Three Things

Nutella banana bread, tonight's easy dinner, the year's best food writing

Greetings eaters and readers and happy Valentine’s Day if that’s your thing. Should you be looking for some last-minute surprises, there’s the MacGyver’d heart-shaped cake trick that never gets old (all you need is a square and a round baking pan); and there’s still time to make some old-school chocolate mousse or to swing by a bookstore and pick up one of these gift-worthy cookbooks. (Bet you could guess which one I’d choose.) However you plan to acknowledge the day or not, do yourself a favor and listen to This American Life’s “Math or Magic,” a hilarious episode on the two opposing how-to-fall-in-love camps, i.e. Do you follow your head or your heart? (The whole thing is good, but Act One in particular, where a woman requests tax returns on first dates, had me on the floor.) Herewith! Your weekly Three Things…