There’s no gingerbread—just 100% chocolate (plus decorations).

Each Chocolate Man and Girl is custom made and decorated to order.

It can be inscribed with a name (include the information in the special notes section at checkout).

Chocolate Man and Girl are 13″ tall, 10″ wide and 1/2″ thick, and are made of all-natural, premium chocolate. Get yours now:

 
They’re $50.00 each and nicely packaged.

This holiday for lovers has roots in an annual Roman celebration called Lupercalia, held on February 15th.

Men stripped naked, grabbed goat- or dog-skin whips and spanked young maidens, with the goal of increasing their fertility.

The pagan celebration remained wildly popular well into the fifth century C.E.—more than 150 years after Emperor Constantine had made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire.

Church leaders were unable to put a stop to the celebration, so scholars contend that they converted it into a Christian festival with this story:

The third century C.E. Roman Emperor Claudius II, seeking recruits for his army, forbade young men to marry before serving.

In defiance, the priest Valentine performed marriages in secret (he also helped martyrs at the time of persecution, and when in prison converted guards and their families to Christianity).

St. Valentine—Valentinus in Latin (photo © Communio).

Valentine greetings for loved ones were popular as far back as the Middle Ages. According to Wikipedia: “The day first became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400) in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.” Poems were written to one’s beloved; in the 19th century, they were replaced by mass-produced greeting cards.

In 1850, Esther Howland, an American printer and artist, was among the first to publish and sell Valentine cards in the United States. In the early 1900s the Norcross card company became one of the first companies to manufacture Valentines. With the exception of Christmas, Americans exchange more cards on Valentine’s Day than any other time of year.

In 1861, chocolate manufacturer Richard Cadbury created the first heart-shaped box of chocolate for Valentine’s Day; and commercialization took over.
  

One of five alternatives to Valentine
chocolate. Photo courtesy Williams-Sonoma.

Solution: five recommendations for delicious food items that aren’t chocolates.

Our Valentine Top Picks include:

1. Godiva Chocolate Vodkas & Chocolate Liqueurs

2. Patron XO Cafe Dark Cocoa, a chocolate- and coffee-infused tequila.

3. Cakeslider Creations push-up pops filled with buttercream-frosted cake.

4. Richart Chocolate Chocomacs, innovative macarons filled with ganache and topped with a chocolate paillette.

5. Two Hearts Bakery Heart-Shaped Pies On A Stick (a Williams-Sonoma exclusive)

A crumb or crumble topping—a.k.a. streusel—is a stroke of genius, says chef Johnny Gnall. A few basic ingredients, mashed together by hand and popped into the oven, results in a sweet, rich, crumbly voluptuousness that’s wonderful with any number of sweets. It’s a low fuss, crowd-pleasing dessert topping that can really dress things up.

Crumble topping, known in German as streusel (SHTROY-zul,) is a crumb topping of butter, flour and sugar; it can contain chopped nuts or rolled oats. The word derives from the German “streuen,” meaning to sprinkle or scatter. Streusel is used as a topping for a variety of pies, fruit crisps, cakes and pastries, most notably coffee cakes. A pie with a streusel topping is sometimes referred to as a “crumble pie.”

A cobbler is the British term for a crisp. Here are the related desserts: betty, buckle, crumble, grunt, pandowdy, slump, etc.

The best thing about a crumble topping is its versatility.

 
THE BEST CRUMBLE TOPPING

In this recipe, made with whole wheat flour and golden brown sugar, oats add a pleasant heartiness—plus, they’re a second whole grain. You can substitute white flour and hold the oats; but you’ll get much more flavor as shown.

Crumble Ingredients

 
Depending on how you plan to use the crumble, you’ll also need apples, pie filling, etc. While we’d much rather cook our own fruit than use even the best pie filling, most people—including kids—like it under a crumble topping.
 
Preparation
1. Combine the ingredients in a large bowl. Mix together with your fingers, pinching the butter into the dry mix until it forms balls the size of a pea.

2. Once all of the dry mix is incorporated into the butter, spread out on a cookie sheet or baking tray topped with a piece of parchment paper. Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes. For a crispier crumble you can bake longer, but you may prefer it on the softer side, especially with baked apples.

CRISP, CRUMBLE, COBBLER: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

Crisp. A crisp is a deep-dish fruit dessert made with a crumb or streusel topping and baked. A betty is a crisp topped with buttered bread crumbs or bread pieces instead of streusel; “brown” (as in apple brown betty) refers to the brown sugar in the recipe.

Crumble. Crumble is the British term for a crisp.

Cobbler. A cobbler topping is different from a crisp or crumble, which has a crumb topping. Shortcake batter or biscuit dough is dropped onto the fruit before baking. The dish got its name because the lumps of cooked dough resembled cobblestones. Related desserts include a grunt, which is a spoon pie with biscuit dough on top of stewed fruit (fruit which is steamed, not baked); a pandowdy, a spoon pie with a rolled top crust that is broken up to allow the juices to come through; and a slump, a spoon pie topped with biscuit dough or pie crust, which can be baked or steamed, and can be made upside down.

Learn your pie and pastry types in our Pie Glossary.

[1] From field to plate: Low-calorie cauliflower is high in fiber, vitamins and minerals, and cancer-fighting antioxidants (photo © Esin Deniz | Panther Media).

[2] The pistachio nut, a member of the cashew family, grows on a small tree that originated in Central Asia and the Middle East (photo © Paul Wence| Pexels).

