J.  Because I have taken the conversation to books...let me introduce one of my favourite authors...Marlena di Blasi.  If you love a good (true) love story, read A Thousand Days in Venice.  The story of a lady 'of a certain age' who is a chef, food writer, bon vivant, working in Venice and is seen by a Venetian man who falls madly, utterly, completely in love with her.  The book is their love story, and the practical issues of an American setting up home in Venice.  After you eat this book up, literally, because of all the amazing food-writing (with recipies), follow the couple in A Thousand Days in Tuscany and then to The Lady in the Palazzo.  Her last book, That Summer in Sicily, does not disappoint and I hear a whisper that a new book...a novel...Amandine is due for release in May.  This genre is for serious foodie-romantics.
While I wait for Amandine, I am about to crack open Michael Pollen's The Botany of Desire.  I became an instant fan of this man after he opened my eyes WIDE with The Omnivore's Dilemma.  I'll let you know about this one.