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Well hello there.  You may have noticed an extra long quiet 'echo' around these here parts of late. I took off the 'holiday week' for some much needed R n R, with the full intention of hitting the blog running in 2011. Ideas bounced around my head like a Mexican jumping bean on steroids, I was raring to go, waiting for the 'blog gate of 2011' to open so I could leap into the year with vehemence.

And then it seemed that as the clock struck 12:01 am on 1-1-11 my social calendar inexplicably but rather pleasantly filled. These past couple of weeks, I've barely had time to sleep, much less blog. Apologies! However, during the flurry of activity I came to the realisation that near 95% of my encounters with my friends are around food, and usually initiated by me...

I brunched, I lunched, I suppered, I had 'treats n tea', I sipped drinks, I had dessert and of course I cooked. As I write this, I am even thinking of where to dine with a dear friend tomorrow. Is it normal to always meet over food? Is it the sign of a torrid addiction and affair with the world of gastronomy? I'm not sure. But, if it is, I am most securely planted in the stage of denial.

Food forces you to be honest - you reject the things you dislike and get seconds on those that you love - your true character is exposed and defined by what is on your plate. I love watching people eat, LOVE IT - it makes me feel like I understand them better. Not to mention how the satisfaction provided by food { tryptophan, serotonin and what not } can lead to loose lips for some. I sound like some sort of spy using food as my truth serum.. ha!

If someone is celebrating an achievement, falling in { or out } of love, looking to change the direction of their life and career, contemplating have a baby, getting married { or won't ever again} my solution always always is <em>let's talk about it over food</em>. I think I should change my moniker from Craven Maven to The Edible Agony Aunt... I've had all those conversations over food and more in the last few weeks and while exhausting, I wouldn't have it any other way because it made my tummy and mind happy.

Anyways, this is all a very convoluted way to say I'm back. Albeit with a still brimming diary of upcoming gastro-dates and a mind racing a mile a minute with ideas...Hope everyone who reads this blog is doing well, sufficiently fed and looking forward to a year of adventure!

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<em>image via one of my favourite blogs ever...<a href="http://hearblack.com">hearblack</a></em></font></p>