Share the love with these luscious bonbons.
Photo courtesy Choclatique.com.

Are you ready to give someone your heart—or a box full of them? Choclatique calls them Love Truffles.

An assortment of luscious, artisan-made, heart-shaped chocolates is a classic Valentine gift. There are even sugar-free options.

The all-natural chocolate hearts are packaged in a reusable leather gift box tied with your choice of colored ribbon. There are solid dark chocolate hearts plus delectable flavors:

Amaretto Latte, Black Cherry Caramel, Cafe Au Lait, Creamy Cappuccino, Grand Marnier, Hot Cocoa, Irish Cream Coffee, Mandarin Orange Caramel, Minty Julep, Passion Fruit Caramel, Saigon Cinnamon Caramel and Strawberries ’n Cream.

 
SUGAR FREE HEARTS

The company’s delicious Sweet Deceit line, sugar free, has solid dark and milk hearts assortments in 8, 15 and 30 pieces, $20 to $65. See the sugar-free chocolate hearts.

In 1999, Byrne & Carlson opened in Portsmouth, New Hampshire: a great artisan chocolate shop located in a charming brick townhouse. Portsmouth, the nation’s third oldest city (settled 1623), regularly appears on various “best places to live” lists. For our vote, Byrne & Carlson strongly helps that standing.

The chocolates and confections are made by hand in small batches, using the finest ingredients. When we first saw Byrne & Carlson’s wares at a trade show, we were enchanted by the beauty of their chocolate bars, decorated with edible flowers. It was the first time we’d ever seen such creative garnishing, and the chocolatiers set the standard for all others to come.

Made from the finest chocolate couverture, the chocolate bars a delectable and beautiful Valentine’s Day gift.

TO PLACE AN ORDER

There is no e-commerce, but it’s easy to order:

From top to bottom: Violet Bar with candied violets and mint leaves, Venezuelan Bar with crushed cacao nibs, Mendiant Bar with almonds, orange peel, pansy and candied violet petals. Photo courtesy Byrne & Carlson.

FIND MORE OF OUR FAVORITE GOURMET CHOCOLATE ARTISANS.

Valentine’s chocolate can mean more than heart-shaped pieces. One of our favorite chocolatiers, John & Kira’s, enables you to express your affection with a “Bee My Lovebug” collection.

The exquisite-tasting, hand-painted love bugs (ladybugs) and bee chocolates will delight the most demanding chocophile.

 
Both lovebugs and bees are made with Valrhona 64% cacao chocolate. They arrive beautifully packaged in a reusable red boutique box finished with an old-fashioned letter-pressed card.

Give your loved one some chocolate love bugs for Valentine’s Day. Photo courtesy JohnAndKiras.com.

Treat your Valentine to:

 
Everything made by John & Kira’s is top-drawer delicious, beautifully crafted and a very special treat.

FIND MORE OF THE BEST CHOCOLATE: THE NIBBLE’S FAVORITES.

Perk up the misery of a cold or flu with
specially selected teas. Photo courtesy
David’s Teas.

If you have a friend or loved one who’s been done in by cold and flu season, consider this misery-fighting Cold Survival Kit from David’s Teas.

The collection of five super-soothing teas helps battle virulent viruses:

The Cold Survival Kit is $19.50 at Davud’s Tea stores in Boston, Chicago, New York City, San Francisco and Westport or online at DavidsTea.com.

HOW DOES TEA HELP A COLD?

Tea isn’t a miracle cure, but when you’ve got a cold, every little bit helps.

According to WebMD.com, people with colds should drink lots of fluids to prevent dehydration, compensating for the fluids lost in all that nose-blowing, coughing and sneezing.

Hot liquids are better than cold ones: They help to relieve nasal congestion and the pressure from blockage. They also help to soothe the inflamed membranes that line the nose and throat, making breathing easier.

The same dynamic comes from “Jewish penicillin,” chicken soup (any hot soup will do).

If you’ll be drinking lots of tea, make some of it caffeine-free. Caffeine is a diuretic, which removes water from the body.

