For a mini treat, give your Valentine two pieces of heart-shaped chocolate bark in one of three delicious flavors:

 
The 4-ounces bag is $7.00, and just enough chocolate to let someone enjoy Valentine’s Day without a limited number of calories.

Order online at LaughingMoonChocolates.com; scroll down the page past the chocolate bunnies.

Set up a “soup bar.” It’s similar to a baked potato bar, where bowls of garnishes are laid out so that everyone can customize his or her own soup.

The garnishes are what you already have in the kitchen, and a soup bar is a great way to use up leftovers. Scout the cabinets, fridge and freezer to see what you’ve got. Then, set out a selection of at least five options:

 
PARTY SOUP BAR

Offer two or three different soups that provide a good canvas for the toppings: mushroom soup, potato soup and tomato soup, for example. Soups that already have multiple visible ingredients, like chowder and minestrone, don’t need more embellishment.

You’ll also want to fan the excitement by doubling the number of garnish options.

Soup’s on! Get it while it’s hot!
 
FIND MORE OF OUR FAVORITE SOUPS & SOUP RECIPES.

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.

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.

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.

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.

January 23rd is National Pie Day (see all the American food holidays). Which pie should you choose for your celebration? The pie-sibilities are endless.

The most popular pies, according to a survey* sponsored by the makers of Mrs. Smith’s and Edwards desserts:

 
Surveys give participants a finite number of choices. Internet searches searches tell a different “favorite pie” story. The top searched pies on Yahoo! over the past 30 days:

America’s favorite pie. Photo courtesy USApple.org.

1. Pecan pie
2. Apple pie
3. Sweet potato pie
4. Lemon meringue pie
5. Pumpkin pie
6. Peanut butter pie
7. Key lime pie
8. Cherry pie
9. Chocolate pie
10. Buttermilk pie

The next 10 most-searched pies: banana cream, chocolate pecan, Dutch apple (with a crumb topping of flour, brown sugar, oats and butter), blueberry, coconut cream pie, mud pie, egg custard pie, lemon pie, French silk pie (a variation of chocolate pie) and custard pie.
 

THE HISTORY OF PIE

While the French have the reputation as the great pastry makers, the ancient Egyptians, who were great bread bakers, worked out the details of early pastry.

Theirs were savory pies: a dough of flour and water paste was made to wrap around meat and soak up the juices as it cooked. The dough was used as a vessel to cook the contents—in lieu of an expensive baking pan—and was typically not eaten.

Pastry was further developed in the Middle East; it was brought to Mediterranean Europe by the Muslims in the 7th century. Another leap forward occurred in the 11th century, when Crusaders brought phyllo dough back to Northern Europe (the First Crusade was 1096 to 1099).

Greek and Roman pastry did not progress further because both cultures used oil, which can’t create a stiff pastry. In medieval Northern Europe, the traditional use of lard and butter instead of oil for cooking hastened the development of other pastry types. Pies crusts developed, and the stiff pie pastry was used to provide a casing for various fillings.

Pyes (pies), still predominantly meat, originally appeared in England as early as the 12th century. The crust of the pie was referred to as the “coffyn” because of its rectangular coffin shape. There was actually more crust than filling.

Fruit pies or tarts (pasties) were probably first made in the 1500s. English tradition credits making the first cherry pie to Queen Elizabeth I (credit actually goes to anonymous chefs who toiled in her kitchens).

By the 17th century, flaky and puff pastries were in use, developed by French and Italian Renaissance chefs. Pastry began to become highly decorated, with pastry chefs working intricate patterns on the crusts.

Pie came to America with the first English settlers. The early colonists cooked their pies in long narrow pans called coffins. As with the Romans, those early American pie crusts often were not eaten, but simply created to hold the filling during baking.

It was during the American Revolution that the term crust was used instead of coffyn, and the tradition of tasty crusts was on its way.
 
 
FIND ALL THE TYPES OF PIES IN OUR PIE GLOSSARY.
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*The survey was conducted among 1,000 adults the week of January 2, 2013.