I just finished baking cookies for my daughter to take to her teachers at school in honor of Valentine’s Day.  These cookies are my mother’s signature recipe and have become a tradition in our family.  My mother, affectionately known as Gigi by her grandchildren, made her famous "heart cookies" every Valentine’s Day that I can remember.  From Kindergarten on up, she would arrive in our classroom to deliver a white basket full of the iced treats right before the Valentine’s card exchange.  I don’t know what I anticipated more, the paper mailboxes being filled up with the coveted little white cards, or my mom finally walking in the door with the sugar cookies piled high.  Every child who ever lays their eyes on the sweet confections, with the mile high frosting, knows they are something special, something to be honored and cherished. And any adult who is fortunate enough to understand how a cookie can change your life, falls in love at first sight.  After they take their first bite, time stops and they are smitten with pure pleasure.  Worries fade away and nothing seems to matter as long as the lingering taste of sweet butter cream remains.  These cookies are like nothing else-I can’t even begin to compare them to something you might know.  They have mended all types of bumps and bruises, fixed broken hearts, cured all ailments, secured real estate deals, and even sealed a marriage.  They are simply magic.  Rich shortbread with sky high butter cream frosting.  Oh, how I wish I could give you a taste, and then just for a moment you would wish my mother was yours.