A Blithe PALATE

Adventures of an Italian Food Lover: The Round Up

I asked Ivonne about the genesis of her food blog's name, "Cream Puffs in Venice," and her dreamy description of her inspiration -- a book -- conjured up such incredible visions of the power of food in relationships and in memory that when I read through Faith Heller Willinger's new cookbook, "Adventures of an Italian Food Lover," I couldn't help but to wonder how others might be inspired by sharing meals with friends and family.  So I grabbed Ivonne and said, "Let's have a food blog event and let's ask bloggers to share stories about the meals they made and shared!"

We were utterly delighted and awed by the wonderful posts that came in for our Adventures of An Italian Food Lover event. 

Here's one of the Round Ups -- find the other at Cream Puffs in Venice.   

Sherri at Braude's Bites met Geneve, on a serendipitous flight to Sydney.  Geneve introduced her to the joys of blogging.  Now these two friends share a lovely Sunday meal with a plate of Scquacquacio di Mare...

 

Barbara at Winos and Foodies reminisces about a lost friend..a bittersweet love story in oh so many ways, over the sweetness of Zia's Tiramisu

 

Like Faith, Chubby Hubby and his beautiful wife S. were inspired by their friendship with a chef and they share their take on his recipe for Laksa Fisherman's Pie...

Mary, aka Breadchick at The Sour Dough and her friends Weedhopper and Wife of Weedhopper (seriously, you gotta go learn more about this interesting duo) each pick a recipe to make and share, including this gorgeous Chickpea Puree with Shrimp...

Tanna at My Kitchen in Half Cups has packed this Etruscan Grape Tart (you should see a picture of the baked version!) in a basket for an overnight adventure with her friend Gorn.  Where did you end up going Tanna?

 

Foodbeam's Fanny talks about her great grandfather Tranquillo  for whom food and wine  were life, love and raison d'etre.  Fanny riffs on one of Faith's recipes to produce a Pesche al vino con vanilla, panna and sablé breton

Stephanie dispenses happiness from her kitchen (I know -- I've had the chance to visit that kitchen!) and tells us about Erin, the sister she chose for herself at age four, and for whom she would make a dinner including this Leek & Sausage Orzotto ...

Jennifer Jeffrey follows in Faith's culinary booksteps and shares with us the tale of her first trip to Venice.

And Nicole has the final (and some very kind) word(s) for us at Baking Bites.

To our friends and participants: thank you for sharing your stories with us!

Update:   

Oh my FREAKING HEAVENS.  I had these beautiful posts written up and due to some HTML coding gone mad, they got buried and never popped up in the post.  I've only just now discovered the error! 

RUN RUN RUN, look at this beautiful posts

Tartlette  made Amaretti -- inspired by the memory of first time she had them at a restaurant whose name is now long-forgotten, but which experience still resonates

 

  More deliciousness!  The indefatigable Béa at La Tartine Gourmand makes this gorgeous walnut cake -- which makes her think about picking fresh walnuts with her mother, and  about life as an expatriate...

Chewy Brownies: A Day That Really Schmecks, Part II

When Jasmine at Confessions of a Cardamom Addict  invited me to join in her event, A Day that Really Schmecks, in honor of Edna Staebler, I was delighted to join.  Due to a post office problem (I never got Edna's cookbook), I wasn't able to join part one, but Jasmine graciously held a second event for latecomers like me. Now, until Jasmine mentioned the book, I had never heard of Edna.  Born in Ontario, Edna was a prolific author and best known for her book, Food That Really Schmecks, recipes based on Mennonite home cooking.

The book is full of Edna commentary, a warm, folksy touch here and there about the origin or a memory of a particular recipe.  I must confess that when I first read through the book looking for a recipe to make for the event, I wasn't struck by anything in particular, until I hit the cookies section.  And maybe it was the particular mood I was in but her one line comment for that most plebian of all chocolate cookie desserts -- the Brownie -- was something of a challenge and something of an enticement:  "The best I've ever tasted."  I'm deeply fond of brownies.  For Christmas my nieces sent us a box of Fat Witch Brownies and we very quickly devoured those. 

Still, for an event in which the first set of participants made desserts as delicious sounding as Coconut Cloud Cake and Maple Syrup Cake with Soft Maple Icing, I thought I needed to try something more complex.  I eyed the tapioca pudding based on Hubby's preference for the stuff; but nixed that seeing as how I wanted to eat what I made too and tapioca pudding just doesn't do it for me.  I dog eared the book and circled various recipes, but I kept coming back to the brownie recipe.  And ultimately, the point of Edna's cooking is summed up in the title -- food that really Schmecks...that is, food that really tastes good.

