Valentine Gift Guide

Ah, Valentine's Day!  Roses, chocolate, a nice dinner out... the usual - blah, blah, blah.  How about mixing it up a little this year?

First of all, heart-shaped desserts are de rigueur.  But why not be anatomically correct and go with some authentic-looking treats?  One of the ones below should appeal to someone with real heart.

If you happen to be in London, then go to the London Dungeon,
which will be giving out free cupcakes to visitors.  These cupcakes are
designed by Miss Cakehead of the Eat Your Heart Out cake shop.

This one was created by internationally famous designer
Naoto Fukasawa.

Lili Vanilli's red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting and black current
and cherry "blood".  Priced at roughly $11, 20% of the proceeds go to
Trekstock, a music and fashion charity raising money for youths with cancer.

This specimen is one pound of solid chocolate, and will run you $16
from Bluelips.

Women, if your guy is kind of macho, and you don't think a heart, anatomical or otherwise, would make a suitable gift, then how about these tools?

Designed by Fran Kobe Sweets, these are in a limited edition
of 5,000 sets, at about $32.

You may want to make something special for your loved one.  A homemade treat always hits the right spot.  Something like this, perhaps?

If you would prefer something jigglier, try this gelatin mold.
Strawberry, cherry, or a mix of flavors?

A nice cuppa is always good.  You can buy a whole heart-shaped tea set to serve your favorite tea in:

The cup and saucer from a tea set by Wagokoro-Ya.
You can also buy Japanese tea cups in a heart shape.

Men, how about something for the woman who can't have enough shoes?  (Can't you just see Pee Wee Herman in these?)

Hand-carved, custom-made shoes from Booty Cocktails, only $199.95.
These are model 0536 "Red Heart Wooden Stripper Shoes" by Karos Shoes.
(As far as I am aware, Birkenstock's doesn't make anything like these, so I'm out.)

Perhaps you are looking for something that both of you can enjoy together.  Mua is just the thing for lovers.  Wicker-wrapped steel, lined in red, it can dangle from a tree for the true Tarzan/Jane/(Cheeta?) experience.

Lounge furniture by Victor Aleman available at busyboo.

Maybe Valentine's Day is one of those where it isn't even worth chewing through the restraints.  Here both of you can get your frustrations out by actually chewing on your cuffs:

What if you are alone and broken-hearted on Valentine's Day?  Help is available with the Love Patch.  It can help you with your addiction, making you a better person.  Perhaps.

And finally, what better way to get rid of your lover than with the following gift? A limited edition Marmite, with added champagne flavor...

'Nuff said!  Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours!

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Chocoholics Rejoice!

Ripe cacao pods, whence chocolate comes from.  Not very appetizing...yet!

Chocolate!

A true treat from the Americas.  At least originally it was.  Despite the fact that westerners altered the original ways of consumption by adding massive quantities of sugar, it is so popular that one can find a blend that suits one's own particular taste.

Ah!  More like it...a piece of a bar dipped into melted chocolate.

Now we know there are health benefits to it, as well.  Since it comes from plants it contains some of the health benefits of dark vegetables through flavonoids. Flavonoids act as antioxidants which protect the body from free radicals.  Dark chocolate contains the most antioxidants, so I call it "medicinal chocolate".  A small piece every day can keep one's heart and cardiovascular system in shape. Chocolate can lower both blood pressure and reduce LDL cholesterol up to 10 percent.  It also creates endorphins, which create a feeling of pleasure, and serotonin, an anti-depressant.  Because it contains theobromine, which is a stimulant like caffeine, no matter how much Rover or Tabby like it, they shouldn't have any because it's poisonous for them.

Probably a full year's worth of chocolate calories.

There are a couple of caveats, however.  (Isn't there always when something is too good to be true?)  Chocolate is high in calories and fat, so stick with the amount that studies use, which is about 3.5 ounces of dark chocolate a day.  If your choice contains nuts you're okay, but any filling like caramel or nougat adds excess fat and sugar, lessening the benefits.  Some research shows that consuming it with milk could prevent the antioxidants from being absorbed, so you should avoid eating it with milk for the time being.

