At the Fancy Food Show, I met a lovely lady from my home town who brought up Bove’s, the institutional Italian family restaurant in Burlington, Vermont. My first thought was of longing for their incredible vodka sauce (particularly over cheese ravioli with meatballs), which is now being sold in stores nationally.

My second thought was of a girl long-forgotten.  After flirting through a grad class and a few after-learning cocktails, she invited me over for dinner the following week with the lure of her “amazing homemade vodka sauce.” As promised, the penne alla vodka blew my mind. It was zesty, creamy, smooth and utterly enchanting.

If I hadn’t offered to do dishes, I might be married to that girl today.  I opened the trash can to scrape out a salad bowl, and there sat an empty jar of Bove’s.  I can abide a liar, but not a gal who doesn’t recycle.