February: monthly favorites

February is typically a rather dreary month. This year it surprised us with mild weather and an extra day. As Valentine’s Day is right in the middle of the month, some of the interesting things I encountered have a theme focused around this day of love.

This molten chocolate cake recipe has become a bit of a Valentine’s day tradition for us. It’s so rich and sinful that consumption should be limited to once a year. My stranded-on-a-desert-island dessert is best shown in the picture above. La Guili in Astoria is my favorite place to get Italian cookies and I was lucky to visit them this month. The beautiful wood and marble store makes some of the finest Italian cookies, gelato and other treats that I’ve ever had. I’m not the only one who thinks so, as they’ve been serving the neighborhood for over 70 years! I’ve missed them dearly since moving away from Astoria. I’ve searched all over Boston for a comparable bakery, but have not found one yet. Any suggestions?

Now for the February links; you’ll find a bit of humor, love, and seriousness all mixed in.

Have you just fallen out of love? Maybe you are really mad at someone, or just want to play a trick. Send a bouquet of fetid, rotten, flowers to let them know your true feelings care of Dirty Rotten Flowers.

Another option for shocking your loved ones? Give them a big box of chocolates…. chocolate roaches! In the shape of everyone’s favorite creepy crawly, with or without nuts.

Perhaps you’ve been thinking about alternative ways to store your food. You want to be more economical or environmentally friendly. You’d like to better maximize the flavor while still preventing spoilage. Jihyun Ryou has also been thinking about these problems and has come up with visually stunning solutions to save food from the refrigerator.

If you and your pet start to look alike, maybe you should start to dress alike as well! I think these newsboy caps for cats by catAtelier are a good place to start.