Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, I am sure most of you have made reservations at a romantic restaurant for Valentine’s Day Dinner, why don’t you include a food gift as part of the surprise?

If your talent lies in eating rather than baking, this list of Valentine’s Day Gifts and Presents will come in handy for any festive occasions.

I love to feed people, I love the satisfied look on their face after a big feast, I love how food can always make us happy. Naturally, I always give food gifts to my friends and loved ones.

I know Cupcakes are so yesterday, but it never fails to make me happy so who cares if they are cliche. Be it the pretty cupcakes with fanciful toppings, or the plain ones with a messy and rustic look — it is always nice to see a cupcake. If you want to give cupcakes as part of your Valentine’s Day Gift, Marmalade Pantry has some of the best cupcakes in Singapore. You can also look for customised cupcakes from online bakeries.

GET THE BEST CUPCAKES IN SINGAPORE FROM:
Awfully Chocolate
131 East Coast Road Singapore
Tel: +65 6345 2190

Marmalade Pantry
2 Orchard Turn #03-22
ION Orchard Singapore
Tel: +65 6734 2700

Give me a box of macarons and I will love you forever.

Macarons are delicious little devils, they are like love potions sealed within the shell. How can something so small be so intriguing? They are the perfect food gifts for Valentine’s Day.

GET THE BEST MACARONS IN SINGAPORE FROM:
Canele Patisserie
1 Scotts Road #01-01A
Shaw Centre Singapore
Tel: +65 6738 9020

Jewel Artisan Chocolate
181 Orchard Road #02-31/32
Orchard Central Singapore
Tel: +65 6509 8998

SweetSpot Patisserie
10 Bayfront Avenue Lobby Level,
Tower 3 Marina Bay Sands Hotel Singapore
Tel: +65 6688 8888

Do I really need to elaborate about giving chocolate on Valentine’s Day? There are several Chocolatiers in Singapore like Laurent Bernard, Truffls, and Jewel Artisan which offer delicate and beautifully crafted truffles.

GET THE BEST CHOCOLATE IN SINGAPORE FROM:
Laurent Bernard Chocolatier
80 Mohamed Sultan Road #01-11
The Pier @ Robertson Singapore
Tel: +65 6235 9007

Royce Chocolate
Basement 4, Near ION Station
2 Orchard Turn
#B4-10 ION Orchard
Tel: +65 6509 9340

Truffs The Chocolate Artisan
179a Telok Ayer Street Singapore
Tel: +65 9088 2736

Jelly Hearts Cheesecake is a dessert sold in Singapore by online bakeries. Maybe it is the fact that I am not a baker, so the Jelly Hearts recipe seems a little complicated. Basically, each Jelly Heart consists of a cheesecake square base topped with heart shape strawberry piece within the translucent jelly.

There is no nice dinner, fanciful holiday or diamond ring, but you can have my jelly heart.

GET THE STRAWBERRY JELLY HEART CAKES IN SINGAPORE FROM:
Eds Kitchen
Pick-up Area: Choa Chu Kang MRT
Make orders 2 Days in advance
$10 for a box of 12 pcs Jelly Hearts

The Jelly Hearts
Contact Candie Tel: +65 9118 4639
Pick-up Area: Flora road (Near Loyang)
Make orders 4 days in advance
$38 for a 5″ Heart Shape Jelly Heart Cake

Jelly Hearts
Contact Brian Tel: +65 9459 7711
Pick-up Area: 38 Hertford road Farrer Park
Make orders 2-3 days in advance
$18 for a box of 20pcs, or $10 for a box of 10pcs

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Even though the title of this post is Valentine’s Day Food Gifts & Presents Ideas, you can also use this guide for other occasions like Christmas Food Gifts, a gift exchange session, or simply as a present to your partner.

Just one thing to note, the food gift should not be your only plan, it is just a nice little surprise. You should have a real Valentine’s Day Gift prepared. Instead of spending money on flowers that never last, why don’t you DIY a chocolate flower bouquet as your Valentine’s Day present for your date? Happy Valentine’s Day!

// Read my recommendations of romantic restaurants for Valentine’s Day Dinner.

The Singapore Food Festival is an annual event that’s organized to promote Singapore Best Food to the world. I remember the theme last year was ‘celebrating our unique food heritage the Peranakan way’.

When I received the email press release for Singapore Food Festival 2010, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the SFF is focusing on specialty dishes from the various Chinese dialect groups – the Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka, Hainanese, etc.

Are you ready to pig-out at the Singapore Food Festival 2010?

At the Singapore Food Festival Press Conference held at Mandarin Oriental Hotel recently, we were given a sneak preview of all the different Chinese dialect specialty dishes.

Reason #1 why I can never be a journalist: I was too busy gobbling down all the food while the real journalists were scrambling to get exclusive interviews from the key personnel.

Oh what the heck, food comes first!

It’s evident that I was very lazy, and I didn’t manage to take much photos of the delectable offerings from the different dialects. Let me makeup for the lack of photos with words, so it’s time for you to use some imagination. I attacked the Hokkien cuisine kiosk by the Gim Tim group first. Attack is an understatement since I grabbed three Kong Bak Pau and wolfed it down immediately. The braised pork was so fatty, and tender and of course sinful. It was such an indulgence, and I half regretted my decisions afterward. But hey, who cares really?

The Hainanese cuisine kiosk by Yeh Lai Xiang Catering was up next. Hainanese pork chop with sweet sauce, white steamed chicken with chicken rice balls – okay enough talking, lets pig-out!

Since the venue was held at Mandarin Oriental Hotel, it was not surprising to see a food kiosk by the hotel’s Chinese restaurant Cherry Garden. Naturally, the center of attention went to their popular roast pork belly. It was easily one of the best roast pork that I’ve had before. Everyone queued up for this, and it was gone in a Jeffery! The other food bloggers, Camemberu, TheHungryCow and I simply camped directly beside the food kiosk. Needless to say, we had many helpings of the excellent roast pork. The sesame-ginger chicken offered by Mandarin Oriental was really good too!

There was also Chinatown’s Moi Lum Restaurant offering Cantonese favourites like crispy roast chicken, Hakka cuisine like the famous Abacus Seeds by Kew Gardens, and Teochew cuisine of braised duck by Chu Yi Kitchen.

Food is always the most exciting part at Media Press Conference!

Here’s the rest of the lineup for Singapore Food Festival 2010:

Clark Quay Food Street
Date: 16 July to 24 July
Time: 4pm to 11pm
Venue: Clarke Quay Read Bridge
Pricing: Payment via Singapore Food Festival Souvenir Card

Singapore Chinese Dialect Tingkat Cruise
Date: 16 July to 25 July
Time: 4pm to 10pm
Duration: 45 minutes per cruise
Venue: Merlion Park
Pricing: $35 (inclusive of a free tingkat and meal)

Singapore Chinese Dialect Street Snacks
Date: 16 July to 25 July
Time: 4pm to 11pm
Pricing: Free Admission
Clifford Square, Central’s River Promenade and Merlion Park

Singapore Chinese Dialect Heritage Feast
Date: 25 July 2010
Time: 5pm to 10pm
Venue: Clarke Quay Read Bridge
Pricing: $38 Adult, $22 for children (below age of 12)

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Have a good feast at the Singapore Food Festival 2010!