[3] The lemon also grows on a small tree: a species of evergreen native to Asia, primarily Northeast India, Northern Myanmar and China (photo © Dominika Rose Clay | Pexels).

[4] Purple cauliflower, along with orange and green varieties, resulted from a natural mutation (photo © Sheila Joy | Unsplash).

[5] Orange cauliflower (photo © Botanica Restaurant | Los Angeles).

[6] Green cauliflower (photo © The Seed Collection).

In addition to being low in calories and high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals, cauliflower and its cruciferous cousins are packed with cancer-fighting phytochemicals* (a type of antioxidant). They can also be turned into delicious and easy recipes, so load up!

Blanching or steaming cauliflower is quick, easy, and healthy. We steam it in two minutes in the microwave so that we don’t lose precious nutrients to boiling water.

But some people need vegetable recipes with more sex appeal. Here’s an easy recipe from THE NIBBLE’s chef Eric Dantis that’s easy and very flavorful.

Be careful not to overcook cruciferous veggies. They have a high sulfur content; overcooking releases the sulfur and gives them a very unappealing odor as well as a less-than-attractive taste.

Here are more ways to enjoy cauliflower.

The history of cauliflower is below.
 
 
RECIPE: ROASTED CAULIFLOWER WITH BROWN BUTTER, LEMON & PISTACHIOS

Ingredients For 4-6 Servings

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT THE oven to 400°F.

2. TOSS the cauliflower in a bowl with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

3. ROAST it in the oven until just tender, about 20-25 minutes depending on the size of the florets. Set aside in a bowl.

4. HEAT a pan over medium-high heat. Melt the butter and let the milk solids start to brown. Swirl the pan to ensure even browning. When the milk solids are browned and the butter begins to smell nutty, add the pistachios and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

5. TASTE; if it’s too rich for you, squeeze a touch more lemon. Toss with the cauliflower and enjoy.
 
 
WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THE REST OF THE CAULIFLOWER?

Don’t throw it away: It’s just as delicious as the florets, just not as good-looking. Cut into pieces, steam, then mash with butter or olive oil, salt, and pepper for another delicious dish. We top ours with some plain, nonfat Greek yogurt.

The leaves of cauliflower are edible but have a stronger taste than the florets and stems.

If you know someone with a hamster or rabbit, they’d probably appreciate the leaves.
 
 
CAULIFLOWER HISTORY

Cauliflower originated in the area around the Mediterranean Sea. It has been cultivated across Europe since the 1500s.

Cauliflower closely resembles broccoli in appearance: They are Brassicas cousins, if not siblings. The biggest difference is cauliflower’s white coloring.

Cauliflower remains white due to the protective leaves growing around the head (see photo #1). The leaves shield the head from the sun, preventing the formation of chlorophyll, and keeping the head from turning green.

The Roman naturalist and author Pliny the Elder (23/24 – 79 C.E.) included cyma among cultivated plants he described in his Natural History. “Ex omnibus brassicae generibus suavissima est cyma,” translates to “Of all the varieties of cabbage the most pleasant-tasted is cyma.”

In the Middle Ages, early forms of cauliflower were associated with the island of Cyprus. This association continued when the plant was brought to Western Europe, where cauliflower was sometimes known as Cyprus colewort.

The word cauliflower derives from the Italian cavolfiore, meaning cabbage flower, from the Latin words caulis (cabbage) and flōs (flower).

Cauliflower was introduced to France from Genoa, Italy in the 16th century. It was grown in the greenhouses of King Louis XIV, and was considered a rare delicacy (it could be a challenge to grow).

The great French chef François Pierre La Varenne (1615–1678 ) included recipes for cauliflower (chouxfleur in French) in his seminal cookbook, Le cuisinier françois (“French Cooking”) [source].

The vegetable ultimately made its way to commoners and then on to England. The British brought it to India in 1822. Eventually, cauliflower arrived in North America, in the 1900s [source].
 
 
Cauliflower In The U.S.

Today, California produces more cauliflower than any other state (China is the world’s leading producer of cauliflower).

Cauliflower is grown in the Salinas Valley of California, also known as the “Salad Bowl of the World.” The growing season is long: It can last 10 months due to California’s moderate climate and rich soil.

Other growers include Arizona, Florida, Michigan, New York, Oregon, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin [source].

In recent years, due to mutations, cauliflower can be found in different color varieties including orange, purple (photos #4, #5 and #6).

_______________

*Many studies have found a link between eating cruciferous vegetables and cancer protection. Specifically, the phytochemicals, including sulforaphane, indole-3-carbinol and crambene, help the enzymes in your body that destroy carcinogens before they can damage your cells.

†The name “cruciferous” is an informal classification for members of the Brassica family. It derives from the Latin Cruciferae, meaning cross-bearing. That’s because the four petals of the flower(s) resemble a cross.

This got buried under zillions of emails, so we didn’t read it before the Super Bowl. But we find it just as interesting the day after.

The “Big Game” has become much more than a football game: It’s the second biggest day for food consumption in the United States, after Thanksgiving.

So, says Charles Platkin, PhD, MPH, assistant professor at CUNY School of Public Health at Hunter College and editor of DietDetective.com, here are the eye-opening exercise equivalents for some favorite football snacks, along with Dr. Platkin’s recommended alternatives. While football season is over, snack time never is.