An Ode to Bread . . .

There was a young girl from Dallas,

...wait, that's a limerick, not an ode.....

I'm not quite sure how to write an ode, but I will tell you, bread is special to me.

{This is Panera's Tomato Basil bread.}

I grew up smelling bread dough rise for my mom's famous cinnamon rolls. There was beer bread, warm from the oven and slathered in butter. Bread was always a part of our lives.

My Bread Story: Well, I was dating this guy. And one day (15 years ago today, to be exact, right about this time of day...it's 4:30pm here), he called and asked if I wanted to go to Happy Hour. Of course, I said!

He picked me up, and drove not to a restaurant, or to a bar, but to a park. A beautiful park. From the back seat, he produced a loaf of bread and a bottle of champagne. We sat on a wooden park bench, sipped champange and tore off chunks of bread.

And then, I SCREAMED! There was something big and BLACK in the bread. He was calm, removed the black "thing" from the bread...it was a box. He knelt down on one knee and proposed.

{When you're dating someone with an engineering degree, I guess it shouldn't come as a shock that he carves out the perfect size cubbyhole in a loaf of bread for a ring box. And then puts the whole thing back together perfectly.}

So, the rest is history. It may explain why, as I watched this Panera "Ode to Bread" video, I got teary-eyed. Watch it and tell me, does it make you teary, too?

Just ONE of the reasons I LOVE Panera, is that their freshly made, always delicious loaves of bread are ready and waiting for me in the store when I don't have the time....or am feeling too lazy....to make my own.