No comment.

Although in the U.S. we mostly consume chocolate in milk, desserts, or candy, it has come to my attention that eating chocolate doesn't have to be so boring.  There are many ways to eat it that can complement your interests and I've decided to share them with you:

First of all, you are going to need a laptop to find all these goodies.  A Chocolap would be perfect!  Chocolap is a cardboard computer containing a roughly ten ounce chocolate bar in the shape of a computer.  It comes in milk, dark, or white chocolate from the Netherlands.  You can even have it customized.  Intel, Hewlett Packard, and Mercedes-Benz are a few of the companies who have ordered them for gifts.

Perhaps you are interested in typography, and have need of a chocolate font. Typolade will make you a set of letters.  Select chocolatiers make these sets by hand in small batches with custom-designed molds.  You can get letters A-Z or have them make a custom message.  The percentage of cacao is 60 percent, placing it in the "medicinal" category.

If you are "old-fashioned" (a nicer word than "Luddite"), then you would probably prefer chocolate pencils.  These pencils come with a pencil sharpener.  If you can restrain yourself and not eat the pencils, you can sharpened them over your favorite dessert - the shavings add a nice touch.  Designed by Japanese designers Nendo for the Tokyo patissier Tsujiguchi Hironobu, they come in a variety of blends.  I used to chew the ends of my pencils.  Perhaps I was just waiting for these to come along.

If you are constantly watching the calories you consume, there is a chocolate that can help.  "Rompicollo" by L'Agenzia per il Disegno e la Funzione, in collaboration with Cinzia Curitti,  has the calorie count of each piece on top, so you can easily monitor what you are eating.  The chocolate bar has several piercings along the sides of the pieces so you can break off the correct amount for your diet.

Maybe a good way to burn up some calories would be to walk your dog.  Don't have one?  Well, you can buy a charming French Bulldog, that also tastes great. Fetch Chocolates is the brainchild of Manhattan Fruitier and Fritz Knipschildt. Using high quality chocolate, they are made from custom designed molds, and are solid chocolate.  Available in 34 percent milk chocolate (not so healthy!),  white chocolate (even less healthy!), or delicious AND healthy 71 percent dark chocolate.  Currently they are "breeding" Bulldogs, but there are plans for Labradors, Dachshunds, Yorkies, Golden Retrievers, and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.  Roughly an inch and a half, the Bulldogs come in litters of six.  The chocolates come in gift sets as well.  You can also buy natural peanut butter dog cookies from them, so you and Fido can snack together.

Speaking of walks, do you have the right shoes for this activity?  Or for golfing? If not, try Gayle's Chocolates where you can get a variety of shoe types, including golf shoes and men's oxfords.  These shoes are six-seven inches long and about 3.5 inches wide.  The golf shoes come with a white chocolate golf ball.  Gayle also makes women's shoes.

I don't know if Imelda Marcos was a chocoholic, but if she was she would buy all of Gayle's shoes, and all the ones from ChocChic.  Here you can buy a pair of heels with a handbag to match.  They will even customize the inside labels for you. Made of Belgian chocolate, there are a variety of types of chocolates and flavorings you can pick.

Okay, so you and your dog are out walking and the heel of your chocolate shoe gets stuck in the grass.  Never fear, you can pull out your chocolate Swiss Army knife and save the day!  It even has the Victorinox Swiss Army logo, but this one has a hazelnut praline filling inside instead of gadgets.  It is 3.5 inches long, and you can buy a gift tin with six inside.

After you've taken your walk, or instead of walking, you can hang out indoors and play a game.  But beware!  There is a real danger in losing these pieces, so be sure you are playing with someone you trust!  At Chocolate Games you can choose a variety of games to play.  Scrabble?  Monopoly?  Trivial Pursuit?  Pictionary? Clue?  How about playing poker with chips made of chocolate?  Perhaps you'd prefer chess, or draughts (checkers)?  Sure to bring family fun and a delicious way to spend some time.

This has been a very trying post, and I'm off to make some fudge...

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All images from their respective websites.   

Others from Wikipedia.

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