Mary Bilyeu: "You Should Only Be Happy"

Secondly, the phrase relates somewhat to food, as it is taken from a Biblical verse -- Deuteronomy 16:15 -- relating to the Jewish festival of Sukkot, which has agricultural origins and encourages people to share meals with guests. And thirdly, it is a tribute to a very dear friend who recently traveled to Israel and brought back the beautiful hand-painted stone (pictured) bearing this phrase in Hebrew; it was given to me with genuine wishes for happiness in my life … I am so honored and deeply touched. Therefore, it seemed only fitting for all these reasons to subscribe to this philosophy and to employ the phrase for my blog, as I try to spread joy throughout Ann Arbor with the sharing of my passion for food.

With an 18-year-old son, Jeremy, and his fellow perpetually-ravenous band-mates and buddies to feed ("90 Miles From Vegas" -- playing at the Blind Pig on July 28!); a wide variety of secular and religious events to celebrate; contests to create new recipes for (I’ve won or placed in more than 50 cooking competitions); friends, family members and co-workers with varying degrees of health, religious and pickiness concerns to respect; and Farmers Market goodies to devour -- not to mention spontaneous whims and cravings to satisfy -- one never quite knows what will be happening in my kitchen. One of my very best friends will tell you (with utter objectivity!) that whatever I create will be the delight of all -- that is always my hope. So, please follow along! I hope you’ll be inspired to eat, drink and be merry. May you only be happy here ….