Too Many Cooks: Valentine's Edition

You'll be hearing from the staff at FOOD52 every week in Too Many Cooks, our group column in which we pool our answers to questions about food, cooking, life, and more.

Store windows are full of pink and red, and conversation hearts (Fax Me!) are still, apparently, in production. There's no denying that the world is in full-on Valentine's mode. As we plan for this year's festivities, we're reminiscing on Valentines past, from heart-warming to hilarious.

This week, we polled our team for their most amusing and disastrous V-Day stories. Most of the staff is still holding out on us, which leads us to believe that they are hiding some pretty epic anecdotes. So we'll need you to share yours in the comments section, too. We're all friends here -- don't be afraid to share your best stories. Or your worst.

Lauren: It was early high school and my girlfriend and I decided to make fake valentines for each other from "mystery men".  Seemed like a brilliant idea until our handwriting was recognized. 

Marian: One time a newly acquired boyfriend took me to a batting cage because he knew I had never been to one and thought it would be a fun date. I started hyperventilating because failing at sports in public stresses me out. We went to a steakhouse instead. I've still never been to a batting cage.

Brette: The time I ate an entire pan of Oreo brownies all by myself.

Kristen: Don't share a bottle of wine with your date before dinner, and then another at dinner. Just don't. There will be tears.

Kenzi: You know that Hallmark, plastically sentimental scenario where someone leaves a trail of something (rose petals, ribbons, etc.) that you're supposed to follow, presumably to have a surprise at the other end? Yeah. Don't do that. ESPECIALLY when there's no food involved -- and the thick steaks and/or dark chocolate that would have made this ridiculous situation tolerable are replaced by stuffed animals. Like, bears with bows.

Karl: One time in high school I made ramen on Valentine's day.

Tell us: what's your best bad Valentine's Day story?

Make some valentines for your loved ones, your friends, or yourself: