Valentines II: Celebrate with wine, chocolate

Treat your sweetest friend -- yourself -- to some perfectly paired wine and chocolate this Valentine's Day (yes! you deserve it!).

The creamy flavors of chocolate go best with sweet, full-bodied, high-alcohol wines, says Natalie MacLean, author of Red, White and Drunk All Over: A Wine-Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass, who's got a wine-dessert matching tool online. Her top ten favorite pairs? Voila:

1. Dark Chocolate and Banyuls, France

2. Chocolate-Covered Biscotti and Recioto Della Valpolicella, Italy

3. Chocolate-Orange Cake and Liqueur Muscat, Australia

4. Chocolate with Nuts and Tawny Port, Portugal

5. Milk Chocolate and Tokaji, Hungary

6. Bittersweet Chocolate and Amarone, Italy

7. Chocolate-Dipped Fruit and Icewine, Canada

8. Chocolate Ganache Truffles and Sauternes, France

9. Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake and Framboise, California

10. Chocolate Hearts with Cream Filling and Cream Sherry, Spain

Eat&BeMerry: Valentine's brownies

This is a variation on have your cake and eat it too -- brownies that contain carrots and spinach, but with such finesse, no one will notice they're eating their veggies.

Brownies
Makes twelve

Nonstick cooking spray
3 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
1/2 cup carrot puree
1/2 cup spinach puree
1/2 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 Tbsp. trans-fat-free soft tub margarine spread
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 large egg whites
3/4 cup oat flour or all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat the oven to 350. Coat an 8-by-8 baking pan with cooking spray. Melt chocolate in a double boiler or over a very low flame. In a large bowl, combine melted chocolate, vegetable purees, sugar, cocoa powder, margarine and vanilla and whisk until smooth and creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in egg whites. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt with a wooden spoon. Pour the batter into the pan and bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely in the pan before cutting.

—Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious

Eat&BeMerry: Hot Chocolate, Marshmallows

To warm up after sledding, shoveling or just as a sweet treat at night, try these warm delights.

Hot chocolate
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
Dash of salt
3 cups of milk

Heat chocolate and water in 1 1/2-quart saucepan, stirring constantly, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Stir in sugar and salt. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered, stirring constantly, for 4 minutes. Stir in milk; cover and heat through but do not boil. Just before serving, beat with hand beater until foamy. Makes six servings
—The Ithaca (N.Y.) Journal

This hot cocoa mix can be blended and stored in an airtight container for at least a year. You can use either hot milk or hot water to make the beverage. Make multiple batches to keep on hand or give as gifts -- and be sure to get the kids involved in mixing it up.

Hot Cocoa Mix

2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup cocoa (Dutch-process preferred)
2-1/2 cups powdered milk
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cornstarch

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and blend evenly. Store in an airtight container. To make 4 servings of hot cocoa, heat 4 to 6 cups of water or milk. Add about 1/4 cup of powdered mix to each mug. Pour in hot water or milk and stir to combine.

And if you're really feeling ambitious (and own a candy thermometer) go all out, and make your own marshmallows:

Martha's Marshmallows

2 1/2 tablespoons unflavored gelatin
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
Confectioners' sugar (for dusting)

Combine gelatin and 1/2 cup cold water in the bowl of an electric mixer with whisk attachment. Let it stand 30 minutes.

Combine granulated sugar, corn syrup, salt and 1/2 cup of water in a small heavy saucepan; place over low heat and stir until sugar has dissolved. Wash down sides of pan with a wet pastry brush to dissolve sugar crystals.

Clip on a candy thermometer; raise heat to high. Cook syrup without stirring until it reaches 244 degrees (firm-ball stage). Immediately remove pan from heat.

With mixer on low speed, slowly and carefully pour syrup into the softened gelatin. Increase speed to high; beat until mixture is very thick and white and has almost tripled in volume, about 15 minutes. Add vanilla; beat to incorporate.

Generously dust an 8 x 12-inch glass baking pan with confectioners' sugar. Pour marshmallow mixture into pan. Dust with confectioners' sugar; let stand overnight, uncovered, to dry out.
—Oprah.com

Eat&BeMerry: New Years' Fortune Cookies

Ring in the New Year with good tidings -- homemade cookies filled with fortunes you and the kids dream up yourselves.

Here's how:

Chocolate Fortune Cookies

5 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 egg whites
1 cup superfine sugar
3/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cocoa
Pinch salt
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
50 paper fortunes

Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt butter; set aside.

Combine the egg whites and sugar, and beat on medium speed until frothy, about 30 seconds. Add the flour, cocoa, and salt, and beat until combined. Add the melted butter, cream, almond extract, and vanilla extract, and beat until combined, about 30 seconds.

Drop heaping teaspoons onto a nonstick baking sheet at least 5 inches apart. Using the back of a tablespoon, spread each one into a 4-inch circle. Bake until darken slightly, about 5 minutes.

Remove from oven and, working quickly, slip each cookie with a spatula. Roll each cookie into a loose tube, and insert a paper fortune into the middle so that both the edges extend from the cookie. Using your index finger, make an indentation in the center of the tube, then pinch each end together with your other hand. Repeat the rolling-and-folding process with remaining cookies. Store in an airtight container up to 1 week.

Makes 50
—Martha Stewart