And is there anything that tastes better than a warm brownie with a tall glass of cold milk?

Was Edna right?  Were these the "best I've ever tasted?"  Well...there's not much left in the pan.  And we're out of milk.

Heaven in 30 minutes:  that really Schmecks.

Jasmine will have the second round of posts on her site soon so go and see what other food bloggers chose to make from Edna's wide repertoire!

Cookbook Spolight: Kitchen Sense Roundup!

25 food bloggers.  1 cookbook.  Outstanding choices.

When Sara, Ali and I invited several food blogger friends to join us in our  inaugural Cookbook Spotlight event, we were all curious to see what everyone would choose from Mitchell Davis's new cookbook, "Kitchen Sense," to make.

And despite initial comments about the lack of photos in the book, half the fun of the event was seeing how fellow food bloggers style and photograph their masterpieces -- so technically, the book does have pictures!

Here's part one of the round up -- Sara has part two at Weekend Cookbook Challenge -- enjoy!

Barbara at Winos and Foodies leads off with this mouth watering Bourbon Bread and Butter Pudding - I'm sure this was the perfect warming dessert for a cold day in Auckland!

Stephanie at Dispensing Happiness let her hubby, Matt, pick the recipe -- he chose the Italian Meatballs. What is it with husbands and meatballs?  In any case, Alex got to pitch in and the final result -- an Italian meatball sandwich.

My favorite Cream Puff in Venice, Ivonne, makes exotic, gorgeous desserts -- so no surprise that she happened to randomly pick this exotic, gorgeous recipe:  Roasted Figs with Mascarpone Mousse.

As I wrote to Geneve from Geneve's Kitchen when she made this dish:  carbs, carbs, carbs.  How do you go wrong with a Potato Focaccia?  Unfortunately I don't think there's any left for me...is there Geneve?

 

Alberto, of Il Forno, created the original food blog event -- Is My Blog Burning? so I was thrilled when he graciously accepted the invitation to join.  Alberto told me that Southern American cuisine interests him --so no surprise that his entry is a classically Southern dish:  Buttermilk Biscuits with Sausage Gravy.  I think my arteries started hardening just looking at his picture...

I'm not sure Béa from La Tartine Gourmande sleeps; her output is prodigious.  And thank goodness because in addition to making food all the time, her styling and photography are utterly stunning.  She made not one, not two, but three recipes from the book:  Strawberry Clafoutis, Cherry Clafoutis, and Asian Beef and Watercress salad. 
 

I love reading about Chubby Hubby and his wife S.'s food adventures.  CH grew up in the States and was hankering for some American favorites.  S. delivered with Buttermilk Fried Chicken and Cream Gravy.  I am wondering if this recipe could possibly come close to my Grandma's buttermilk fried chicken?  It certainly looks like hers...

The verdict?  A great book and a lot of fun.  It was also amusing to discover that some bloggers tried the same recipe -- we foodies do think alike when it comes to certain recipes!  Thank you to everyone who agreed to join us and help us answer the question -- "What happens when foodies get the same cookbook?"

Cookbook Spotlight: Potato Chip Cookies (no, seriously)

What happens when 25 food bloggers get the same cookbook?  What does everyone choose to make?  Sara and Alicat at Weekend Cookbook Challenge and I were curious to find out so we invited a group of friends to join us and make recipes from Mitchell Davis' new book, Kitchen Sense. 

When the book first arrived, I was a little disappointed because like most food bloggers, I'm all about poring over pictures of food -- and there aren't any pictures in the book at all.  But, flipping through, I noted some interesting food recipes, not the least was this one --Potato Chip Cookies.  At first I thought I was reading it wrong.  Then I realized, no, I hadn't gone totally myopic.  Intrigued, I started reading through more recipes and pictures or no --I'm really enjoying this book.  My fears that it would be too cerebral were unfounded:  it's a great basic cookbook with good recipes and a conversational tone that makes it easy to read.  I can't say that I would have picked it up at a bookstore if I'd been on my own -- but that adage about never judging a book by its cover?  Pretty true.  This was an inspiring read and several of the participating bloggers and I swapped notes about how much we were enjoying just reading the book.  It makes sense since Davis is the VP and Director of Communications for the James Beard Foundation -- so he knows a good cookbook when he sees one; and better yet, he can write a pretty good one too.  After marking off countless pages for recipes to make, I came back to this one -- it was just too odd and intriguing to pass up.

I was talking to Stephanie and told her I was planning to make the potato chip cookies.

"Don't forget to use cheap potato chips," she said.

"Oh man, I forgot about that." The recipe calls for thin potato chips -- not fancy, organic chips -- they're too thick and taste like (surprise) potatos.

I never buy junk food, so when Hubby saw the bag of potato chips, he was confused. 

"Potato chip cookies," I informed him.

He frowned.  "Honey...that sounds like something a frumpy housewife makes.  And you are not frumpy."

So here we have 'em -- verdict?  Well, interesting, that's for sure.  It tastes just like a yummy butter cookie -- except with a pototo crisp crunch to it.  I'm not at all certain how to feel about them quite yet.  Maybe I need to try a few more.

Hubby decided to be a good hubby the other night and make dinner.  In a twist on Knock Knock Dinners, he checked the fridge for ingredients and found enough to make the meatballs recipe from the book.  Stephanie made the same recipe -- and they're a knockout.  I did get chastised for lack of oregano ("It's only one of the most important spices and we don't have it in our garden?!") but that didn't detract from the overall dish.  There's a recipe for corn chowder I'm dying to try since I've got some fresh corn in the fridge.  Actually, the book is fairly dog-eared with recipes to review and attempt.

And, I do know there are  some other runaway successes in this book -- Sara and I will have the roundups of everyone's posts up soon so check back!

SHF #18: Frangelico Honey Panna Cotta

I am on a serious sugar high right now.  Or maybe it's not so much a high as drunk on sugar?  See, the last two days have involved some serious sweets.  First, there were bite sized desserts for Stephanie's Blog Party (more on that later) and today, there's Sugar High Friday #18, hosted by Chandra at Lick the Spoon.  Sugar High Friday, as we all know, is the brainchild of the Domestic Goddess and it's a great reason to indulge my sweet tooth one Friday out of the month.  So for Chandra's designated theme, "Liquor is quicker!" we're presenting desserts infused with liquor.

Our colleague David was in town again and in a passive aggressive manner worthy of the best teenaged girl, invited himself to dinner on Wednesday.  Okay, it's not really that bad.  He asked Greg to find out if I would cook and ... huh.  It does sound that bad.  No seriously, when I found out David was coming back, I asked Greg if he thought David would like to have dinner with the group before Greg could do his middleman thing.  So high school.  Anyway, it being the normal hot disgusting weather that precedes a hot disgusting summer in the deep South, I didn't want anything too heavy for dessert on Wednesday night.  My sister Kaly had raved about a vanilla panna cotta (we give Martha Stewart her due for the original recipe) she'd made the weekend before.  It sounded great; but not being a fan of plain vanilla panna cotta, I substituted wildflower honey for the sugar.  Yummy.  It was perfect.

So when I was thinking about what to make for SHF #18 today, it seemed appropriate to tinker with the recipe and add in some of my favorite liqueur:  Frangelico!  Result?  Seriously heady stuff.  Only don't do what I did and eat three in row without thinking because it was so refreshing I forgot about the alcohol.  Sugar Drunk Friday, I think.

WCC #4: Zucchini Fritters with Egg and Caramelized Onions

Sara from i like to cook, and Alicat of Something So Clever are the co-hosts of Weekend Cookbook Challenge. The challenge? Make a cookbook recipe that matches the month's theme and blog about it; the theme of this fourth edition is Easter Breakfast & Brunch.

I absolutely love brunch. It's my favorite meal of the week. Depending on what's happening, Saturday or Sunday brunches are usually à deux, or with a large group of friends. When it's just the two of us, Hubby makes elaborate dishes, like cinnamon raisin waffles with maple cream cheese, coupled with perfectly crunchy bacon ("The secret is to cook it over low heat."). I make the coffee. If there's a group, it become more elaborate; the last brunch party was a panoply of all the sweets I could cram into one meal.

Sara and Alicat sent us forth to make an Easter brunch featuring recipes from our cookbooks. I'm pretty sure everyone out there has a dazzling array of cookbooks that we use haphazardly; so I loved the idea of trying a new recipe. As it happens, I was visiting Dad in Orlando so a family brunch to spend time with my cousins Nellie and Terri had been planned. I forgot to pack a cookbook, but coming from a food obsessed family, this was not a problem: Terri's bookcase was crammed with cookbooks, including Brunch, the Perfect Weekend Treat by Jennifer Donovan. Scanning through, I found this recipe: zucchini fritters with egg and caramelized onions, which looked great in the photo. It showed so much promise -- the ingredients, the directions, and most of all the picture. Sadly, models aren't the only thing that look great on paper only to disappoint in real life.