Bravissimo, a throat-soothing, caffeine-free blend of chamomile, goji berries, licorice, orange peel, peppermint and rose hips. Photo courtesy DavidsTea.com.

You can also send a delicious chicken soup gift.

Rose tea is an old European tradition: Real rose petals are blended into black or herbal tea. Photo courtesy Republic Of Tea.

For someone who’s counting calories and doesn’t want box of Valentine chocolate, how about some calorie-free rose petal tea?

Consider these limited edition offerings from Republic Of Tea:

 
There‘s also a caffeine-free Valentine Gift Tea Set: a tin of Cuppa Chocolate Strawberry Chocolate Tea (rooibos herbal tea with chocolate and strawberry) and one of Raspberry Rose Hibiscus Tea, $23.95. The teas are packed in an attractive, reusable gift box with a gold foil-embossed red lid. We couldn’t find it using the website’s search box on the site, so use the link above.

For those who say “hold the roses, just give me chocolate,” there’s a Cuppa Chocolate Tea Sampler Cube, $23.95, with calorie-free, chocolate herb tea bags in:

 
Champagne is lovely, but tea is the best way to drink to your health on Valentine’s Day.

FIND A RIOT OF INFORMATION ABOUT TEA IN OUR TEA SECTION.

The best gift of all: a cow, goat, sheep or
chickens to a very needy family. Photo
courtesy Heifer International.

If you’re finished with shopping for nice-but-not-life-changing gifts for the people you care about, how about helping a family you don’t know, who will be grateful to you forever?

Perhaps the most important gift catalog is from Heifer International, which provides indigent families with a cow or other livestock: a reliable source of food for the children and also a reliable source of income. Extra milk from a cow, goat or sheep, or eggs from a poultry gift, can be sold at the local market.

You can give the gift in the name of someone else: a double gift, as it were, giving the person who has everything the donation of a food animal to a family that has nothing. This truly meaningful gift will change the lives of a third-world family in need.

Income from the milk or eggs, coupled with the training in sustainable practices that the family receives, allows them to clothe their families, obtain medical care and send the children to school.

It’s not just cows: You can give a goat or sheep, a beehive, chickens, ducks or geese. The cost of a gift is as little as $20…or less:

You can buy a “share” in a cow or sheep for just $10. Take a look at the options.

Your cousin may not need those extra iTunes, but a needy family sure could use that flock of chickens ($20).

Check out the options.

Angie’s Popcorn serves up all natural popcorn year-round, in Lightly Sweet, Salted Caramel, Sea Salt, Sweet & Salty, Sweet & Spicy and White Cheddar.

But the special holiday popcorns are the our favorites: Dark Chocolatier Sea Salt Holidrizzle Kettle Corn and White Chocolatier Holidrizzle Kettle Corn.

We like both the chocolate and peppermint popcorn so much, that we’re stocking up for the next few months:

 
Plain popcorn is just 35 calories per cup; the chocolate and peppermint popcorns are 135 to 150 calories, but worth it! And, if you need a sugary snack, popcorn is a whole grain.

Check the store locator for the retailer nearest you, or head to AngiesPopcorn.com.

WHAT’S A CHOCOLATIER?

Two delicious flavors of kettle corn for treats or gifting. Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

Pronounced show-coe-lah-tee-YAY, chocolatier is French for either a chocolate shop or the person who makes the chocolate.

Find more chocolate terminology in our delicious Chocolate Glossary.
 
Find more of our favorite snacks in our Gourmet Snacks Section.

You can “zing anything” in your water bottle with Aqua Zinger and Citrus Zinger, new concepts that should have great appeal for lovers of flavored water.

The two new water bottles (actually thermos bottles that keep your drink cool as well) make naturally-infused flavored water, full of vitamins and other nutrients plus antioxidants. Commercially flavored waters use extracts.

The double wall stainless steel thermos bottles keep your drink and ingredients insulated. A wide-mouth top allows for the easy addition of ice cubes. As a thermos, the products can be used to carry hot beverages as well.

