Although Liz Payne, the proprietor of The Milky Whey Fine Cheese Shop, located in downtown Stratford, Ontario, knew beer and cheese were a match made in heaven, when she first started offering beer and cheese tasting classes five years ago she felt uneasy about the venture. North America’s premier theatre destination is flush with vino enthusiasts, after all.

            “I was surprised when the classes started filling up. Although some of the participants were skeptical when they came in, afterward I often heard things like, ‘Beer and cheese? Wow. Who knew?’”

Although Payne offers both beer and cheese as well as wine and cheese classes, she finds that wine can be more intimidating. “Beer is just so down-to-earth the classes are more laid-back.”

Payne’s sentiments come as no surprise to Mirella Amato, Canada’s only certified Master Cicerone, which is a specialist in the selection, storage and tasting of beer.

It is during these long days of winter when the slow cooker shines. Here, a simple soup of cabbage and pork is slow cooked for hours so it is ready to be served on a week night with salad and bread when the light is low, and the furnace is on.

Recipe from my slow cooker cookbook, How to Make Love and Dinner at the Same Time. 

Can mixologists put you in the mood? Oh yeah. Especially if they load your glass with so-called happy ingredients such as endorphin-increasing spirits, and juices that make you feel good all over. Here are three fabulous cocktails created by the folks at Azure Restaurant and Bar at InterContinental Toronto that are sure to set you up for a super seductive Valentines.