Last night, we went to an amazing birthday party for our dear friend, Sara Renner. The party was even titled…An Evening in Tuscany…sounds full of promise, doesn’t it. It certainly lived up to my expectations.

It was in a historical home in St. Paul that’s been lovingly redone and it was absolutely gorgeous. I didn’t even pull out my camera, I was so overwhelmed…beautiful. And the gardens…wow.

Sara’s family made the delicious Italian food that they’re famous for and we feasted. It was a party to remember.

Timmy Z, one of our musician friends, brought up an interesting topic about artistic people and food. I hadn’t put the two together quite so clearly. I just thought I liked to be around people who appreciate good food and like to try new things. Most of my friends don’t just eat food, they EAT FOOD and moan and exclaim about what is making that dish so excellent. Not only that, but I’m surrounded by people who can COOK…not just a jar of spaghetti sauce over noodles, but the real quality, fresh ingredients DEAL.

But they’re mostly musicians or writers or drawn to some sort of artistic passion…hmm, I think there’s truth to this.

Our friend, Aaron, who is a professional bass player, even knew the types of bleu cheese he was eating last night. That is a food connoisseur, right there. He’s not even 30 yet, but he knows his food. I remember having him over with a large group years ago, and he noticed every extra touch used to make the food special. He wrote a letter afterward, written as a “food critic”, that was so delightful, it still warms my heart to this day.

It’s really fun to cook for people like that and to eat with people who appreciate what they’re eating. Have you ever noticed the difference? You can cook the same meal for two sets of people. One will eat and at the end say, “That was really good.” They typically ate it quickly and didn’t really look up from their plate.

The other will moan and groan and say, “I LOVE this…the mint is so good in there…did you put X, Y, Z in there?…” They will sincerely feel that their life was made better by eating that particular meal. Not only that, but they’ll remember those dishes from years to come, what was special about them, where they got it and how it compares to other similar dishes.

Another gift, in my opinion.

Now that I’m really thinking about it, anyone I’ve ever had that experience with does fit some artistic profile. Hmm. Don’t really have anywhere to go with this, it’s just interesting to me. What are your thoughts?