I can't say this recipe knocked me over. The tastes and the textures were okay; I would have been more pleased if the fritters had been crunchier (maybe I didn't use enough oil; imagine that: living in the South and not using enough oil for frying?!) or tasted more like zucchini, instead of an Egg McZucchini (seriously they looked like egg McMuffins only with zucchini bits). The only thing that I really liked on the plate was the bacon and that wasn't part of the recipe (it was Hubby's recipe).

We grew in number from five for brunch to seven because Nellie invited two more (she had enough sense to let me know so I wouldn't have a repeat of the multiplication episode), and this exposed another downside to the dish: there's no way to keep the fritters crispy and eggs warm enough without being overcooked if you're making this dish for more than two.

"It's like making Eggs Benedict," Terri noted.

Frankly, Eggs Benedict would have been easier. I'm going to have to try this recipe again, with some tweaks. I'm sure there's something worthwhile here. Still, having brunch with my family, and especially Dad, was wonderful; I treasure whatever moments I get with my family, even if it's over an okay meal.

Don't forget to check out the roundup and see what other great Easter Brunches were held.

IMBB #24: Panfried Herbed Chicken and Potatoes with Braised Leeks, and Saffron-Vanilla Waffles with Mascarpone and Honey

Friday nights are sacrosant: they are Hubby's Poker Nights with the boys (theoretically; but since the boys are married to the girls, it ends up being co-ed anyway). On Friday nights, if I leave work on time, it will take at least 20 to 30 minutes to get home; this is assuming I don't need to make a grocery run -- so, by the time I get home, it's usually 6:45 pm. We don't have time for a lengthy dinner. This is not to say we don't cook; it simply means we have no more than an hour (if that) in which to prepare and eat dinner because the game begins at 8 pm. Hubby needs to leave at 7:30 to make the game.

So Friday night dinners are perfectly apt for this month's IMBB event, IMBB #24: Make It In 30 Minutes, hosted by Barrett at Too Many Chefs

For a delicious and very quick meal, I give you: Panfried Herbed Chicken and Potatoes, with Braised Leeks; and for dessert, Saffron-Vanilla Waffles with a quenelle of Mascarpone and Wildflower Honey. This dish is simply a seasoned chicken breast panfried in oil and butter. A potato is sliced thin, then fried in a generous heaping of melted butter until crisp. Concurrently, washed and trimmed leeks are wilted in butter (okay, I didn't say this meal was healthy; just fast) and broth, then tossed with white wine vinegar for an edgy bite. Total cook time from prep to finish? Right about 30 minutes. And of course, the waffle batter is poured into the iron and cooked while we are eating the entrée, so dessert can immediately follow dinner.

The trick to making meals quickly, I've discovered, is to know what you're making and have your mise en place ready to go. I know this sounds geeky, but I always write out a menu beforehand -- I've noticed that even a few sentences about the meal helps me to structure the cooking schedule, and of course, repetition will make for faster cooking because you'll know all the shortcuts.

Here's how this meal breaks down:

2 minutes: trim and chop leeks. Rinse and agitate; leave in cold water.
3 minutes: season chicken and peel 1 potato, melt butter and heat oil in respective skillets for chicken, leeks and potatoes; slice potato
5-10 minutes: add chicken to pan, then potato slices, then leeks; while the main dish is cooking, make the waffle batter and set aside.
10 minutes: finish the entrée and heat the waffle iron. Add batter to the waffle iron, serve main dish. The waffles should be ready to plate and eat by the time you've finished the entrée.

Fast food, the home cooked way.

Tagged with: IMBB24 + 30Minutes

Blog Party #8: Brunch!

Stephanie at Dispensing Happiness is having another Blog Party – this one focused on : Brunch.

The friends have been so busy the last few weeks: weekly lunches and quick coffees together have been impeded by travel, work, family and other responsibilities; some time together to enjoy a respite from the daily grind, and to laugh together is in order. Brunch was scheduled for Saturday at 11, a time which makes it closer to lunch, but lunch implies something more structured, and structure is the last thing I want (or am) on a weekend.

