This year the beginning of the Chinese Lunar New Year, the Year of the Tiger, falls on February 14. Does that date ring a bell, one that starts your heart a quiver or makes you panic that you haven’t realized we close out the month of January this weekend? You could combine the two holidays with a night out at a Chinese restaurant on Valentine’s Day, or…
The list of possibilities to make this fun day, this year’s Valentine’s Day, extra tasty, after all this is a food blog, keeps on multiplying. No matter what last year was like; this is a new decade. Move on.
It may be too late to get personalized chocolate bars, but there are no shortage of Sweetheart candy messages. If it’s ice cream treats you covet, then Maggie Moo’s has two options to suggest: Pink Champagne Sorbet or a Dream Cake for two. That’s a small-sized cake of strawberry ice cream drizzled with chocolate ganache and topped with a chocolate covered strawberry.
What is it about strawberries and chocolate dips anyway? Just walking past Godiva windows should convince you that they have the market on the biggest berries out there. Yes, they are beautifully covered in chocolate!
Dairy Queen changes its cake shapes for the month of February. Not a round but a heart-shaped ice cream treat (chocolate soft serve topped with crunchy chocolate cookies pieces and then layered with vanilla soft serve). They also feature the Midnight Truffle Blizzard (chocolate truffle pieces, dark cocoa fudge and vanilla soft serve).
If you want more than just dessert, then restaurants have you covered with no shortage of options for special Valentine’s Day (evening) dinners. Prix-fixe menus are all the rage. Plenty of people will tell you that dining out that evening is a semi-hectic experience, but if you’re curious about its popularity, look at all the restaurants normally closed for Sunday dinner offering special dining packages. A great source for info is Open Table. Better hurry and reserve if dining out is your goal.
If you purchase by the 14th, you can extend the heart-shaped dining with Krispy Kreme’s assortment of heart and chocolate doughnuts, including the chocolate-iced heart doughnut with red drizzle. If you buy a dozen, they have a treat for you: “A Share the Love” card with a sweet surprise.
No one wants to be left out of this marketing maze.
Dining-in works, too. So many wonderful recipe possibilities and items from Sunday farm markets–what’s redder than a beet?
Don’t forget champagne!
Ok.
