There are certain moments in my life where I think ‘This would make a great scene in a movie’. So many of these moments have happened with my best friend Cassie who, luckily, is becoming a filmmaker. Since I am a writer, we often discuss moments in our lives, and imagine what they would look like on screen. One of my favourite memories like this is our Valentine’s Day tradition; we get together, grab all our favourite pizza toppings, and construct some heart shaped Pizzas. Given she is at one end of the country for University, and I am at the other, it’s been hard to carry out this tradition. So in lieu of that, I thought I would tell you guys about this tradition, and why it is so important to me.  

Cassie and I have been best friends for ten years now. We have so many fun memories cooking and baking together, and have gone through many food trends together; we were both vegetarian at the same time, and then both gave up vegetarianism at the same time. We learned how to cook together, and how to cook for ourselves when off at our respective universities; we’d often video call while we were both cooking and then eating dinner, sharing in the memories even from so far away. 

I think love is in the little things like these. Cassie and I have been in each other’s lives for so long that we have become part of each other’s families. Most recently, she joined my family for our Boxing Day dinner. Before that, I went to her grandmother’s hen party. This relationship is where the Valentine’s Pizza Tradition was born. 

My family has a lot of token names for different food items. For example, we really like this random cake that we refer to as ‘The Cake’. During lockdown, for something to do, we started making pizza from scratch, and ‘The Pizza’ was born. Cassie, being so instrumentally a part of my family, picked up on this tradition. So when the lockdown lifted, we picked up this tradition for ourselves, and made them for particular occasions such as Valentine’s day. 

I have since developed the trend further, creating heart-shaped cookies for my housemates at university, and making heart shaped pizzas for my boyfriend,the first Valentine’s day without Cassie in years. But the tradition will always belong to her. We are apart for Valentine’s day, but we will have our usual call and snack. She is one of the people I love most in the world, and I know that we will continue to make more memories together as the years go on. 

So this Valentine’s day, I hope that everyone is able to start their own traditions. While I admit that heart-shaped cuisine isn’t exactly a new or original idea, there are always ways to make over-saturated holidays your own, and to do so with love.

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