by Kat Kinsman Nothing's sweeter than giving V-Day chocolate to a loved one, but don't you wonder what's gonna be under the lid? Our panel popped the tops off 22 heart-shaped boxes from $.99 drugstore counter specials to $55 chi-chi boutique bon-bons so you can help guide Cupid's arrow straight to your beloved's sweet spot. In ascending price order... (read on)
by Kat Kinsman Nothing's sweeter than giving V-Day chocolate to a loved one, but don't you wonder what's gonna be under the lid? Our panel popped the tops off 22 heart-shaped boxes from $.99 drugstore counter specials to $55 chi-chi boutique bon-bons so you can help guide Cupid's arrow straight to your beloved's sweet spot. In ascending price order... (read on)
Rachel Been for AOL
Producer: Elmer
Verdict: DEFINITELY NOT Style: Small cardboard heart box Contents: 4 chocolates Weight: 2.4 oz Price: $.99 Website:elmercandy.com Note: Every single person spat theirs out. Our panel said: "Bleeeaaaauuugggh!" "Awful - plastic-like." "Way, way too sugary. I could almost taste the granules."
Rachel Been for AOL
Producer: Russell Stover
Verdict: GOOFY & SWEET Style: Looney Toons Mini-box Contents: 3 chocolates Weight: 1.75 oz Price: $1.29 Website: russellstover.com Note: It's also available with a Bugs Bunny or the Tasmanian Devil design. Our panel said: "Totally darling!" "I'd be so excited to get this." "Great for giving out at school."
Rachel Been for AOL
Producer: Gillham & Grand
Verdict: CUTE & FUN Style: Novelty tin with "kiss / hug / tickle" spinner Contents: 3 chocolates Weight: 1.5 oz Price: $3 Website: hallmark.com Note: Gillham & Grand is made by Fannie May exclusively for Hallmark Gold Crown Stores. Our panel said: "Very cute! You could give this to anyone." "Fun!"
Rachel Been for AOL
Producer: Russell Stover
Verdict: WEIRD CONCEPT, DECENT CHOCOLATE Style: XOXO Just For Him cardboard heart Contents: 6 assorted chocolates Weight: 3.5 oz Price: $2.99 Website: russellstover.com Note: More deluxe editions come in metal, tire-tread embossed tins. Our panel said: "Why is this for men in particular? Are they beef and sweat flavored or something?""Pretty standard, but yummy."
Rachel Been for AOL
Producer: Russell Stover
Verdict: HORRIBLE Style: Foil-wrapped cardboard heart Contents: 7 assorted sugar-free creams, chews and crisps Weight: 4 oz Price: $4.99 Website: russellstover.com Note: A sugar-free pecan candy assortment is also available. Our panel said: "Tastes like a tire. Rubbery." "If your sweetie is diabetic, just get them flowers or something instead."
Rachel Been for AOL
Producer: Russell Stover
Verdict: HIT OR MISS Style: Foil-wrapped cardboard heart Contents: 13 assorted creams, chews and nuts Weight: 7 oz Price: $4.99 Website: russellstover.com Note: This is the #2 best selling heart-shaped box assortment in the US. The 1 lb selection is #1. Our panel said: "Seems a little old-fashioned. Not that there's anything wrong with that." "It really depends on which pieces you get. Some are great and some are kind of nasty." "Not for me, but my Mom would love this."
Rachel Been for AOL
Producer: Reese's
Verdict: CAN'T GO WRONG Style: Cardboard heart Contents: 30 miniature Reese's peanut butter cups Weight: 8 oz Price: $4.99 Website: reeses.com Our panel said: "You know exactly what you're getting, and it's GOOD!" "You can never go wrong with Reese's, even if the package design is cheap." "The taste is classic goodness. I'd be thrilled to get this. As muchas I'd like to be high-end, I can't escape my love for Reese's."
Rachel Been for AOL
Producer: Hershey's
Verdict: GOOD, BUT GO WITH THE REESE'S Style: Cardboard heart Contents: 54 Hershey's Kisses Weight: 8 oz Price: $4.99 Website: hersheys.com Our panel said: "Who doesn't love to get Kisses?" "Cute & romantic." "I love this, but it seems a little plain." "It's nice knowing just what you're getting."
