M-I-C-K-E-Y chocolate gifts are fun.
Photo courtesy Leonidas.com.

You don’t have to be a kid to adore this Mickey Mouse Assortment of Belgian chocolates from Leonidas—but what kid wouldn’t be thrilled to get one?

The retro keepsake gift box contains 16 pieces of chocolate embossed with Mickey’s smiling face, in four different flavors:

Visit Leonidas.com or phone 1-800-900-CHOC.

Do you think Minnie will be getting a box for Valentine’s Day?

The popular Black & White cookie has been dressed in Valentine’s Day colors (a.k.a., the Pink & White).

We think they’re a lovely gift for a deserving young lady. Find them at William Greenberg Desserts, or phone 1.800.255-8278.

Looking for more Valentine goodies for the kids?

Check out the Mickey Mouse chocolates above, and see our Best Valentine’s Gifts for Kids list, including heart-shaped cookies and brownies and the cutest mice and penguin bonbons from Burdick Chocolate, a NIBBLE top pick of the week.

The black & white goes pink & white for
Valentine’s Day. Photo courtesy
WmGreenbergDesserts.com.

Try all 13 flavors of Green & Black’s organic
chocolate bars if you’re one of the five
lucky winners! Photo courtesy Green & Black’s.

Though there are plenty of non-chocolate gifts you could buy for your Valentine, let’s face it: Often, you can’t go wrong with chocolate.

If you or your Valentine is the type who appreciates a finer chocolate bar than newsstand brands, enter this week’s Gourmet Giveaway for your chance to win the entire line of Green & Black’s Organic Chocolate Bars. With strong flavors that include Cherry, Espresso, Ginger and Mint—and the newest flavor, Peanut—each bar has something different to offer—as you’ll be more than happy to discover.

What would you give to a man who gave you a dozen long-stemmed roses?

How about a dozen “long-stemmed” steak strips?

Gary West, makers of our favorite jerky and a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week, has created this meaty gift for that someone special who’d rather bite into beef than chocolate—the person for whom nothing says ”I Love You” like a jerky bouquet.

Your lucky Valentine will receive a dozen moist, tender, flavorful steak strips in your choice of flavor combinations (Black Pepper, Cajun, Teriyaki and Traditional). That’s 12 ounces of steak, wrapped in red tissue paper.

A dozen long-stemmed steak jerky strips are the
perfect Valentine’s Day gift for someone you know.
Photo courtesy GaryWest.com.

A chocolate-lover’s dream: hot chocolate and
chocolate truffles. Photo courtesy Woodhouse
Chocolate, a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week.

If you’re looking for Valentine’s Day fun but a chocolate-tasting or wine-and-cheese party aren’t for you, how about a cocoa and hot chocolate tasting? Explore the differences and pick your favorite brands while enjoying delicious cups of chocolate.

Cocoa is made from cocoa powder; hot chocolate is made from bits of chocolate—it’s richer because of the higher percentage of cocoa butter in the chocolate.

We love hot chocolate tastings, and have them regularly as a treat in THE NIBBLE offices.

And if you need guidance, here’s how to hold a tasting party.

Our previous post is a recipe for Valentine shortbread cookies. But don’t stop there—make Cherry Chocolate Chip cookies as well.

February is National Cherry Month. Even though fresh cherry season is in July, you can guess that National Cherry Month honors George Washington, born February 22, 1732 and immortalized for his honesty in the legend of the cherry tree (he ‘fessed up to his father that he cut down the precious tree).

This chocolate chip cookie recipe uses delicious dried cherries, made from last summer’s harvest.

And don’t stop with cookies: Enjoy the dried cherries in everything from breakfast yogurt, cereal and pancakes; to luncheon salads; to sauces for meats and poultry at dinner. For snacks, make cherry caramel corn by tossing hot popcorn with sweet butter and adding dried cherries and honey-roasted pecans; then drizzle with caramel. Or, make a cherry trail mix.

Cherry chocolate chip cookies: a yummy twist. Photo courtesy Cherry Marketing Institute.

Decorate plain shortbread with small
chocolate hearts or other garnishes.
Photo courtesy Chobi Capeta | SXC.

Show how much you love them by baking Valentine’s Day cookies. Here’s a recipe from Tracy Anderson of Woodhouse Chocolate, a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week and producer of magnificent Valentine’s Day chocolate boxes.

