Local chocolate and candy makers are whipping up their most delectable batches of confections for Valentine’s Day.

Growing up, Amanda Telford had a kindly neighbor who gave her homemade caramels. Something about the fresh, home-cooked quality of the treats set them apart from store-bought candy and permanently branded them in her memory. “It was the consistency that really made the difference for me,” Telford said. “It was creamy, it was luscious, it wasn’t sticky.” It took Telford many long hours of experimentation and 40 or 50 trial batches to accurately replicate that creamy goodness. Now, she’s got it nailed.

Two upcoming events will benefit Share Our Strength, a nonprofit organization whose No Kid Hungry campaign strives to end childhood hunger in the United States by 2015. The Winter Wine Festival returns to Wentworth by the Sea, and a national cheese expert will lead Great Bay Community College's wine and cheese tasting.

After close to 85 years in business, The Rosa Restaurant permanently closed its doors on Sunday, Jan. 8. The downtown Portsmouth business was an anchor of the local dining scene long before the Port City became a regional restaurant hub.

The Food and Health Forum is bringing national visionaries to Exeter in 2012

“Basically, people go to a supermarket and they have no idea where the food that they’re buying comes from,” Miller said. “It’s basically this monolithic supermarket, so they get the food, they bring it home and they don’t have to think about what they’re eating or how it affects them.”