Sound of lovin'

I don’t know about the real world, but on television and in the movies, cooking dinner at home seems to be a romantic act. The typical scene begins with a man or woman holding two brown paper grocery bags while struggling to unlock the front door, then hustling to the kitchen counter to drop the two bags (it’s always two). Then there are the obligatory candles and the mood music. You’ve seen it a t-villion times. (Yes, t-villion, as this scene happens, usually in sitcoms, so frequently that it demands an impressive use of the suffix “–illion” beyond the usual billion, trillion or even gazillion.)

Anyhow, Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and if you want your life to be more like TV, maybe the following products will make your reality a dream.

If you want to do something correctly it is always advisable to consult an authority on the issue in question. Since we are talking about romancin’, we should visit the master of love: Not The Fonz, but Issac Hayes. Whether you were makin’ love in the 1970s with ol’ Ike crooning on the stereo or you just recently discovered Hayes through his role as the soul-singin’ Chef on “South Park,” once you’ve heard him, you heard the sound of lovin’. If you don’t have it already, go get Hayes’ landmark album, Hot Buttered Soul, for the appropriate Valentine’s Day music; then hit the bookstore and pick up Ike’s new cookbook, Cooking with Heart & Soul ($27.95) for soul food recipes.