Shortbread has three simple ingredients—flour, sugar and butter. In addition to using a quality flour, the secret to great shortbread is in the butter.

Tracy prefers salted Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter (it’s imported from Ireland). We use Cabot unsalted butter (winner of the World Cheese Championships in the Unsalted Butter category). Try using a different brand of butter each time you make the recipe to see which you prefer.

This recipe bakes the cookies at a lower temperature for a longer time.

ORANGE-SCENTED SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Ingredients

- 1 cup butter (8 ounces)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- Grated zest of 1/2 an orange
- Optional decor: heart-shaped chocolates, chocolate chips, sprinkled chopped chocolate, gold leaf, fleur de sel)

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 250° with the rack in the middle.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar (about 1 minute).
3. Add the orange zest, mix well, then add the flour. Mix until completely incorporated (about 2 minutes).
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and form a ball. Flatten it out slightly with your hands, then roll to 1/2-inch thick. This is much thicker than other cookies you may have made.
5. Cut with a metal cookie cutter (or you can just cut into squares with a knife). Put on a heavy-bottomed parchment- (or foil-) lined cookie sheet and bake for about 90 minutes, until just turning brown on the bottom.
6. To decorate the shortbread: cool 5 minutes to melt chopped chocolate and sprinkled garnishes; 10 minutes to press a heart-shaped piece of chocolate into the cookie top.

Though you’ll want to eat these right away, shortbread will stay fresh in an airtight container for about a week, or it can be frozen for several months.

Actually, we mean “rosés,” as in rosé Champagne.

Many people like to crack open a bottle of bubbly for V-Day. We think the most appropriate bubbly for this special celebration is a rose-hued sparkling wine.

In France, rosé Champagne is made from blending red and white wines. They tend to be more expensive and more full-bodied than their white counterparts.

Don’t confuse rosé Champagne or other rosé sparklers with “pink Champagne,” an inexpensive sparkling wine that is colored pink, rather than allowing a natural color extraction from the grape skins.

You don’t need deep pockets to enjoy a flute of rose-hued bubbly. One of our favorites is [yellowtail] Bubbly Rosé, an inexpensive sparkler (around $10) from Australia.

[yellowtail] Bubbles Rosé is our favorite inexpensive rosé sparkler.

Say “I love you” with sweetened mascarpone
and raspberry purée. Photo courtesy Peabody Rudd.

If you love mascarpone, the extra-rich “Italian cream cheese” that’s the base of tiramisu, then you might want to whip up a Coeur à la Crème for Valentine’s Day.

The luscious mascarpone creation can serve as a cheese course prior to dessert, or instead of dessert.

You need special heart-shaped ceramic molds, but they can be used throughout the year for other purposes. (With a tiny dish underneath, we use them for tea bags, olive pits and garnishes—for example, to hold croutons for soup.)

A salmon farm. Photo courtesy Monterey
Aquarium.

Farmed fish is controversial for numerous reasons, but one is threatening the wild salmon population. There are concerns that in another generation, there may be no more wild salmon.

Millions of farmed salmon, raised in pens along coastlines, escape each year (due to equipment failure, extreme weather conditions and human error). In the northern Atlantic Ocean alone, an estimated two million farmed salmon escape annually.

These fugitives fish go on to harm the wild salmon population. Farmed salmon carry parasites that can attack the wild salmon population. Farmed salmon are larger and more aggressive than wild salmon; they compete with wild salmon for the food supply. And worse, they interbreed with the wild salmon population, creating hybrids. (Read more about farmed salmon issues.)

Top seafood chef Rick Moonen, a Las Vegas chef, restaurant owner and early champion for sustainable fishing practices, is now an exclusive supporter of wild salmon. Moonen had endorsed Norwegian farmed salmon years ago, but has since learned the harm caused by the open net technology used in Norway and other places. Even a major retail chain can make a commitment to healthier, more sustainable seafood: Target stores has announced that farmed salmon will be eliminated from their more than 1,700 stores. The company will sell only wild salmon.

Still, if you want to do the right thing, you can be misled by false advertising. According to Food & Water Watch, a non-profit organization that works with grassroots organizations around the world to create an economically and environmentally viable future, the Norwegian Seafood Export Council (NSEC) is misleading U.S. consumers with the false impression that Norwegian salmon is wild, not farmed.

Browse through Food & Water Watch’s website for more information on this and other food issues. You’ll be surprised—and chagrined—at the number of issues facing our food supply.