Book excerpt: Every once in a while, during the course of a busy everyday day, there occurs a moment when we stop to appreciate one of life's seemingly ordinary, often underappreciated, wonders: cookies and milk; sitting by the fire on a winter afternoon; the first whiff of coffee in the morning; listening to the waves of the ocean; homemade ice cream on a hot summer evening; the first snow of winter. As the world and our lives become more and more complicated, these simple pleasures always bring us back down to earth -- and they're often the things that make it all seem worthwhile. In this warmhearted little book, with its pleasurable thoughts and comforting recipes, John Hadamuscin shares 101 of these wonderful moments of escape, a chance to feel the warmth of spring in the dead of winter, to dunk cookies in milk with a childlike innocence, to savor a favorite food with those we love, or to merely relax and enjoy a few solitary moments of contentment. So, as John says in his foreword, "Here are a few thoughts, a few pictures, and even a few recipes for some of my own simple pleasures, and I'd guess, some of yours, too. And if something here sparks off a memory of a simple pleasure or two of your own, all the better."