As a child born in the 1960's I grew up sipping the last bitter drops of my mothers "straight" black coffee at a well worn kitchen table with her lady friends. This was a daily ritual in our suburban neighborhood. Coffee breaks began as soon as sons and daughters were packed off to school and before most of the women even had a chance to get the foam rollers and bobby pins out of their hair. Gathering around a kitchen table, good food, laughter...its a way of life to me. Food is Love is a book about my life, stories from my youth, others from my chaotic life as a married, mom o' three...with each chapter followed by a favorite recipe. Honest and hopefully, humorous recollections and revelations about me and why I turned out to be the woman I am today. Food is my friend. Rumor has it I've never met a casserole I didn't like. Good food has been my companion throughout my life and at times, it's been my salvation. As a columnist for nearly 10 years, the idea of combining my love for writing about life with recipes came to me one day after I realized I had a tendency to romanticize about food in much of my work. So the idea for this peek-into-the-life-of-moi, "foodie" book was born. Margie M. Rigney