This year’s limited-edition Valentine box
from Godiva. Photo courtesy Godiva.com.

This year, Godiva has partnered with the Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) to create a limited-edition gift box, the True Love Gold Heart Assortment. The heart-shaped box is filled with favorites such as caramels, ganaches and pralinés in dark, milk and white chocolate. The box is signed with “Give Love, Give Back,” and retails for $26.00.

Purchase any Godiva’s Valentine’s Day heart boxes valued at $26.00 or more, and you’ll have the chance to win a lavish, all-expenses-paid trip to New York City in the fall of 2010, where you’ll receive the red carpet treatment at EJAF’s annual star-studded gala.

And there’s more: The winner will present Sir Elton John, Founder and Chairman of EJAF, with a $200,000 donation check from Godiva. And, you’ll receive $20,000 from Godiva to donate to the charity of your choice.

So, Elton John fans: Head to your nearest Godiva boutique.

479° Popcorn is hand-crafted in small batches in heavy copper kettles. While still warm, the popped corn is tossed with with caramel and sweet seasonings to create Chipotle Caramel + Almonds, Fleur de Sel Caramel, Ginger Sesame Caramel and Vietnamese Cinnamon Sugar.

Or, try the savory flavors, which are just as exciting: Alderwood Smoked Sea Salt, Black Truffle + White Cheddar, Madras Curry Coconut + Cashews, and Pimentòn de La Vera (smoked paprika with tomato and onion).

With complex and heady flavors, 479° Popcorn is a better-for-you indulgence (popcorn is a whole-grain food, and the savory flavors add nothing unsavory to your diet). They’re nicely gift-boxed for you, for your Valentine and for all the gift occasions that pop up during the year.

• Read the full review to explore the delicious sweet and savory popcorn flavors. See how we used them to garnish food and as a dessert course. And learn where the name, 479° Popcorn, comes from.

Ginger Sesame Caramel popcorn is divine,
but all the flavors rock. Photo by Hannah Kaminsky | THE NIBBLE.

Celebrate the day by topping your bagel and
lox with scrambled eggs. Photo courtesy
American Egg Board.

“Lox” is an old generic term for smoked salmon that is fading away, replaced by much more complicated choices. So how does one decide among the Irish, Danish, Nova Scotia, Norwegian, Scottish and other smoked salmon contenders?

They differ in saltiness, smokiness and fishiness; the only way you’ll know is to taste.

If the fish is sliced-to-order, you can try a piece at the counter; but packaged salmon (which can be equally fine or better quality depending on the manufacturer) is often less expensive because factory slicing is cheaper than store labor).

Buy small amounts of different styles and compare. TIP: Once you decide what you like, write it down. The different styles of smoked salmon sound so similar, it’s easy to forget.

• Check out French Meadow Bakery bagels: organic, whole grain, and a Top Pick Of The Week, they’re lower in calories and much better for you than traditional bagels.
• Learn about the different types of smoked salmon.

Full leaves, or whole leaves, make the finest tea. Many tea bags are filled with broken leaves which don’t have as much flavor. Less expensive supermarket brands use fannings, the dust (think “crumbs”) left over from processing the leaves.

Open up a tea bag from the brand you favor, shake the contents on a plate and look at them closely. If you see broken bits and fannings, you’re not getting quality tea. (That’s also why sugar and milk are required to make the drink enjoyable for many people. The finest tea can—and should—be drunk straight.)

By the way, “whole leaf” refers to black, green, oolong and white teas, made from the Camelia sinensis plant. The term doesn’t apply to herbal infusions, although as with every product, there is a range of quality of the ingredients.

Learn all about fine tea in our Tea Glossary.

The bags are now whole leaf. Photo by
Benjamin D. Esham | Wikimedia Commons.

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

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

• Milk chocolate filled with caramel flan
• Marble chocolate filled with a hazelnut praliné ganache
• White chocolate filled with hazelnut praliné and pieces of biscuits (cookies)
• Dark chocolate filled with hazelnut praliné

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

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