"You're having a brunch and flying out the same night?" Joetta asks during a phone call after I tell her I'm flying back to the UK that night. She's in Texas competing and so unable to join. She begins to laugh. "I can't tell if you're amazing or crazy."

Definitely the latter. Let me describe the day: I stayed up until 3:00 Saturday morning in an OCD-inspired cleaning frenzy. When Hubby woke up at 7:00, I got up with him. Catching a glimpse of me bent over the sewing machine to make Annette's European pillow shams on his way out to the range, he muttered, "I see the sweat shop is open again."

"Better than Elf Shop," I retorted. Elf Shop was what he named my one-woman, hand-made paper operation for our wedding. Two hundred and fifty invitations, all cut and assembled by hand, cutting board, hammer and grommets. That's another story. You see the recurring theme, yes? Madness. But there was a method to this: I was on my way back to Milton Keynes for a few days (once again, too short to do anything meaningful or meet up with friends [Keiko, I’m sorry!]). My overnight flight was scheduled to depart at 10:00 and I wanted to sleep; thus, I was priming myself to fall into an exhausted sleep beforehand.

I finished the shams at nine and started cooking. There are two schools of brunch: savory brunches and sweet brunches. Guess what kind of student I am? But not everyone is as enamored of sweet dishes as I; so the menu included an equal number of savory and sweet dishes.

Brie Puffs

Pesto Tortellini Skewers

Mini Crabcakes with Spicy Mayonnaise

Bacon & Gorgonzola Mushrooms Caps

Strawberry-Basil Bruschetta

Brown Butter Madeleines

Vosges Ancho Chile Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

Mini Pain au Chocolat (not pictured)

And to drink: Raspberry Pomegranate Sparkling Lemonade.

Sprawled in the living room, we form a semi-circle to talk and laugh. Eventually the desserts migrate to the coffee table and are consumed over coffee and tea. We may not have enough time; but what time we make together is infinitely precious. By the time Hubby gets in at 3:00, I have cleaned up and I have finished packing. We eat dinner together and I have a glass of wine to further mellow me. At 6:00, Greg and I are on the road.

We make it fifteen minutes towards Atlanta when Delta calls to inform us that our flight has been cancelled and we will have to fly out Sunday evening instead. I feel cheated: I have worked so hard to be exhausted for my overnight flight! I was ready to sleep!

I wonder if I should have a Sunday brunch, too?

SHF #17 (Dairy): Vietnamese Coffee Affogato and Condensed Milk Ice Cream

Andrew, at Spittoon Extra is this month's master of ceremonies for the 17th edition of the Domestic Goddess' Sugar High Fridays. For this go round, Andrew's theme is "dairy."

My offering: Vietnamese Coffee Affogato with Condensed Milk Ice Cream. The recipe came out of a New York Times article some time ago and I was struck by the idea of a "deconstructed" Vietnamese iced coffee, which is one of most sinfully wonderful drinks I know. Vietnamese coffee is simply chicory steeped slowly over sweetened condensed milk. The trick, of course, is proportion: the coffee needs to be dark and almost syrupy. The hot liquid is then stirred over condensed milk, poured almost inch thick (depending on the type of glass you use); if you don't control the flow of hot water, you risk a watery, pale concoction; too much or too little condensed milk affects flavor. The coffee flavor still needs to be the star, supported by the rich sweetness of the condensed milk. The combined coffee and milk are then poured over a glass of ice. It's more a dessert than a coffee drink...any wonder I was addicted as a child? Of course, Mom also mentioned that when I was in utero she drank lots of café sua da so I came by it naturally. And on further thought, it does explain my natural penchant for staying up late.

Now, the affogato appeals to me because it reminds me of its French cousin, a café liégois, to which I was addicted when I lived in France one summer. Both desserts are simply ice cream drowned in coffee or espresso. In fact, affogato means "I'm drowning." The Italian version calls for espresso poured over scoops of vanilla ice cream; the French version has one scoop each of coffee and vanilla ice cream. Both are topped with fresh whipped cream.

So, the deconstructed Vietnamese Coffee -- as it happens, Hubby has been consuming egg white omelets in the morning. Therefore, I am left with two dozen egg yolks weekly (yes, WEEKLY). This means my fridge is now stocked full of various egg-based desserts and about four pounds of plain buttercream. It also means I had yolks on hand to make the ice cream. And, as no self-respecting Hong child is ever without a can of Café du Monde chicory in the fridge, and a pantry shelf stocked with condensed milk, this recipe was the perfect match for Andrew's theme.

