If the way to someone's heart is through his or her stomach, these made-with-love foods cut right to the chase. Trust us, one look at these heart-shaped foods will set your valentine's own heart aflutter.
1. Don't Go Bacon My Heart
Start your Valentine's Day off the right way with your sweetie's other true love: bacon. Fold strips into hearts on a baking sheet (inset with a rack if you have one) and bake at 400 degrees F until crisp.
2. The Heart of the Batter
These heart-shaped hotcakes take breakfast in bed to a new level. Think of a squeeze bottle filled with batter as your kitchen paintbrush: Squirt a heart outline on a hot griddle, let it start to set, and then flood it with more batter for charming less-than-perfect hotcakes.
3. Take a Pizza My Heart
A pair of scissors is the only tool you need to cut presliced pepperoni into hearts. Use them to dress up a frozen pie, or go all out and make homemade pizza, shaping the dough into a big heart, too.
4. Cross-My-Heart Cinnamon Twists
Shape ropes of puff pastry or pizza dough into hearts; brush with egg wash and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar before baking. Go over the top with a dipping sauce of warmed chocolate syrup or lavender honey.
5. Egg-in-a-Heart
To upgrade the brunch classic, use a cookie cutter to punch out hearts instead of circles from buttered slices of bread. Fry up the crust pieces, adding eggs to the holes after flipping. Serve the cut-out hearts alongside as "soldiers" for dipping into the yolks.
6. Sealed with a Shrimp
For those with a savory bent, two shrimp arranged kissing with curved-sides out make a you-know-what. (Use jumbo if you're feeling fancy.)
7. Hot Date Cheese Plate
Use a mini heart cutter to shape cheddar, Havarti or other semi-firm cheeses into cute little tokens of affection that will appeal to both adults and the toddler set.
8. Home Is Where the Pork Is
Nothing says "I love you" like a home-cooked meal. Butterfly a boneless pork chop or chicken breast and you have a lean, good-for-you main that's fit for the dinner plate of that special someone.
9. For the Love of Fruit
A strawberry with shapely "shoulders" becomes a pink and red heart when you slice it in half lengthwise (cut out a notch at the stem on less-rotund fruit). Use as a cheerful topper for cupcakes, oatmeal and waffles.
10. Heartbeats and Cereal Treats
Toss in a handful of cranberries, freeze-dried strawberries or pink sprinkles to dress up your standard treat mix. Coating a heart-shaped cookie cutter with nonstick spray makes cutting bars from the pan easy.
