These are a few of my favorite things

I have been a long-time reader and fan of Sarah's beautiful blog, the Pink of Perfection. I love her writing and, while I'm not a very crafty girl, I love reading about her ideas and creations there. Her recipes always feel friendly and warm, like she's a good girlfriend just passing along her most helpful weeknight dinner ideas. This one in particular has happily entered into my regular, "I don't really feel like making dinner, but I want to eat something delicious and fun," category.

All that being said, it seemed like a great idea to play along with her July project and write up my very own happiness list. Here are a few of my favorite (food-ish) things:

• The recipe and wine listings at the beginning of every issue of Food & Wine magazine -- the categories, the color coding, the possibilities!
• The very tip of a slice of pie, cake, or even quiche. My mother has always insisted that this was the very best bite, and now, even though I don't necessarily agree, I always try to savor it.
• My new ice-cream maker. So far, I've only ventured as far as Philadelphia-style chocolate chip, but much more happy news on the ice-cream maker front to come in future postings.
• Watching Peter take the first bite of something delicious. There is some variation, depending on the dish's level of amazing-ness, but it typically involves closed eyes, a nodding head, and a slow smile, followed by an extended thoughtful gaze off in the distance.
• Packing up a fast weeknight picnic for dinner in the park. There's something that feels very special about eating outside on a blanket with a glass of wine on a Wednesday, isn't there? I've been taking inspiration from this lovely list lately, courtesy of Mark Bittman.