Rachel Been for AOL
Producer: Godiva
Verdict: OKAY IN A PINCH Style: Miniature heart gift box Contents: 6 foil-wrapped milk chocolate hearts Weight: 1.1 oz Price: $5 Website: godiva.com Our panel said: "Cute, but not impressive." "Good valentine for the teacher."
As a dedicated Slashfoodie, you've already noticed that for Valentine's Day, we at Slashfood wrote a lot about such expressions of romantic appreciation as were appropriate for general readership. We introduced you to chocolate from Askinosie, Dagoba and Green & Blacks. Hopefully you're not too chocolated-out after the weekend for just one more bite. Because if the chocolate is Escazu, you will want to make room.
Escazu is a town in Costa Rica and a chocolatier in Raleigh, North Carolina. According to the Escazu website, chocolatier Hallot Parson formed Escazu Artisan Chocolates after travels through Venezuela and Costa Rica, including visits to the cocoa farms. Thus was born -- perhaps more accurately bloomed -- the vision of artisinal chocolate executed with respect to chocolate's Latin American heritage.
If you're planning to toast a special someone tonight, try adding a little chic pizzazz to the old bubbly with one of these recipes from trendy Chicago restaurant Pops for Champagne wine director Craig Cooper. The High Sage Cocktail looks delish to me.
Framboise Cocktail 1. Combine Sugar Cube, a splash of Orange Bitters (soak the sugar cube), 1 oz. of Pasquet Marie-Framboise 2. Fill Champagne flute with sparkling wine 3. Garnish with Orange twist
High Sage Cocktail 1. Combine 1.5 ounces of Hendrick's gin, 1 ounce of sage-infused simple syrup, and ice in a shaker tin 2. Shake and strain over ice in a Highball glass. 3. Fill with Prosecco, 3 to 5 ounces depending on size of glass 4. Stir gently 5. Garnish with cucumber slices and a sage sprig.
Sage-simple syrup: Combine equal parts sugar and water and bring to boil, lower heat, toss in a few sprigs of sage, then reduce by a third to a half until you get a syrup consistency. It should have a pale green-gold color.
Celestial Fizz Cocktail 1. Combine 1.5 oz. Francois Peyrot Cognac, ¼ oz. Grand Marnier and 1 oz. of fresh Cranberry Juice 2. Top with sparkling wine 3. Garnish with Lemon wheel
Just getting that out of the way first, as it's proved nigh on impossible to mention this event to anyone without their invoking Roald Dahl's tale of confectionary hedonism. Pastry chef Laurent Richard has crafted a carnival-themed, all-you-can-eat chocolate dessert buffet at New York City's Ritz-Carlton's 14th floor Rise Bar, and for the price of admission, one receives the privilege of sticking one's face into the endless treat plates borne by spinning ferris wheel, carousel and roller coaster, and not coming up for air until every last Nutella crepe, haute faux Twix (Chef Ricard calls it a Raider Bar), chocolate financier, Valrhona-slathered strawberry and morsel of Black Forest griotine has been gobbled up. Don't worry -- he'll make more.
One of the many reasons we love Pinkberry is because of its many fabulous toppings, such as daily cut fresh fruit. Now, they've added white and milk chocolate shavings. Unlike many yogurt places that use stale chocolate chips, Pinkberry cuts shavings of fresh Belgian chocolate. The chocolate perfectly balances Pinkberry's three tangy flavors: Original, Pomegranate, and Green Tea.
The timing of the addition of this topping is perfect! Just in time for Valentine's Day, chocolate lovers can take their significant others to Pinkberry for some rich chocolate mixed in with smooth luscious yogurt. Pinkberry doesn't gratuitously add new flavors. When you try the chocolate, one of the first things you'll notice is its amazing quality.
A combo that I recommend is the original flavor topped with chocolate shavings, strawberries, and blueberries. Or, if you feeling like escaping to the Caribbean, try the original flavor with both white and milk chocolate shavings and coconut. If you've tried these new chocolate shavings, what were some of your favorite combos?
This year's batch of Sweethearts Conversation Hearts have a foodie theme, inscribed with sayings like "Recipe 4 Love," "Top Chef," "Sugar Pie," "Table 4 Two," and "Yum Yum." Beats the "B My Sweetie" hearts of my childhood, which were always embarassing to eat in public when you were 12.
