Favorite foods in beautiful dishes...

When people ask what my favorite foods are I usually have a difficult time answering them. I have many favorite foods I love and when and how much I love them constantly changes. Except for a select few. One of them being white beans. I adore white beans. My love for them grew even more when I went to Italy were they had whole festivals just for beans. Amazing.
I think I most appreciate their simplicity. Beans, water, olive oil, garlic, and bay leaves. Can it get any easier?
Well, it is almost Spring and so my mind turns to Italy. It will be 3 years this Spring that I arrived there, just in time to celebrate Easter. Last night I soaked some beans, and this morning before I had even eaten breakfast I put them on to simmer. I sat at the kitchen table working on my latest project as they cooked, and smiled.

A note on the dish in the above picture...I was just handed down an almost complete set of Johnson Bros. Blue Danube plates. These plates were my Great Great Great Grandma's. Zoe and I use them frequently now...imagine all the food they've held in more than 100 years. Amazing.