"hearts" news and stories

For your lunchtime pleasure, I'm presenting a series of my favorite bento boxes. Bento are Japanese home-prepared meals served in special boxes, usually eaten for lunch at work or school. These days, bento enthusiasts from all over the world share their creations on Flickr.

Check out the valentine-themed bento by kayepants, with its cut-out cheese hearts, apple sauce with cinnamon hearts and cheesy hot dog hearts, which remind me of the disembodied lips in the opening sequence of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. The cinnamon hearts were achieved using a stencil.

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Valentine's Day is just around the corner. It seems like every baking site is posting about heart shaped cake pans, or some other heart shaped dessert maker. And I appreciate that to no end. I have no problem admitting the level of my baking geeky-ness. But have you spent any time thinking about how you are going to present your dessert?

I stumbled across this beautiful cake stand at the Sur La Table website.
This is a perfect presentation for your special dessert. You can keep up the theme, build an atmosphere and sustain the mood. Another plus to this cake stand is that it is very reasonably priced at $14.95.

I don't know about you, but I can't resist a red, heart embossed cake stand. It'll be the perfect platform for the special dessert in store for my baby later this week.

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Uh. Yeap, that definitely look like a heart-shaped peanut to us.

However, we highly doubt that the tiny heart-shaped peanut was grown specifically for Valentine's Day, as the farmer claims. It seems to us that, like finding Jesus, Mary, and Elvis on toast, the heart-shape is just a natural, one-time anomaly that can't be reproduced by the farmer. We'd be interested to see the heart-shaped peanut's siblings from the same plant.

With all the fancy schmancy genetic engineering they can do nowadays, scientists could probably design a plant that grows heart-shaped nuts, but not for this Valentine's Day.

[via: yumsugar]

Anything molded into a heart shape automatically becomes appropriate for a Valentine's Day dessert. Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course! It actually makes it much easier to come up with an appropriately thematic treat to end the evening. Nicole, from Pinch My Salt, made up this batch of wickedly delicious looking Naughty Ice Cream Sandwiches, which not only incorporate heart shapes, but lots of rich flavors to get you in the right mindset for celebration. The filling is made of Irish Cream-spiked vanilla ice cream, frozen in a thin layer until firm enough to cut with a cookie cutter. The hearts are made of very thin brownies that have been enhanced with some Kahlua, instant espresso and dark chocolate baked in a jelly-roll pan, then cut with the same heart-shaped cookie cutter. The results are stunning and, aside from the repetition of the cutting, very easy to pull off. Make them in advance and store them in the freezer for a late-night snack, or a great summer treat when it is hot out!

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Ever working to improve their image and put their best foot forward with the public, McDonald's has introduced nine meals to its Australian menus that have all been given the seal of approval by the National Heart Foundation. It's an historic event, to be sure, since the company has never had their approval before and fast food is not known for being heart-healthy - or healthy in general, for that matter. The meals include salads, Chicken McNuggets and some hamburgers, but no french fries.

Critics say that the "the Heart Foundation should feel 'duped'" for going along with McDonald's "marketing ploy." While it is true that McDonald's is paying to get the NHF's approval - fees that go towards testing the food, according to the NHF - the organization is still placing their reputation on the line and has no reason not to support the fast food company if their meals meet the NHF's standards. And if some regular McDonald's eaters switch to healthier fare, that's a positive change whether it came from a "marketing ploy" or not.

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