We gobble the various food sections up each Wednesday. These are our favorite tidbits from today's offerings:

SF Chronicle: Valentine's feasting with the one you love. We like Marlena Spieler's no fuss, no muss approach. We would totally make the cumin lamb chops with sweet potatoes and tomato-ginger chutney for our sweetie if we weren't catering tonight!

If a restaurant outing is more your thang for Valentine's Day, Inside Scoop has dets on happenings around town. Another holiday is upon us: Chinese New Year. Olivia Wu reports on the rise of banquet dining. Abalone or birds nest, anyone?

Contra Costa ( CoCo ) Times: Skip the bubbly with your romance tonight and go for syrah. It's complex and thought to have a long, long finish, oh my. On to a decidely less sexy topic: lard. It's okay to occasionally use in a well balanced diet. More tamales for us, then!

Oakland Tribune: Icky research on which drug store Valentines chocolates are "the best." Elmer's was a fave. Jodie Chase tracks down a good recipe for ginger snaps from Bakesale Bettie's. We so love that name!