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Home / Special Features / More from Mary Beth / Ideas and Suggestions to Make February Beautiful

Ideas and Suggestions to Make February Beautiful

Sunday, February 1, 2026

February Corner CabinetFebruary this is a month when the minds of many turn to romance. Mine, too, but February is so much more. Of all the months of the year it is probably the one where I find myself at home the most. In the evenings and on weekends I tend to “nest.” I love the smell of a fabulous soup on the stove, or a pot roast in the oven.

In the summer months, we tend to shy away from having the oven on because we don’t want to heat up the kitchen. In the dead of winter, there’s nothing better than being in front of the oven door as it opens and releases its warmth. Take advantage of it. Roast a turkey breast. Bake lasagna. Churn out some cookies. Break out the crock pot and the soup tureen and show some love with food.

Life, love, and laughter — what priceless gifts.
UNKNOWN

I particularly like pasta in the winter. I imagine I’m in an Italian villa, looking out over the countryside, whipping up a sauce from the fresh ingredients I bought at the market in the morning. It may be a fantasy (since I’m most definitely not in Italy today), but I can make the pasta of my dreams a reality.

A friend who is a vegan is regularly at the house for lunch on weekdays. When I’m too tied up with work to fool around in the kitchen, cousin Steve often takes the culinary reins. On days when we were savoring something meaty (and therefore off limits to Bob), Steve would sometimes make a vegetable-based pasta sauce that always smelled divine. One day, I decided I would much rather have it than anything else we might have planned, so I asked to make a larger batch so we could all enjoy it. I cannot describe to you how heavenly the taste was, a glorious medley of flavors. The choir should have sung in the background as I swallowed the first bite. It was the first of many occasions on which we have enjoyed low carb angel hair with this stunning sauce. We’ve dubbed it Steve’s Pasta. I recommend it highly.

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