“I don’t know what flavor it is,” I admitted, handing the small cardboard box to my best friend. “It’s not blueberry because my mom and I already ate that one. So, it’s either cherry, strawberry rhubarb, or something called a mermaid pie.” His eyes sparkled with hungry wonder at the term. “I have no idea what’s in a mermaid pie.”
As he put the box in his yet-to-be-filled fridge, I set the card down on his kitchen counter, pristine with new-apartment shimmer. Home Swiss Home, it declared, a little gray mouse moving into a wedge of cheese. My handwritten message inside: “Welcome to the neighborhood! See you around at the donut shops!” My best friend would now be living less than a mile from me, and so far, our plans consisted of:
A) buying cat litter together, and
B) eating at every establishment within walking distance from either of our apartments.
Food is the best way to celebrate any milestone. Landed a new job? Let me buy you dinner. Just married? Let’s eat a huge cake. Renting a new apartment? Here’s a mystery pie. Bored on a Tuesday night? Grab a jar of Nutella and go to town. Food brings us together. When life happens, food happens. With that in mind, allow me to introduce myself: I’m Laura. I love food as though it were an actual person. Gluttony, the superior of the seven deadly sins, is how I shamelessly live my life, and I want to share that joy with you.
About two years ago, another friend of mine asked me to go to Rome with him. Rome, as in: spaghetti and pizza and gelato and cheese and mountains of bread. The experience was so transformative that I'm working on a book about it. This blog is an extension of that journey, a place to shout my love of food from the Internet’s digital rooftop. And like a good meal, a journey is best when shared. Will you join me?
“It’s strawberry rhubarb!” my BFF texted later that night. “It’s SO GOOD.”
Grab a fork. Let’s taste this thing called “life” together.
Laura Botten is a voice actor and producer who is currently working on her first book Spaghetti Friendship: A Reunion in Rome. Get a FREE "Taste of Italy" when you sign up for her monthly newsletter here.
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