Special sweets for your Valentine

By Michele Hester

Dark chocolate, milk chocolate, hot chocolate, chocolate fudge, chocolate covered cherries, dipped chocolate. The world’s favorite delicacy comes in many shapes and sizes, and with the most romantic day of the year just around the corner, finding a special Valentine’s Day gift for the ones you love is top priority.

But why is chocolate the gift we give for Valentine’s Day? Opening a box of chocolates might not be as romantic as finding a diamond ring in a glass of champagne or as exciting as opening an envelope with Super Bowl tickets inside it, but it shouldn’t be. That’s the beauty of chocolate. For just a few dollars, chocolate can show your Valentine how much you care.

Although there is not a chocolate shop in Dawsonville, here are a few nearby alternatives to giving that red, ruffled box of chocolates.

During the month of February, Cold Stone Creamery offers cakes for couples. The Perfect Pair ice cream cake is designed especially to share with the one you love. Cold Stone is making a very special cake combination that allows couples to choose which ice cream flavors they would like together in miniature duo cakes that are then created for the couples. Perfect Pair cakes are $14.99.

Ice cream lovers over the age of 18 can also go to Cold Stone Creamery’s website, www.coldstonecreamery.com and vote for the ice cream flavors they would most like to see “married” in honor of Valentine’s Day. Each vote casts returns the opportunity to be placed in a drawing to win a romantic Hawaiian getaway for two.

For a Valentine’s treat that will almost melt in your sweetheart’s mouth, take the scenic drive to Dahlonega’s The Fudge Factory. There is nothing quite like arriving in downtown Dahlonega and smelling exquisite Fudge Factory treats. With fudge that tastes as good as grandmother once made and hand-made truffles that look like they were imported from France, The Fudge Factory is the perfect stop for a customized Valentine box of chocolates.

For a unique chocolate treat, Sweet Petals Candy Shoppe in the Main Street Market in Downtown Gainesville creates personalized fudge hearts. With these special gifts, you could be a romantic or as creative as you’d like and be sure that your Valentine will receive a gift from your heart. At any given moment, Sweet Petals Candy Shoppe is also full of delightful smells of tasty chocolate treats ranging from over 50 flavors of butter cream fudge to dozens of hand-shaped truffles and almost anything that could be dipped in chocolate.

Chocolate Facts:
• Over $1 billion of chocolate is purchased for Valentine’s Day each year
• Chocolate does not promote tooth decay. The proteins and minerals may actually protect tooth enamel
• Chocolate does not cause acne
• A 1.5 ounce serving of milk chocolate is about 200 calories
• Chocolate is poisonous and can even be lethal to dogs and other pets
• Studies have shown that dark chocolate helps prevent heart disease and cancer
• Chocolate has been used as an appetite suppressant
• Pope Pius V considered cocoa liquid so vile tasting that he declared the drinking of it would not break the communion fast
• Chocolate has offered been referred to as an aphrodisiac