Birds are chirpin'; bees are buzzin'; flowers are everywhere. Spring, finally, is in the air, and ever since that chubby little nude guy with the bow and arrow zapped you on Valentine's Day (Hah! Bullseye!! Gotcha!!!), it seems the birds and the bees are chirpin' and buzzin' just for you.

Yep, you're in love. One minute you're carefree and single; the next minute, your favorite three-word phrase morphs from "you've got mail" to the one with the infamous "L-word" in the middle.

Well, why not make the most of it? Even if you can't guarantee that you and that special someone will live and love happily ever after, you can at least enjoy the heck out of this spring season of passion.

It's not hard to mix romance and pure lust -- after all, our pal Cupid also goes by the name of Eros. (You could look it up!) Just invite your sweetie to a romantic spring dinner a deux at your place, follow these simple recipes, cook up your love feast and make some memories.

Smoked Salmon Hearts

Cream cheese with chives, garlic or herbs
Plain or peppered water crackers
Smoked salmon, cut into thin strips
Garnish: any combination of capers, green onion rings, caviar, sour cream

Spread cream cheese on crackers. Take two smoked salmon strips, the same length, and curl them into a heart shape on each cracker. Decorate with your choice of garnishes. Pour bubbly and feed each other.

Shrimp Hearts on Pink Tomato Pasta

12 large shrimp
2 T butter
2 T olive oil
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 T tomato paste
1/2 cup cream or milk
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 lb. thin pasta such as spaghettini or fresh Asian noodles
Garnish: parsley sprigs

Over medium-high heat, sauté shrimp in butter and olive oil, stirring until shrimp are coated with oil. Add onions and stir until onions and shrimp are just cooked through, about 3 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and milk; season to taste.

Cook pasta al dente. Divide between two bowls. Spoon some sauce over each portion and toss lightly. On each portion, arrange six shrimp into three hearts (you get the idea). Top with remaining sauce, garnish with parsley and serve hot.

Remember the movie Lady and the Tramp? Pasta can be one of the sexiest foods going. Just make puppy dog eyes at each other and start slurping from opposite ends. (You won't have to worry about messing up your clothes if you don't have 'em on.)

Deluxe Banana Split for Two

1 large, ripe banana, split lengthwise
Strawberry and/or raspberry ice cream
Valentine cookies with red sugar
Canned cherry pie filling or maraschino cherries
Chocolate sauce
Whipped cream (spray can okay)
Candy hearts and/or red hots

Lay the banana in a large bowl. Pile on as many scoops of ice cream as you can handle. Tuck in some cookies so they stick out a bit. Spoon or pour on cherry pie filling and chocolate sauce. Top with whipped cream and arrange candy over everything.

Here's a perfect chance to play with your food - and each other. We at Wine X trust you to make up the details as you go along. Email us (), and maybe we'll print some of the juiciest!