their ghastly guides for the remainder of the Haunted Fortress tour in Stanford.Nathan Miller
Corinne Kalser, MD, left, talks about the benefits of animals as therapy partners, as Renee Bouffard, LCSW, of Healing Hoofbeats of CT, on right, watches Harry Potter, a young horse at Time Out.In the background, Finnegan, lead horse at Time Out comes to see what’s going on.
“Horses and other livestock maintain their wild instincts. They sense what we are feeling and that makes them amazing therapy partners.”
— Renee Bouffard, LCSW
In 2008, Time Out Foundation became an official rescue and therapeutic riding facility, fulfilling a lifelong dream of founder, Corinne Kalser, M.D.With her husband, David McArthur, LCSW, and the rest of their staff, they offer a haven for children and adults through gentle, relaxed therapies centered around animals — rescued horses, dogs, cats, and goats — on their 35-acre farm in Lakeville.
To ensure the foundation continues, Kalser is partnering with Healing Hoofbeats of CT, an organization with a similar philosophy of care.
“This is a way to keep it going after retiring,” said Kalser. Renee Bouffard, LCSW, founder of Healing Hoofbeats, along with Nikki Hedden, LMSW, and Rebecca Caruso, LCSW, will begin offering therapy at Time Out beginning Oct. 13. Based in Bethlehem, Connecticut, the Healing Hoofbeats team will bring their animal-assisted therapy services to Lakeville — and, as Kalser noted, “takes most insurances.”
Bouffard explained the process: “At the initial meeting, we introduce clients to all the animals with the intention of choosing who their therapy partner will be. This will be their partner for the duration of the therapy.”
“Through that process of building a relationship, issues come out — depression, anxiety, trauma. The therapist can address and can help solve them,” she added.
“Horses and other livestock maintain their wild instincts. They sense what we are feeling and that makes them amazing therapy partners.”
Relationships are built through groundwork and learning about your therapy partner.
“My oldest client is 89.We treat all ages — children, adults, families, couples, veterans,” Bouffard said.
For more information or to schedule an appointment at Time Out with the Healing Hoofbeats team, visit healinghoofbeatsofct.org or call 203-244-8411.