The best cookbooks ever!

If you could pick just one famous person to meet in your lifetime, who would it be?
A hunky actor? A beautiful singing star? The Prime Minister? Just kidding, no one wants to meet him – sorry Steve.

Well ladies and gentlemen, my choice would be celebrity chef Jamie Oliver.
I think he is just the greatest gift to television since colour sets were invented. Watching him has been my inspiration to really have fun in the kitchen and to try everything under the sun.

Now I know what you’re thinking (or maybe I don’t…but just play along anyway), Mr.Oliver is often criticized for ‘taking too many short cuts’, or ‘not being a real gourmet chef…blah blah blah’, and to that I say poppycock! The brilliant thing about Jamie Oliver is that he makes cooking fun, interesting and an adventure in flavour, all while making it so easy you wonder why you haven’t been listening to him your whole life. With him, it’s not about following a bunch of boring set steps and using the same old flavour combinations, it’s about finding what you love and throwing it all together in the most fun and delicious way possible! What do I care if he uses a store-bought pesto once and while to add extra dimension to a dish, or doesn’t always make his own chicken broth. I mean come on, who has time to do all that?!

I really can’t say enough about how much I truly admire Jamie’s approach to cooking and food in general (and the fact that he is hilarious and adorable is rather helpful as well). If you find yourself in a cooking rut, and are looking for an adventure in food, please please PLEASE pick up Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals.

This has quickly become my go-to cookbook when I can’t seem to think of anything to make for dinner. Every recipe is dynamic, delicious and ready in 30 minutes or less! How great is that!

For the slightly more adventurous home chef, or one who simply has an appreciation for truly beautiful cookbooks, I recommend Jamie at Home.

This is such a great book! All the recipes are categorized by season, so you can choose a dish you’d like based on what produce is best at any given time of the year. It also includes instructions on how to grow your own wonderful herb and veggie garden – and contains the loveliest photographs of Jamie’s own home garden and the meals he makes.

So there you have it, two cookbooks that I guarantee will have you cooking up a storm and having oodles of fun while doing it. Or if you’d rather, check out one of his many amazing cooking shows, you will enjoy every moment of it.

Happy cooking!