It’s Valentine’s Day again, when shops are filled with anything red, heart shaped and fluffy. Partners are desperately trying to figure out what to spend their money on that will show just the right amount of love. It is the one day a year that we are apparently meant to display romance, post declarations on social media, spend money on flowers, champagne and over priced Valentines day tasting menus in restaurants.

The truth is – how useful is that stuffed heart or heart shaped bowl the rest of the year? Also, how much romance can you really have surrounded by other couples working hard to have the best evening. Forget all of that – get cooking… together.

Make a cocktail (if you want to rack up the brownie points with a little extra effort – make ice cubes with flowers or pomegranate seeds) or pour a glass of wine, turn the phones off, play good tunes and get cooking.

It doesn’t really matter what you actually cook, as long as you are doing it together. Prepare whatever you feel comfortable with – home made pizza, perfectly cooked steak, heart shaped ravioli or a full on fine dining style meal. But don’t forget to have fun in the kitchen.

For a dessert, keep it simple – chocolate fondue or simply a warm, freshly made chocolate sauce and berries (the leftover can be used as body paint).

Tip: for the sauce, just melt a bar of dark chocolate with a splash of booze (whisky, amaretto, Kahlua, etc.) and a knob of butter in a bowl set over a gently simmering pan of water!