Both create a convenient new way to enjoy drinking water, adding your favorite flavors to satisfy your palate.

The Aqua Zinger infuses flavor from fresh fruit and/or herbs into your water bottle. Photo courtesy Brookstone.

AQUA ZINGER

First, the Aqua Zinger: a water bottle that naturally infuses still or carbonated water with the juice and essence of fresh fruits and herbs: basil, blackberries, citrus, ginger, kiwi, mint, peach, raspberries, strawberries and other favorites.

The fruits and herbs go into the bottom, screw-on base where grinder blades pulverize them and send the essences to infuse into the water. Mix and match and get creative: The flavors and ingredients are limited only by your imagination.

Aqua Zinger Flavored Water Maker is $26.00 to $29.00 in stainless steel with aqua, lime green, hot pink or black accents; at Brookstone stores and Amazon.com.

Citrus Zinger is a combination water bottle and citrus juicer. Photo courtesy Brookstone.

CITRUS ZINGER

When life gives you lemons, add them to the Citrus Zinger. Designed specifically for citrus fruits, Citrus Zinger juices clementines, lemons, limes and other citrus, and infuses the water with the juice. (Most oranges and grapefruits are too wide for the bottle-size juicer.)

It’s the easiest way to extract citrus juice and infuse the flavor directly into your water bottle, enriching your water with vitamin C and flavonoids (citrus antioxidants).

Citrus Zinger is available in aqua, lime green and orange for $20.

MORE TO ZING

The company also makes:

 
Learn more at ZingAnything.com.

Still looking for holiday gifts? Candy is typically a safe bet: If the recipient doesn’t want to eat it all, he or she can serve it to guests.

We like this charming candy globe from Williams-Sonoma:

The six-inch-diameter, reusable papier-mâché globe is filled with 10.9 ounces of classic holiday favorites: a milk-chocolate Santa, cinnamon gummy Santas, red-and-white peppermint twists and a medley of sweet jelly beans and sour gummy stars.

The treats are beloved by kids and adults alike.

If you want to create your own nostalgic candy gift, look for a papier-mâché box or other reusable packaging and head to the candy store to make your selection.

A charming reusable container filled with sure-to-disappear-quickly candies. Photo courtesy Williams-Sonoma.

The Chocolate Crisis Center helps you cope
with delicious chocolate-covered treats.
Photo courtesy Chocolate Crisis Center.

A chocolate crisis, according to the Chocolate Crisis Center, is defined as “an emotionally stressful situation caused by an insufficient supply of premium quality chocolate.”

What are those emotionally stressful situations? The holiday season: shopping, decorating, entertaining, dieting (yeah, sure). It all adds up to seasonal insanity, says the Chocolate Crisis Center.

Their solution: a variety of chocolate candy pills that “will give you the fortitude to survive the season.”

Or the office. Or the kids. Or anything, one chocolate bite at a time.

The Chocolate Crisis Center, which is not a government agency but a Denver-based producer of confections, packages confections in classic pill bottles and First Aid kits: Caramels, truffles, nuts and fruits are enrobed in rich Belgian dark or milk chocolate.

These delicious confections are then topped with cocoas, spices and fruit essences for a wide range of delectable taste surprises—all with a humorous “First Aid” twist.

Everything we tried was delicious. Individual bottles, called Daily Doses, are delightful stocking stuffers or party favors.

Various kits are larger gifts. There are Calamity Kits, Major Crisis Kits, a Minor Crisis Kit and a Shock Treatment Kit, some assembled from your choice of the Daily Dose candies:

A reusable first aid kit is filled with bottles of chocolate “pills.” Photo courtesy Chocolate Crisis Center.

There’s more, including Holiday Blues Peppermint Creams, a large blue bottle of jumbo “pills” the size of a nickel, a gentle peppermint coating over a soft, green minty center. The mint is very delicate—there’s no throat-cooling blast of peppermint oil. Seven big “pills” per serving is more than most people need to be cured.

Order online at ChocolateCrisisCenter.com or phone 1.800.329.6950.