A brief walk down Conversation Heart memory lane: I used to live in Cambridge, Massachusetts and would sometimes walk past the old New England Confectionery Company factory, where they made Conversation Hearts and Necco wafers (New England Confectionery Company, get it). The factory was a brick fortress, with ancient studded steel doors and high rusted fences. On the very top was a water tower painted rainbow colors to look like a roll of Necco wafers. When the candy machines were rollin,' you could smell that musty, spicy-sweet scent for a mile and see pastel-colored steam billowing out the smoke stack. A real Yankee version of Wonka's Chocolate Factory.
Don't find yourself scrambling on Valentine's Day for a good gift for the chocolate lover in your life. Get them half a dozen of Green & Black's chocolate bars in the knowledge that happiness is assured when you come with good chocolate in hand. Green & Black's makes a wide variety of high quality, organic chocolate. It's available nationwide and I can even pick several different kinds up at my local corner store (making it perfect for last minute hostess gifts).
If you want something a little more elegant than a simple bar, Green & Black's also individually-wrapped chocolate coins that come packaged in tall, slender boxes.
Looking for a new way to tell your kids or your sweetie how much you love them this year for Valentine's Day? Consider the I Love You Toast Stamper! I realize it's a little silly, but it could also be just the think to perk up your holiday breakfast routine. I haven't tried this product out personally, but I imagine with some butter and strawberry or raspberry jam, it could be fun.
I am curious though, how well it would work on whole wheat or pumpernickel bread, where the surface area is darker and experiences less darkening during the toasting process.
If buying a gadget to engrave your toast seems a little silly, there are other ways to profess love on food. Do a little freehand engraving with a steak knife or write out the sentiment in a fruit sauce (a fine tipped squirt bottle would work well for that).
Do you do anything special to the food you feed family and friends on Valentine's Day?
There's no denying that dinner in a cozy bistro or a homey trattoria sets a certain mood, but my personal pick for most romantic cuisine might just have to be Moroccan - rich lamb dishes spiced with cinnamon, shared platters of fruit-and nut-studded couscous, desserts scented with rosewater and mint, slices of oranges splashed with perfume-y orange flower water, steaming hot tea from intricately carved silver pots. Especially if you get to lounge on embroidered cushions on the floor. But a big tray of sushi and other Japanese tidbits à deux would be a close second - a tangle of seaweed salad, a spill of jewel-like salmon roe, slippery mouthfuls of briney sea urchin. Of course, if you really want to seduce me, you'd fry me a chicken and bake a coconut cake!
Next in our series of good chocolate for Valentine's Day is Dagoba's baking chocolate. Since 2001, Dagoba has been making a variety of organic chocolate products in their Ashland, OR factory (they were one of the very first organic chocolate producers). I'm a sucker for their Mint-Rosemary Bar, but recently, I've also become a total convert to their line of baking chocolates.
These chocolates turn a standard brownie recipe into something revelatory. If you're planning to bake something special for your sweetheart this year, instead of reaching for your regular baking chocolate, get yourself some of this Dagoba goodness. If you're on the hunt for the right recipe to romance your chocolate-loving Valentine, consider this flourless chocolate cake (I'd recommend the bittersweet chocolate for that cake, not the unsweetened variety pictured above). Pair it with raspberry sauce and freshly whipped cream for a dessert that says, "I love you."
Thought the restaurant business is suffering - the industry has seen a decline in growth every month for about a year and a half - a survey from OpenTable.com suggests that Valentine's Day might just be recession-proof. This year, 64 percent of survey respondents plan to dine out, versus 47 percent of respondents who actually dined out last year. And 78 percent of respondents would rather have a nice meal out with their partner than receive a gift on Valentine's Day. I agree (unless that gift were, oh, say, an Iberian ham or something...).
Do you plan to eat out on Valentine's Day? Would you rather eat out than exchange presents? Or both?
Studies reveal that certain sweets, like chocolate activate the libido. Just last week, The Times of India had an article reporting on the aphrodisiac effects of chocolate particularly on men. Food scientists tracked down a specific ingredient responsible for these effects - Eurycoma Longifolia Jack.
