A Revelation and a Recipe

I have a confession to make. I love food. It's that simple.  I love how food makes me feel and the memories I have of meals shared across fancy dining tables, on TV trays, and on a picnic blanket. I remember the first (and second) meal I've eaten in my new apartment and the fact that my first meal was eaten when there was no furniture and my mom and I ate on my dining room floor.  I have a relationship with food, but I have definitely learned and continue to learn that emotional eating is not a good idea.

Today I had a revelation.  I spent all day thinking, not simply about the food I was going to eat, but about the   new recipe I was dying to prepare. Yes, the end of that process would end in something hopefully delicious and absolutely delightful.  But I was excited about the process of cooking.  That is a new concept for me.  Normally I dread cooking dinner.  How many of you would rather crash after a long day at work instead of chopping, slicing, mixing, and cooking? I'm emphatically raising my hand.  Until today.  Today I came home and dashed for the kitchen.  I grabbed my iPad and switched on some good tunes for what was about to unfold and then I basked in the moment of humming and chopping tomatoes.

The result was the most delicious salad I've ever had.  It's called panzanella which is probably Italian for "yes, I can eat the whole bowl by myself." And I will probably make it again this weekend because it was easy and so darn tasty. Ready for the recipe...

Go here.  Joanna is one of my favorite bloggers and posted this fabulous recipe that I've been dreaming about all week.

Just looking at this picture makes me want to grab the bowl and eat more.  

Seriously, go get the ingredients and make this.  And then tell me how much you love it.  Unless you do not like tomatoes. Then you will not like this recipe.