A quick short, unverified, confusing history of the storied sweet Valentine's Day.

Keep in mind originally it was not a "sweet" day. Legend states that this is the day that Emperor Claudius II executed the Priest Valentine on February 14th, 269AD, who secretly married men when they were too young.

The Emperor, referred to as Claudius the Cruel, thought single soldiers made better warriors and he needed many soldiers for his unpopular and bloody campaigns, and believed that married men were unwilling to march to their death and preferred to be with their wives and families. (This is a good place for a joke).

The exact date of Valentine's canonization is not known as in the early centuries the process was not formal. It is believed that he was canonized by popular acclaim due to his martyrdom and the veneration he received from Christians, rather than through an official decree by the Pope.

His Feast day, Valentine's Day, was being celebrated by the 5th century, suggesting that the Church already acknowledged him as a saint by that time.

This is the story of just one of the known Valentines. It is is perhaps the most romantic, a more primitive rom-com that includes war and death, beheading and marriage to get out of going to war....

And then there is the Lupercalia festival. A fun church thing to do in February.

Lupercalia was an ancient Roman festival held from February 13–15, celebrating fertility, purification, and the legendary she-wolf Lupa who nursed Romulus and Remus to manhood so they could kill their Uncle who had banned them to death.

The event included rituals led by the Luperci priests, who ran around the city wearing goat skins and striking people with strips of goat leather coated in blood to promote health and fertility (don't worry, no one took it personally).

One of the more "romantic" traditions involved women writing their names on paper slips, which were then drawn by men for matchmaking—sometimes leading to lasting love and maybe children.

It was a boisterous, luck-of-the-draw kind of affair, designed to ensure fertility, cleanse the city, and keep bad spirits at bay.

Some historians think Valentine's Day is a distant cousin to Lupercalia, swapping the animal sacrifices for chocolates and roses but still hanging on to that theme of romantic pairing. Though I prefer chocolate and chocolate.

While modern Valentine's Day is all about sweethearts and heart-shaped objects, Lupercalia was a much more chaotic affair—think less "candlelit dinner" and more "matchmaking under a full moon."

Valentine's Day today still embodies celebrating love, just without the goat leather.

My father made Valentine's Day all about the people in his life, from my Mom to his daughter, daughter-in-laws, and to all his grandchildren, to professors and aides, secretaries, and assistants. I think giving to everyone is such a wonderful approach now that I know it is not just a made up Hallmark holiday.

FYI, Richard Cadbury, in 1861, a Quaker, created the Heart shaped box, intended to be keepsakes to store love letters and locks of hair and has forever been associated with Valentine's Day.

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With just four ingredients, the only skill you need is mixing (and a little melting) to make this drop dead delicious cake!

The best thing about this cake is that it is totally forgiving. Getting it perfect might not be possible, as there is no perfect. It is chocolate, butter, sugar and eggs! You can make it, most likely, right out of what you have in your pantry.

Remember to use only really good chocolate to have the best success in this extra rich chocolate cake recipe.

See the Easy Best Chocolate Cake Recipe here!

Infused bars with just the right amount. Sometimes chocolate infused with flavors are a joy and these bars are! Each bar is fun and enjoyable!

Levelez Chocolate is an artisanal chocolate brand that focuses on producing high-quality, ethically sourced chocolate with an emphasis on sustainability and organic ingredients.

They work with small-scale farmers, ensuring fair trade practices and promoting social and environmental responsibility.

Shop now for Levelez Chocolate!

From Julia 'Mike' Mikerova & Bjorn 'Becky' Becker:

At MIKE&BECKY, the cacao is the star: its origin, the terroir, and its farmers. Our partner plantations around the world are free of child labor, eco-responsible, organic, and properly remunerate their workers for their excellent efforts and cacao.

Here in Brussels, we like to keep things simple: organic cacao beans, organic beet sugar, and a tad of organic cacao butter. That's all there is in our chocolate. All made in our transparent, 100% green energy workshop.

We are doing every step of our chocolate making ourselves - from cleaning and roasting, to grinding, conching, tempering, and wrapping.

Check out Mike & Becky Chocolate!

SOMA chocolatemaker was born in 2003 to a husband-and-wife team, David Castellan and Cynthia Leung.

What started as a love project, starting a small, funky "bean-to-bar" operation in Toronto, Canada, has blossomed into one of the premier craft chocolate makers in North America and an extensive line of chocolate bars and chocolate confections that are both, beautiful looking and delicious.

Sourcing their beans from small farmers and roasting them themselves, SOMA's style of microbatch chocolate production continues and shines through in all their chocolate creations, resulting in multiple chocolate awards over the years.

See the bars from Soma Chocolatemaker!

Armin Untersteiner and Katya Waldboth live in South Tyrol, a German-speaking region in Northern Italy. When they founded Karuna Chocolate in 2018, they were the first in the region to produce organic bean-to-bar chocolate.

In 2014, Katya and Armin had the opportunity to work in Southern India. While living there, they were introduced to cacao farming. Then they returned home, they discovered that no one was producing organic bean-to-bar chocolate. They decided to turn their new found passion into a family project, and Karuna Chocolate was born.

Karuna organic bean-to-bar chocolate takes great care to use only ethically-grown, organic cacao beans from Latin America, Asia and Africa. They use fair-trade organic raw cane sugar from Brazil, and organic cocoa butter pressed from the finest cacaos: Arriba Nacional from Ecuador and Nacional from Peru. For their white "chocolate" vegan cocoa butter bars they use de-oiled almond flour from organically-grown Italian almonds - creating a creamy, rich flavor reminiscent of white chocolate.

Karuna's passion for the cacao farmers and the environment shines through in their products - from the chocolate to the packaging.

