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Ever wonder where the name "Bananas Foster" came from? In 1951, Bananas Foster was created by a chef at Brennan’s Restaurant in New Orleans, as New Orleans was the major port of entry for bananas shipped from Central and South America, and the fruit was plentiful.

The sweet concoction is named for Richard Foster, who served with Owen Brennan, owner of the famous restaurant, on the New Orleans Crime Commission. Richard Foster was a frequent customer of Brennan’s and a very good friend of Brennan.

Valentine’s Day is an old-fashioned sort of celebration, with lacy hearts and cherubs – which makes the divas think of classic sweets for our sweethearts. But we’re practical, too, so we’re sharing low-cal angel food cake paired with high-cal Bananas Foster for an easy wow and caloric compromise.

This hot, sugary dessert is inspired by a favorite Walt Disney World chef who adds a drizzle of mint syrup to his creation. We prefer this deeply rich sauce unadulterated – well, a dollop of vanilla ice cream snaps us back to cool reality.

Babelicious Bananas Foster Angel Food Cake

Serves 4 to 6

4 ripe bananas, peeled and sliced in half lengthwise

2 tablespoons water

4 tablespoons butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 tablespoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons banana liqueur

1/4 cup dark rum

Angel food cake, for serving

Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Cut bananas in 1 inch pieces. Top with 2 tablespoons water and set aside.

Melt butter in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Add sugar and cinnamon and cook, stirring until sugar is almost dissolved, about 2 minutes.

Add banana liqueur (mixture will bubble). Carefully add the rum; the alcohol will flame on its own, then die down.

Add bananas and water to the skillet, turning bananas with a spoon as the liquid caramelizes. Remove from heat and keep warm.

To serve, place 2 slices of angel food cake in a serving bowl. Add a scoop of ice cream and spoon sauce over the cake.

A year ago on Valentine’s Day, I was trying to decide which shoes I should wear on a date with a guy I’d met 24 years earlier in ninth grade humanities class.

A date, incidentally, that I had tried to push off because first dates on Valentine’s Day are an awkward mess of high expectations and weirdness.

A year later, I am trying to decide which pink and purple flowers I’m going to have in my centerpieces (I’m leaning toward roses and daisies) and whether the guests at my brunch wedding ceremony will pelt me with pastry and hollandaise sauce if I make them do The Electric Slide.

(Don’t care. We’re doing it anyway.)

And I’m happily celebrating both the end of my life as the Palm Beach Post’s unofficial single gal, the beginning of my new life as a wife, and how the best love stories are almost always the ones you never saw coming.

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Local Valentine’s Day happenings

In search of something to do on Valentine’s Day?  There are plenty of things locally happening from family friendly to intimate and romantic.

Check out our Valentine’s Day listings!

Uncle Julio's Fine Mexican Restaurant at Boca's Mizner Park is offering the 'Plato de Amor', or plate of love. (Special to pbpulse.com)

Some romantic types equate Valentine’s Day with a gift of a dozen roses. But as foodies, we’d much rather think in terms of a dozen restaurants.

OK, no one is suggesting that you take your loved one to a dozen different places to eat on the big day. But we are suggesting a dozen dining options worthy of your consideration for the big day — and the days surrounding it. Pick one or pick a few to visit over this love-filled weekend. (But as always, check first on availability and make a reservation, if possible.)

Oh, and Happy Valentine’s Day!

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This week’s bar: Morton’s Steakhouse (West Palm Beach)

The scene: The restaurant’s small bar, with seating indoors and outside, packs in plenty of big-time fun. That’s because Morton’s offers some of the best Happy Hour (or “Power Hour”) specials in town — and its location amid all the downtown office towers makes it a convenient after-work hangout for the professional crowd. Read the full story

With Valentine’s Day this weekend, it’s time for flowers. Chocolates. And romance.

But don’t forget the romantic music.

The natural pick is the classic My Funny Valentine, written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart for the 1936 Broadway show, Babes In Arms. According to Wikipedia, it’s been recorded more than 1,000 times by 600 artists.

Which is the best version? We surfed through YouTube and picked a half-dozen Valentine‘s for your musical bouquet: Read the full story

By DIANE ROSSEN WORTHINGTON

Author Jesse Ziff Cool shares great tips and recipes in her latest book Simply Organic (Chronicle Books). She showcases organic, seasonal and local produce in easy recipes that are both flavorful and visually satisfying.

This adaptation of her seafood pasta recipe is a perfect example of her recipe style. Tender chunks of seafood marry beautifully with thin strands of pasta, leafy chard and a creamy tomato sauce.

What could be a better dish to serve on Valentine’s Day? Slightly indulgent with the lobster meat and cream with a touch of earthy Swiss chard, this pasta is a crowd-pleaser. You’ll find adding the chopped Swiss chard to the pasta and water is an interesting technique with excellent results.

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This shrimp and egg fried rice timbale, from TV chef Ming Tsai, contains ingredients symbolic of fertility and fidelity. (Bill Hogan / Chicago Tribune - MCT)

As the old gasoline ad urged, put a little tiger in your tank — and your dinner plans — this Valentine’s Day.

Feb. 14 also is the Chinese or lunar new year — the Year of the Tiger.

And who better to put the spice into festive fusion dishes for two than that champion of East-West cooking, Ming Tsai?

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Part aromatic stew, part finger food, cioppino (pronounced chuh-PEE-no) is a mouthwatering mélange of fresh seafood that originated on the docks of romantic San Francisco, and is adored ’round the globe as bouillabaisse in France, brodetto in Italy and suquet de peix in coastal Spain.

Start your evening’s affair with a sip of seductive sauvignon blanc and elegant simplicity — a gorgeous spring green salad dressed to impress in a light French vinaigrette (you’ll never buy bottled again). Luxuriate in the tastes and textures of soft lettuce leaves and creamy-white goat cheese. Then slurp your way to a lusty, aphrodisiac buzz as you share a bowl of cioppino, trading sauce-soaked wedges of crusty sourdough bread and sips of wine.

Cioppino recalls the raucous days of the California gold rush, and we imagine rugged Italian and Portuguese immigrants pulling their catch from the icy waters of the Pacific to "chip in" a bit of this, a bit of that, comprising a communal brew of all things yum.

It only sounds decadent. Our recipe for romance is actually good for your sweetheart—and your sweetheart’s heart. Lean protein, antioxidants and monounsaturated fats will keep your hearts beating as one for all eternity. And even as the last mussel is teased from its smooth, ebony shell, you’ll be satisfied, but not too stuffed for post-prandial fun.

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