In America (hello Valentine's day) as well in many cultures, (in this case the Latino culture) there is a strong correlation between food and love. The book "Like Water for Chocolate" by Laura Esquivel beautifully serves up the sensual side of that relationship. How can you not love a book prefaced by "to the table or to bed, you must come when you are bid." Esquivel uses colorful and lyrical language in this tale about a Mexican woman named Tita, her unrequited love and love for food. Although unrequited love and longing are hardly original concepts, the poetry and sensuality of the writing with a touch of fantasy, as well as the unusual book structure makes it a unique read that moves very quickly (I devoured it in a day) towards a fantastic and surprising ending.
The book is divided into monthly installments January - December rather than chapters, although you certainly wouldn't want to put it down and read a chapter a month! At the beginning of each "month", there is a recipe related to the following events. For example, a recipe for Chabela Wedding cake before a wedding event. My only complaint is that you can't really use the recipes, they sound tempting but the measurements and instructions are vague. So I wouldn't recommend reading this book for the recipes (there are cookbooks for that), but read it for a delicious love story and foods made with love. There's apparently a good movie based on this book, but we all know that books are best!
On the subject of love and food, there's a cliche saying that the way to a man's heart is his stomach. While that might be true, looking and smelling pretty doesn't hurt...there's scientific proof! According to a British study, men are first and foremost attracted to luscious lips, and prefer the color to red to pink.
As for eyes, according to Women's Health magazine, "men are drawn to the most feminine looking faces...women's eyelids are naturally darker than the rest of the face, so the greater the contrast, the more feminine a woman appears." Figures that smoky eyes are equated with sexiness.
Face aside, it is widely believed that scent is the most defining measure of attraction. Pheromones have a big part in this, but perfume can help.
Some of the research findings are surprising: Pumpkin pie? Vanilla? Donuts? (Hmm again with the food and love connection here?)
I can personally attest to the power of sweet scents. The secret is: Victoria's Secret Vanilla Lace. That's right, $10 eau de toilette from an underwear store.
Working with elementary school kids, their comments range from "you smell like donuts", "you smell like sugar cookies," "Your perfume is making me hungry." But men usually have a different opinion of the sweet, almost bourbon-y Vanilla fragrance. Mostly exaggerated flattery, but reactions have included "Is that Givenchy?" to "Will you marry me?" (HA...ugh)
But let's face it, you can pile on the red lipstick, smokey eyes, and vanilla perfume...still, we all know the most attractive accessory of all is a beautiful mind, and a smile :) (At least, i hope so!)
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