Pomegranate Love Buns

     I actually did more baking than usual this week.  On Sunday, I made Spicy Brownies with pecans topped with a chocolate Irish Cream butter/cream cheese frosting for Wayne's birthday.  On Monday, I made a rustic pizza dough that incorporated some rye flower in the mix, and we made pizza for Valentine's Day.  On Wednesday, a friend of ours, Anita, came over to bake bread with me.  We made a variation of Lemon Love Buns from the King Arthur site.  One of the things I really liked with this recipe was the baker's blog.  The photo explanation on how to shape the knots and hearts was wonderful.  Even a couple of novice bread bakers were able to figure it out.    The buns are very slightly sweet even though they are sprinkled with sugar crystals.  Someone suggested substituting pomegranate molasses for the extract.  The pomegranate flavor was not a strong as I had hoped.  The rolls are very light and tender, and just really pretty to look at.
     Wayne loves having company.  It usually means he gets to eat things I don't normally cook.  Like green onion cilantro burgers with real beef, not turkey.  This morning we had scrambled eggs with cheese, thick sliced peppered bacon, and pomegranate love buns.  Wow, Wayne had bacon today and it wasn't even his birthday.  Wow, it will probably be many months before he even gets a whiff of bacon again.
     It's really appropriate that Anita came to bake with me the week of Valentine's Day, and even more appropriate that we made heart shaped love buns.  One of the big jokes in our house before I retired was, "Wayne taught 5 years then got well and quit, but I never got over it."  Wayne met Anita a Chalmette High his last year of teaching.  The next year, Anita transferred to St. Bernard High where she met me.  At that point, the wheels in Anita's head began to turn.  She introduced Wayne and I to one another, and it stuck.  We had our first date on December 4, 1982 and on June 4, 1983 we were married.  Wayne and I have had a life time of shared experiences. We supported each other through the deaths of parents and his sister Gerry.  Our home was struck by lightening, hit by a car, and finally flooded by Katrina (yes, same house).  Wayne worked on the road for many years and the time away from on another was tough.  But there were many smiles and joys along the way.  Like "Boughs" (you have to imagine the music from Jaws) our first Christmas tree that grew in the trunk on the way home.  We've traveled much of the United States.  I learned that Cream of Wheat is made from wheat, don't ask.  Wayne learned that tomatoes do no appear on plants overnight unless someone applies them with wire (would I do that).  Wayne taught me to compute, and I taught him how to make grits ( I think I came out ahead on that one).  He encouraged me to get my M.Ed. in counseling.  I encouraged him to get a second bachelor's in CIS.  We've always been each others biggest fans.  Wayne is my rock, and I love him more than cookies.  He loves me more than coffee. 
     Anita, is responsible for 29 years of Wayne and I being us.  We refer to her as our almost sister.  She has and always will be an important part of our lives.  So to Anita, not only thanks for baking with me, but thanks for giving me Wayne.