Food is love. No doubt about it. It’s really why I do what I do, and why a lot of my friends, family, and followers do what they do. Cooking, entertaining, and enjoying a great meal with great friends is what life is all about.

Bluegrass chef and restaurateur Ouita Michel and I have a lot in common. She lives by this mantra. So much so that “Food is love” is written boldly and in black Sharpie marker in the autographed copy of her cookbook Just a Few Miles South: Timeless Recipes From Our Favorite Places.

Ouita Michel is one of my favorites–and so are her restaurants sprinkled throughout Central Kentucky. I absolutely could not wait for her cookbook to be released…and you better believe I was just about first in line that chilly, foggy morning when she was signing copies of her new cookbook inside her flagship shop, The Midway Bakery.