See the Karuna Chocolate here!

Argencove is the story of three Australian families that moved to Nicaragua together specifically in the pursuit of great chocolate.

Between the lake, the wetlands, the rainforests and the volcanoes, Nicaragua is home to any number of microclimates in and around the region of Granada where they are headquartered. Argencove's first four signature single-origin dark chocolate bars are not only named after four national landmarks around the Granada region, but are made with beans from four chocolate plantations all located in four different microclimates resulting in four distinct flavors in the chocolate, depending on the where they are grown.

Argencove takes advantage of all the nuances in their award-winning, signature single origin bar collection.

Shop now for Argencove Chocolate!

A little about our trip to ARA Chocolate in Paris.

Eliza and the actress walked in and were greeted by Andres and Sabrina, the chocolatiers. In a word, they were wonderful! Transplants from Venezuela via a London Michelin-Starred restaurant, they had settled in Paris with their family.

The shop smelled of rich chocolate with a fruity note.

The conversation covered all things chocolate, from the tasting of newly made bars to some amazing olive oil-infused chocolate truffles!

Andres spoke passionately about how he works directly with cocoa farmers in Venezuela. From changing the timing of when the beans are picked to how long they are fermented and dried before they are bagged up to be shipped to ARA's workshop location. What might seem to be minutiae detail to the layman is critical to Andres and the final flavor profile he creates in all his chocolate!

When they left, after the short 2 hours of intense conversation, the street had come alive. The rain was gone, and the streets were packed with people walking and hanging out at the cafes smoking and playing Uno....

What a glorious day!

Please be sure to visit them when in Paris!

Shop now for Ara Chocolat!

Arcelia Gallardo, the founder of Mission Chocolate, is a truly international craft chocolate maker, and embraces the spirit of the local Brazilian farm-to-bar chocolate production. Arcelia makes her world-class chocolate bars almost exclusively with locally grown and processed ingredients, including Brazilian-grown cacao beans and Brazilian-grown nuts and fruits.

A California native with Mexican roots, Arcelia spent a good part of her professional culinary life in Berkeley, California, where she was exposed to the "buy/cook/eat local" philosophy of Alice Waters, and "bean-to-bar" philosophy of SharffenBerger Chocolates - back when SharffenBerger was the first bean-to-bar chocolate maker in the US.

Now, she passionately dedicates her time to her business project: making award-winning bean-to-bar chocolate bars and confections and elevating the craft chocolate movement in Brazil through her small chocolate factory located in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Besides running Mission Chocolate, Arcelia Gallardo is also the president of the Associacao Bean to Bar Brasil.

Shop now for Mission Chocolate!

Guido Castagna is a renowned Italian chocolatier known for his expertise in crafting high-quality chocolate.

Guido Castagna's journey into the world of chocolate began in the late 20th century when he sought to create a brand that celebrated Italian craftsmanship while elevating the art of chocolate making. While many modern chocolatiers come from long-standing family traditions, Castagna’s approach was distinctively innovative.

His work is highly regarded for its elegance and balanced flavors, earning him respect within the industry.

Shop now for Guido Castagna Chocolate!

Some of the most fun chocolates we have had in the last year! These bars are all about eating! Sometimes joy through biting and chewing is what you want in a chocolate bar! And these bars fit the bill!

From Liang,

"KESSHO—a name that translates to "Crystal" in Japanese—has dual significance for us. On one hand, it pays homage to the splendid crystalline structure of chocolate. But on a deeper level, "KESSHO" signifies the rewards that spring from laboring over what you love, embodying our painstakingly precise bean-to-bar process. Every step of the journey, from selecting organic cacao farms to manufacturing in our boutique factory in Austin, stands as a testament to our dedication."

Shop now for Kessho Craft Chocolate!

Chocolat Moderne is a New York-based fine chocolate store in the heart of Manhattan not far from Union Square. The innovator, founder, and chocolatier of these fine chocolates in NYC is Joan Coukos. Joan unites the visual and flavor arts creating some of the most stunning chocolate confections; her chocolate works are not only beautiful, but they are scrumptious. It's not surprising she has been named one of "America's Greatest Chocolate Innovators" by Food & Wine Magazine. These award-winning chocolates will take you on a global adventure, by bringing you exotic flavor combinations and elevating the flavor experience.

Shop now for Chocolat Moderne!

A beautiful pairing of two artists, Paco Llopis and Juana Rojas. Paco is the master chocolatier while Colombian born Juana brings her designer and photography background to all of his creations.

Paco was literally born in a pastry shop; his grandparents were pastry chefs, and Paco grew up in the family workshop, located on the ground floor of his house, in a town near Valencia (Spain). It was not long before he became interested in the cakes and the chocolate.

Paco and Juana met in Colombia in 2007, where they found they shared a love of fine quality chocolate. Soon after meeting, Paco and Juana decided to dedicate themselves to producing the best bean-to-bar chocolate they could, sourcing their beans from the growers they knew in Joana's home country.

See the collection of Utopick Chocolate here!

These discs of chocolate are wonderful for baking and making. And they are so perfectly reliable in their flavorful original cocoa taste. I always have them at the ready in the kitchen for when I need a little pick-me-up in the form of chocolate!

Click the link to read the story of this bean. It is still an original bean that is grown in the Amazon.

Read about The Story of Cru Sauvage - A Bittersweet Journey from Bean to Bar!

Red carrots are not as naturally sweet as orange carrots, so this recipe is a perfect way to bring-out more sweetness. Combining a rainbow of carrot colors makes for a beautiful plate!

See the Red Carrots Glazed with Balsamic Vinegar Recipe here!