The way to a man's heart...

I've had some incredible food in the past year. Due to a combination of factors - better sources, more things made from scratch, fresher ingredients, and most importantly, a spouse who is very good in the kitchen - we've had a very good culinary year. I'm not talking about anything fancy like tuscan grilled foie gras with baby endive a la mode. I'm talking about basic, everyday food items. Here's my list of "the best ever" items I've experienced, right here in this house:

- Milk
- Eggs
- Bacon
- Bread
- Popcorn
- Pancakes
- Meatballs
- Lentil soup
- Roasted chicken
- Brussels sprouts
- Mashed potatoes
- Chocolate chip cookies
- I'm sure I'm forgetting some...

Why am I telling you this? Well, I was already working on this write-up, just based on the fact that it makes me happy. But I decided to rush it to press because, my poor wife spent pretty much the entire afternoon in the kitchen, diligently working on four loaves of the most wonderful sandwich bread... only to have them stick to the baking pans and tear apart when extracted.

For dinner tonight, I had numerous big hunks of fresh warm bread, soaked with butter from the farm market, a glass of wine, and an apple. Mmmmmmmmm.