February 8, 2010 4:52 pm

Culinary Valentine's Gifts for the Foodie in Your Life

Here at Behind the Burner, we believe food is love, so this Valentine's Day, share the amore! Give the foodie in your life a culinary delight to pique their hunger and warm their hearts. Here are our favorite treats this year.

The Nescafé Dolce Gusto: A great way to quickly make your favorite coffee drink, the Nescafé Dolce Gusto has a nifty design that lets you brew a variety of coffee-house beverages from black coffee and espressos to lattes and iced cappuccinos—all under a minute right on your kitchen counter. The Gusto retails for around $149.99 and a pack of 16 capsules is $8. My personal favorite is Chocochino!

The Nook: This Barnes and Noble eReader is a great way to read recipes in the kitchen without having to hold down the pages of your favorite cookbook. Named the "Best New Gadget of 2009", it can retain up to 1,500 eBooks, eNewspapers or eMagazines on 2GB of space. Definitely a great item if you're in the mood for something sweet without soiling the edges of The Joy of Cooking. The Nook retails for around $259 and is available at all Barnes and Noble booksellers.

Lifebooker Gift Certificate: Treat your significant other to mani-pedis and other treatments such as the White Sugar Honey Polish at the Acqua Beauty Bar or the Chocolate Peppermint Pedicure at Sothy's Spa. A Lifebooker gift certificate will let your sweetie test out some of the greatest spas in Manhattan, at a discount. Pamper your favorite person with a relaxing dessert.

Chocolate Potpourri Gift Bag: A chocolate company out of Chicago, Chocolate Potpourri offers a delicious Valentine's Day gift box that includes chocolate covered Oreos, or "Dunkers", a box of handcrafted chocolates, molded chocolate hearts and white chocolate covered mini pretzel balls. Behind the Burner is offering a deal with Chocolate Potpourri—members earn free shipping when they type in the code BTB2010 at checkout!

Hotel Chocolat Liquid Chocolate: Ideal for couples staying inside on a cold day, the Classic Chocolate is not too sweet with a pure and deep chocolatey taste, and the Aztec Chili has a gentle heat that envelopes your mouth when sipped. You can find them on HotelChocolat.com for $25.00 packaged together or $15 individually.

Godiva Chocolate Liqueur: A great gift to entice your favorite cocktail lover, Godiva Chocolate Liqueur can be used in a chocolatini or even added to your coffee or espresso! For Valentine's Day, we recommend sipping it on the rocks with fresh strawberries. You can pick up a bottle for sensual sipping at your local liquor store for around $29.99.

Spice and Ice: Written by Behind the Burner expert Kara Newman, this spicy cocktail book contains 60 tongue tingling cocktails. Favorites include the Wasabi-tinis, the Jumpin' Julips and Sangria Scorcher. Her Hot Lips Chocotini is the perfect treat to wake up your evening. Can be found for $16.95 at many book sellers.

BUILT Wine Tote: This wine tote comes in a fabulous, saucy red that's great for carrying a bottle of bubbly to a friends for a Valentine's to remember. Insulated and made of neoprene, this unexpected tote will keep your bottle chilled until you can uncork it, and makes schlepping wine across town a little more fun.

Rose's Heavenly Cakes: From the author of the Cake Bible, this collection of treats proves that there is a cake for every occasion. The cookbook is organized by cake varieties, including cheesecake, flour-less cake, baby cakes and oil and butter cakes. Favorites include the Double Chocolate Valentine Cake (page 113) and the Heavenly Coconut Seduction Cake (page 20). The book retails for $39.95 and can be found at most book retailers.

The Brooklyn Kitchen: The beloved Williamsburg culinary store offers funky cooking classes during the month of February and Behind the Burner members save 10% with the code BtB. Some upcoming examples of learnable cooking include Drop-In Cookie Decorating and an Anti-Valentine's Day Party for those who'd rather celebrate in a group.

Barefoot Contessa Red Velvet Cupcake Mix: A quick fix for your sweet tooth, the Barefoot Contessa has cleverly packaged her popular cupcakes into a handy mix, complete with cream cheese frosting mix. All you need is butter, eggs, cream cheese and little love and presto!, instant dessert. Ina Garten doesn't stop there; her mixes come in many varieties and can be found in Crate and Barrel and online.

Magnolia Bakery Cupcakes: If baking ain't your thing, but cupcakes definitely are, Magnolia has got you and your sweetie's sweet tooth covered. The Love Note Box includes six amazing cupcakes that spell out love, with a cupid and heart. Pre-orders end around the 12th, so you might want to get them in ASAP. It's well worth it the $28 for a box of these creamy confections!

— Written by Kaitlin A. Lipe

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