nigella and gwyneth

i take pleasure in thumbing through stefan's cookbooks from time to time.  some people think that a cookbook is just a collection of recipes for dishes.  not me, i read them like a novel.  they are especially appealing when the author writes a chatty introduction giving a little glimpse of their lives and what inspired them to cook.  i love it when the recipes are preceded by a description of what stirred them to create the dish; their passion for cooking jumping of the page.  if there are full colour photos to drool over and gorgeous descriptions of the food, all the better.  and you can even be transported away to another country by simply reading a really good mexican or portuguese cookbook, for example.

have you ever considered reading a cookbook with no intention of finding a recipe to cook?  try it, read beyond the list of ingredients and instructions and see what you find.

i am secretly coveting gwyneth paltrow's cookbook (and it's not to learn how to roast a chicken or bake a cake).  i hear it makes a good read.

yesterday, you would have found me curled up on our new armchair (aka, my new reading nook) reading through one of nigella's cookbooks.