FOOD FILE:As Domini Kemp points out, tea and toast served, with a smile, on the morning of Valentine's Day is a treat that many of us would appreciate more than a bunch of gaudy roses. You could go the whole hog and make the bread yourself, from a recipe in the River Cottage book reviewed on this page, and for extra kudos, serve it in the stylish heart-shaped toast rack from Debenhams. It's available in the kitchenware departments in the Blackrock, Blanchardstown, Henry Street and Tallaght branches, all in Dublin, and costs €39.25.
The icing on the cake, or the egg on the toast in this case, could be a couple of sunny-side-up free-rangers fried in this cute heart-shaped frying pan (€2.99) from Tesco, branches nationwide. Or you could do as an enterprising colleague suggests and use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut a hole in a slice of bread, and fry the bread with an egg cracked into the cavity.
Mornings not your thing? Then how about coming home to a delicious casserole made and served in a heart-shaped Le Creuset casserole. They are widely available, in both cast iron and stoneware, but the Le Creuset outlet at Kildare Village has the 24cm size in stoneware, which serves four to six people, on offer for €29. A similar model in cast iron, for use on stove tops as well as ovens, will set you back around €120.
A glass of Moët Rosé Imperial champagne from the Book of Seduction gift set on sale in O’Briens wine shops and from www.wine.ie (€55) would be the perfect aperitif . . . and the tulip-shaped flutes included in the gift box add just enough kitsch for the day that’s in it.