This is one of my newest go-to cookbooks.  Written by Ina Garten, it is filled with simple, yet special foods that are as appropriate for a family dinner as they are for a special party.  I especially love the beautiful photos and personal notes included throughout the book.

Most of you know I love food and the way we celebrate our lives around a wonderful meal or treat shared with someone special. Even though we center so many of life’s events around food and the prep of it, it’s really the deeper connect between family or friends that we are after.  Sharing a meal is intimate, connecting, and restorative.  In today’s busy culture, we need to remember to set aside time for this.  It’s not multi-tasking with several things going on, people in and out the door to other places, or conversations cut short by interruptions, but really focusing on that intimate mealtime with the people in our lives.  It’s making the moment count. When my Grandmother prepared a meal, she did it with love and it showed and tasted like it.  Every meal doesn’t have to be like that, but we should have at least several meal times during our week that focus on each other and the connections that we share.  I challenge you to incorporate more of this type of meal time into your own life, if you aren’t already doing it.  It will change your attitude about cooking and improve your relationships. 

Good healthy, easy to prepare meals (and some wonderful desserts) are abundant in this resource.  A few of my favorite recipes from this book include:  Lentil Vegetable Soup, Sundried Tomato Dip, Parker’s Split Pea Soup and the Pecan Squares (dipped in chocolate of course!)   The next recipes I will be trying are the Coconut Cupcakes and the Grilled Salmon Salad.  Oooh…I can taste them already!

So, for today’s contest, please comment with a description of your favorite recipe or mealtime favorite… and you will be entered to win a copy of The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook.  Comments must be entered by 11:59pm on April 2nd.

Thanks for sharing… Cook On!