How To Test Your Valentine's Love With Gourmet Food Gifts

Why give gourmet food to your valentine? - because if your valentine is really your valentine then he or she will share that gift of gourmet food with you. If any doubt about your valentine's depth of love haunts your mind, take this depth test now. Offer him or her the highest quality chocolates and truffles, handmade by gourmet chocolatiers. If upon opening, the chocolates are shared with you, then you've received a strong sign that your valentine's love is true. Don't trust your heart's future to drugstore chocolates; lovers have been known to share them with pet hamsters. Only hand-fashioned chocolates give true tests of love.
Some people were not born loving chocolate, and on them this truffle test can give a false positive. For these valentines, seek out other gourmet foods not easily shared such as sweet, Danish kringle. Tempt your valentine with cherry or pecan kringle; see how large a slice you are served.
If your valentine prefers meat over sweet, then give a gift of special smokehouse meats or bacon-wrapped filets. These gifts are packed with plenty of food to share, so you'll enjoy dining on them too. But the test lays in whether or not your feasting valentine simultaneously shares his or her attention with you. Does your valentine pause between bites to gaze into your eyes? Or are both eyes only on the meat?
What to do if your valentine fails the tests? Better to find out now and dump that false valentine. You'll be glad that you did because then when your order of gourmet food next arrives, you won't have to share!

C the Sweet Foods That Are Healthy Too!

Holidays are over but I'm still craving sweet treats. How can I wean my tongue away from Christmas cookies, cakes and candies? And why do these now-forbidden foods all start with C? Do I C a Conspiracy? There must be a sweet food that starts with C and is healthy too?!
Yes, I found one! Cranberries! Cranberries are the number one healthiest food that starts with C. At least I've read that they are. Cranberries have been found to aid the immune system, the digestive system, the circulatory system, and have been linked to lowering cancer risks. However, cranberries alone are awfully tart. These round berries are hard to pop into the mouth as is. So how will I get their healthy goodness inside my body? I'll bribe my tongue. What does my tongue want? And now we're back to sugar. Well, sweetened dried cranberries are spiked with just enough sugar to get my tongue to turn its cravings from deadly foods to healthy ones. Sweetened dried cranberries are my training wheels to healthy eating.
But what other sweet and healthy options do I have? Does chocolate count? It starts with C. Yes, chocolate counts if it's dark. I've heard that doctors recommend a serving of dark chocolate per day. How much in a serving? I'd hate to miss out on any healthy omega-3's. I'd better eat two servings to make sure I'm covered. And maybe I should cover those cranberries in chocolate.
And of course cheese starts with C. It's not sweet, but great-tasting food doesn't have to be sweet. Plus cheese is full of protein which reduces cravings and keeps me feeling full longer. Cheese is highly nutritious. Cheddar cheese curds are a triple dose of C, so they must be the best. What other healthy C foods are out there?
Chicken! Free-range, all-natural chicken is high-protein and low-fat. Plus, chicken tastes great roasted, fried, baked, sauteed, basically any way but raw. I will add lots of chicken to my new healthy C diet. Who knows, if I keep this up, I may soon be craving cauliflower and cabbage!

Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies Say Happy Valentine's Day the Healthy Way

Cranberry oatmeal cookies have suddenly become a new Valentine's Day tradition for us. Last year, a mother in my daughter's class made them for the 2nd grader's Valentine's Day party. She attached a baggy containing two cookies to each child's Valentine. The children loved the cookies because they tasted so yummy. We parents loved them because they were so nutritious. Each cookie was packed with whole oats, cranberries and apricots. They contained minimal white sugar.
This year, I'm making cranberry oatmeal cookies for the 3rd graders. But the twist is the recipe is a bit different. No apricots in this year's cookies. Instead they have tiny, chopped pecans. There are so many more cranberry oatmeal cookie recipes to try. I'm sure I'll be able to find enough different recipes to get both children through elementary school.


Here's the link for cranberry oatmeal cookie recipe with pecans.

Here is the link for the cranberry oatmeal cookie recipe with apricots. The link is to a side page called Cooking With The ABC's which is part of my blog Edible Antics - Having Fun With Food.

Whichever cranberry oatmeal cookie recipe I use, I've learned that the secret ingredient is the cranberries. The cookies taste best when I use really good cranberries. My personal favorite cranberries are grown by the Urban family on their farm in central Wisconsin. Their cranberries are extra plump and sweet compared to supermarket sweetened, dried cranberries. I order the Urban's cranberries through Wisconsinmade.com.

How A Gourmet Gives A Valentine's Day Gift

It's the 'year of the gourmet." How do you know if you are one? If you are a true gourmet, then you are creative, intelligent and you enjoy creations of great quality. It likely means that the object of your Valentine's Day affection is also of superior quality and deserves your full attention, if not your complete adoration. Being a thoughtful person, you give serious consideration of how to best communicate your feelings of appreciation. You want to select a Valentine's Day gift that is appropriate to your loved one's particular personality. You resist stock, off-the-shelf, cliche gifts. You're going to say, "You're special!" in a way that your loved ones BELIEVE it!

So what should you give?
If you are blessed with a chocoholic in the house, give gourmet chocolates. That's easy, and appreciated. High-quality chocolates are never spurned nor ridiculed. The chocoholic is sure that you care when he or she opens a gift tin of Valentine chocolates or fudge.


But for the rest of us who are not slaves to cocoa, chocolate does not do the trick. Other gourmet foods are appreciated more. Here's where your creative intelligence pays off. Match the gourmet food to the exact sentiment you wish to communicate.


For example, if you want to say, "You're FUN to be with! You are a good friend. I'm so happy to have you around," then give colorful, decorated cookies in playful shapes. Especially if you are giving to kids, - kids LOVE playful cookies. Cookies are fun to eat.


If your intended recipient also stirs deep, spiritual feelings of connection, then giving strongly nutritious foods are the Valentine's Day gifts to give. These deep feelings are difficult to express with words. You run the risk of sounding sappy. It's more eloquent to express them with food. Here's how. If you want to say, "You are the bread and butter of my life; the meat and potatoes of my soul. You are the staple of my life," then give nourishing staples. Present your loved one with gourmet meats such as Steaks or Filets. And serve these with wholesome, nourishing, freshly-baked rolls. No words are as golden as a great, home-cooked meal.

But maybe you and the focus of your Valentine's Day affection are still at the dawn of your life together. Gifts of life's staples are too serious for your burgeoning relationship. Then give gourmet food that says it as it is TODAY! Give a breakfast basket of gourmet food that says, "I love waking up with you! Starting the day together, starts my day right. Thank you." Then together cook up delicious pancakes, decadently-meaty bacon, and enjoy it all with gourmet, freshly-brewed coffee. Or go light and delicious with a warm breakfast kringle. You'll be creating the good times that you hope for ahead. And if the relationship fizzles later, well, at least this Valentine's Day you'll have eaten some great food.


For more stories about fun, holiday food enjoyed in Wisconsin, read my other blog, Edible Antics - Having Fun With Food.