Hi, I'm Deb and I'm a Cookbook Addict. (Hi, Deb!!)

I collect cookbooks.  And I use every single one of them. Some more than others, true, but I DO use ALL of them (shut. up. I do.).

And, get this, I also keep my laptop on my kitchen counter so that I can look up a recipe whenever I want. I also read news and food blogs incessantly. So, one would ask - why do you keep buying books if nearly every recipe known to man can be found on the great world wide internet????

I don't know. I love to actually READ cookbooks. The descriptions of the whys and whatfors behind a recipe. The authors love of one thing or another. As I wrote in my earlier post, Nigella Lawson has a way of writing her cookbooks that makes them seem like novels. A food writer, Nigella can make the process of opening a can of soup seem sumptuous and sexy and something you-have-to-do-right-this-very-minute!! It's one of the things I love about her.

My favorite section of the bookstore: the cookbook section. I will go through the section and pick up a stack of books and sit down and read through them. Sigh. I don't know why it is. And to people who don't share my love of food or the cooking process, I'm CERTAIN it seems strange that I go and buy a book on the day it's released (hello, Barefoot Contessa - Back to Basics. I'm looking at you). I simply cannot wait.

So - what IS it that has me doing this?

My Love of Nigella, Or, How I Started Obsessing Over Food.

I'm not a trained chef. Not by any means. I taught myself to cook basically by necessity. It all started with the show "Nigella Bites". It was a half hour program that aired on the Style Network here in the USA and is periodically shown on the Food Network. Nigella Lawson, a beautiful British food writer, hosted this cooking show unlike any I had ever seen. Her way in front of the camera and her style of cooking made me want to get in the kitchen. My young son was even entranced by her...although I don't know if it was Nigella's beauty or her food that drew him in!

So, I ran to Barnes & Noble and picked up Nigella's first book "How to Eat" where some of the early episodes of "Nigella Bites" come from. You certainly can tell that Nigella is a writer. Her cookbooks actually read like books. I will often pick up her books and start at page one and read them like novels. The first Nigella recipe I ever made (and the one I turn to most) is "Ham in Coca-Cola". Stupid easy to make and absolutely delicious. This is the only way I make ham now and it's the ham my children prefer most. Give it a shot...and be careful. Once you've cooked with Nigella, you're done for!

You can find the recipe here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/nigella-lawson/ham-in-cola-recipe/index.html

And So It Begins...

Greetings, I'm Deb, and welcome to my blog!

I'm an amateur foodie and have an addiction to cookbooks, along with the Food Network. Cooking is a HUGE hobby of mine, along with writing, so I'm combining the two in the interest of artistic expression. Because my friends and family are tired of me talking about food all the time!

I hope you'll visit from time to time!