The original recipe called for tapioca pearls to add texture and aesthetics to the dessert; frankly, I'm not a fan of "bubble" teas and I don't like tapioca pearls in anything except Thomas Keller's "Oysters and Pearls." As I've mentioned before, I can't leave well enough alone so I changed the recipe, cutting out the tapioca pearls and going straight for coffee and ice cream.

Sweetened condensed milk is made from adding sugar to milk then evaporating 60% of its water. Unsweetened condensed milk is usually known just as evaporated milk. A Vietnamese friend's grandmother used to mix tablespoons of sweetened condensed milk with water to make...milk. Fresh milk wasn't always available and this served as an alternative. In fact, my grandmother's recipe for flan is comprised of sweetened condensed milk, eggs, and water. Sounds terrible on paper -- but exquisitely delicious with a lightness that whole milk and cream-based flans don't have.

Now, this is going to sound strange; I don't know what I was expecting the vanilla condensed milk ice cream to taste like, but it tasted like...vanilla condensed milk ice cream. Occasionally I suffer a disconnect between what something should taste like and what it actually tastes like; I couldn't comprehend an ice cream version of condensed milk ice cream, but it had the same velvety richness and smoothness.

When the hot coffee is poured over the cold ice cream, shards of coffee ice are formed and a sweet puddle of cream pools around the top. Sipped through a straw, eaten with a spoon -- this is a serious dairy delight.

Tagged with: SHF # 17 + Sugar High Friday

SHF #16: V-Day Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

V-Day is not for the weak. It's a holiday that winnows out the inferior foodie. You don't go out on V-Day for dinner unless you have the intestinal fortitude to do battle - with the traffic, the restaurant, the poor, harried servers, the poor, harried cooks, and the worst traits that human beings can muster in one day, in one room, in two hours. And most of all, you don't go out on V-Day for dinner unless you have reservations.

My various restaurant friends tell me it's the day they dread most and the one, other than Mother's Day, that makes them seriously consider giving up the job. I usually make reservations a year in advance; and yes, while I am OCD, this is also a logical thing to do; it gives me options and it's far easier to cancel a Valentine's Day dinner reservation than it is to make one when the time rolls around.

Ah you ask, isn't it Hubby's job to do this? Hell no. I know better than to set the man up for failure. He's already done V-Day penance; he's already proven his ability to make reservations; and since we are now married, I don't feel the need to have him prove he can jump hoops. Plus, he's got more important things to do -- like pick up wine and write my V-Day love letter (a male friend thought this was an easy out gift until I pointed out that picking up a gift is far easier than writing a sincere [because we know when a letter is insincere and woe betide you if it isn't] and thoughtful love letter). No need to further confuse him with trivial things like dinner.

As neither of us were inclined to leave home I cancelled our reservations and we indulged in some of our favorite dishes: lobster risotto, steamed sea bass, chocolate dipped strawberries and a big gorgeous bottle of Oregon pinot noir.

And as it happens, this decision dove-tailed perfectly with joining Sugar High Friday #16, hosted by Jennifer of Taste Everything Once. Now, I'm horribly late to this party -- but Jennifer was kind enough to let me come anyway. Jennifer challenged us to create aphrodisiac-inducing sweets for this edition of SHF; and what better holiday to create stirring desserts than for Valentine's Day?

Chocolate is de rigeur for Valentine's Day. Even cheap drugstore chocolates in heart shaped boxes sell out on Valentine's Day! And why not? Of the 300 chemicals inherent in chocolate, one notable chemical is phenyl ethylamine, an amphetamine that releases natural opiates in the brain -- the same chemical present in the brain when you are falling in love. Lush, fat red strawberries -- which are aphrodisiacs -- feature prominently in most sensual menus. Consider this cover from the book Intercourses: An Aphrodisiac Cookbook.

Thus, my contribution: Chocolate Dipped Strawberries. Boring? Trite? Overused? Absolutely. But some things are classics. Now, just because it's been done before doesn't mean it can't be tweaked for a little fun, right? These strawberries were double dipped -- first in white chocolate, then the "girls" were dipped in a pink-tinted white chocolate for dresses while the "boys" got a second coating in bittersweet chocolate for tuxedos; buttons were dotted on with toothpicks. If you're so inclined and ambitious (I am neither being naturally lazy), you can paint a bow tie on the boys and dot a pink pendant on the girls. I prefer doing only as much as necessary so I can start eating.

Come on. You know you want one...

And while you're at it, check out the Round Up of amazing desserts!