Food

By Anna Breslaw, Glamour magazine

OK, we all know about chocolate, oysters and maybe even chocolate oysters. But some of these new libido-boosting foods are legit weird. Artichokes?

USA Today asked a licensed dietician for a list of recommended noshes to get your sex on. Here's what she came up with.

• Chocolate

• Oysters
  

• Strawberries, almonds, garlic, avocados and figs, and, according to ancient Rome, anything else "shaped like ovaries."

See more: The Top 10 Ways to Wake Up Prettier

• Asparagus! I love asparagus! Besides the green veggie overall benefit, it contains a sexual desire-cranking chemical called protodioscin.

• Artichokes. When eaten raw by the ancient Egyptians, it was said to have improved sexual prowess and fertility.

• Cumin. Mixed with black pepper and honey, ancient Middle Eastern men drank it as a natural stimulant.

• Coriander/cilantro. Might be why Tex-Mex is my go-to date restaurant genre--and supposedly a fertility

By Hilary Meyer, Associate Food Editor, EatingWell Magazine

Before I had a baby, one minute was one minute. Just 60 seconds. And I had a lot of minutes. I could use them where I wanted, and mostly I chose to use them at dinnertime-leisurely pulling a meal together, eating slowly, sipping wine, then cleaning up. Fast-forward nine months and now my dinnertime routine looks like an episode of Iron Chef. I'm scrambling around, food is flying off the cutting board and I'm yelling, "Hurry up!"

I'm trying to bank some minutes. I'm now acutely aware of their value and the prospect of having a few of them set aside at the end of a long day after the baby is asleep makes me giddy. Sure, I could just call for takeout, but I don't want to be the mother who develops healthy recipes for a living, then feeds her family Chinese takeout from down the street three times a week. And I don't want to set the precedent that dinner is a race either. So I'm going to use some time-saving shortcuts

To give you a taste of the best chocolates around the world, we culled our favorite flavors from these new sweet shops.

Paul A. Young Fine Chocolates

If you think a box of chocolates is a bland Valentine's cliché, then you're not shopping at the right places. Chocolatiers have elevated the sweets into an art form and are opening appealing shops that cater to both locals and tourists.

The finest new truffles and bonbons often reflect local tastes and unexpected pairings. Consider the white peach and apricot caramel chocolates sold in Mexico City's artsy Condesa neighborhood or the Blanc de Noir ganache covered in gold dust available at a Basel shop also known for its wine tastings. These bite-size treats are an easy, affordable luxury-a satisfying treat in the moment and a souvenir to savor long after your travels.

Whether as souvenirs or exercises in virtual travel, these spots satisfy the urge to indulge, bridging a familiar medium with the essence of a destination-and what

Can you remember that one romantic meal that still gives you goosebumps whenever you think of it? Whether it was sharing a charming breakfast in bed or sitting on the beach at sunset with melting ice cream cones, our most affectionate and romantic date moments seem to always revolve around food! With Valentine's Day just around the corner, we asked our food bloggers to share stories of their most romantic meals. Get ready to swoon ... we did.

The world's beloved dishes from today's street foods to traditional classicsWhat are the world's most iconic dishes? What would be on the tip of a local's tongue when suggesting what to taste, or the best place to find it? Furthermore, how many dishes contribute to defining a place? The world is a gastronomic paradise, its every corner harboring a distinct culinary identity.

Slideshow: World's Most Unexpected Table Manners

These dishes say more about a place than just what foods are eaten there. If you look a little closer, they reveal an inside truth about who they nourish and can be an up-close lens on a place's history. These foods draw influence from a country's politics, geography, climate, a people's makeup, and its culture. They've stood the test of time - whether derived from a colonist's cuisine or in spite of it, and whether they've been updated for modern palates or kept in traditional form.

Regional specialties have ignited hundred-year debates, and a dish's origins can create rifts between neighboring countries. Beyond that, where to find the

By Matthew Thompson, Associate Food Editor for EatingWell Magazine

For my wife and me, Valentine's Day is a bit of a conundrum. Sure, we want to celebrate-who wouldn't want an excuse for a delicious, romantic meal with their special someone-but at the same time, this holiday falls on a Tuesday and Tuesdays for us are…problematic.

If you're like us-a married couple both working full-time jobs and still trying to have a life outside of work (crazy idea, I know)-weeknights can get packed quickly. While it's easy to romanticize the idea of a Valentine's Day spent exchanging tender glances over a rack of lamb or enjoying soothing all-day couples' massages at a local spa, in reality most weeknights we're lucky to find the time to eat a quick meal together and wash the day's dishes before crashing for the evening. The idea of turning Valentine's Day into a huge production is exhausting for both of us. Who's gonna clean the dishes?

Time to Cook? Try These Valentine's Day Dinner