Chocolates have long been associated with romance. As far back as the eighteenth century, food enthusiasts, like Brillat Savarin, raved about chocolate's corporal effects. So, when thinking about sweets for Valentine's Day, I often think of various chocolate confections and cakes.
Below are 8 chocolates I highly recommend this Valentine's Day:
Dozen Box of Roni's Roses - These chocolates are flavored with rose petal jam, powdered rose petals and exotic rose liqueur. If you're in NY, I highly suggest that you check out Roni-Sue's in the Essex Street Market in the Lower East Side.
Poco Dolce Burt Caramel Tiles - Everything made by Poco Dolce is phenomenal. They have truly mastered the delicious combination of salt and sweet.
Cheese, like chocolate, can help create a romantic ambiance. While certain cheeses may carry an unappealing funky aroma, others are full of a captivating sweet luscious creaminess. Even those stinky cheeses can become agents of cupid with the right condiments and wine. Cheese can definitely be romantic.
When selecting cheeses for Valentine's Day, pick out ones that have complex textures and flavors. Try an aged Gouda, such as Reypenaer, or something fresh, rich, and buttery, like Robiola di Roccaverano. My main advice is to overwhelm your palate with culinary enjoyment without over consumption. A stomach ache is never romantic.
This year, Anne Saxelby is teaming up with Ronie-Sue's Chocolates to sell a pairing of cheeses with chocolates. As Murray's Cheese announces, "Valentine's Day is for cheese lovers." They're selling a "love box" full of cheese, chocolate covered almonds from Spain, hazelnut chocolate, and more. Of course, if romantic cheese means heart-shaped cheese, you can find those as well. Try Coeur du Berry, a fresh goat's milk cheese from the Loire Valley.
Next Saturday is Valentine's Day. I know that for some people, it's a holiday about love, romance and jewelry. However, for me, it will always be a day devoted to candy, particularly chocolate. When I was growing up, my mom would always leave little baskets of treats at our places at the breakfast table, and so my sister I would start the day with a chocolate heart, along with our Cheerios. The school day would progress with a parade of conversation hearts, red gummies and more chocolate.
In honor of coming holiday, I'm going to be featuring some of the best chocolates that have come my way in recent days. One of my very favorites that I discovered last summer is Askinosie Chocolate. It's made by a man who is absolutely passionate about chocolate and who travels the world to meet the farmers who grow his beans. The resulting chocolate bars are single source and hand roasted, making for seriously intense and unique flavors. If you're shopping for a dark chocolate lover who's interested in terroir and the artisanal process, this would be an excellent choice.
Valentine's Day, with its endless opportunities for both food AND crafts, is a big deal in Marthaland, where the chocolate strawberries are always hand-dipped and the decorative pink ribbons always cut on the diagonal. Check out Martha's adorable Lovebug cookies, which satisfy both the baker's sweet tooth and the decorator's need to go wild with the gel paste food coloring. The bugs' eyes are silver dragees and the spots are white dragees or white fruit imperial candies. The fuzzy insect heads are acheived with black or brown sanding sugar.
Other Martha-approved Valentine's treats include chocolate truffles, pink-on-pink strawberry cupcakes, heart-shaped raspberry Napoleons, mini heart-shaped cakes, heart-shaped merengues and massive chocolate cupcakes.
As a dedicated Slashfoodie, you've already noticed that for Valentine's Day, we at Slashfood wrote a lot about such expressions of romantic appreciation as were appropriate for general readership. We introduced you to chocolate from 
Thought the restaurant business is suffering - the 
Next Saturday is Valentine's Day. I know that for some people, it's a holiday about love, romance and jewelry. However, for me, it will always be a day devoted to candy, particularly chocolate. When I was growing up, my mom would always leave little baskets of treats at our places at the breakfast table, and so my sister I would start the day with a chocolate heart, along with our Cheerios. The school day would progress with a parade of conversation hearts, red gummies and more chocolate. 
Valentine's Day, with its endless opportunities for both food AND crafts, is a big deal in Marthaland, where the chocolate strawberries are always hand-dipped and the decorative pink ribbons always cut on the diagonal. Check out 
What Can I Get You Folks? - Server Revenge
Reality-Show Celebrities Serve Up Chef Curtis Stone's 'Hundred-Dollar Burger'
Foods Celebrity Chefs Hate
