Valentine’s Day is tomorrow, and nobody wants their sweetheart to open up melted or spoiled sweets on the big day. Mollie Clark with Guthrie County Extension has tips on keeping your candies and chocolates in mint condition for as long as possible. “Store boxed chocolates at a moderate room temperature. Stored at these temperatures, most chocolates will retain their quality for six to nine months, even after they’ve been opened. The exception to that is the gourmet, premium hand-made chocolates, they will usually remain at peak quality for two to three weeks at room temperature. Ideal temperature for storing chocolate is between 60 and 70 degrees fahrenheit, any warmer than that and the chocolate’s texture and appearance can begin to suffer.”

Clark says you can find other food shelf life tips at the website www.stilltasty.com .