As I wrote yesterday, this week will be spent delving deep into a few new cookbooks because it raining too hard to go outside. Not a lot makes me happier than opening a new cookbook! What will I discover inside the pages?
I think the critics were ready to hate hate hate Gwyneth Paltrow's new cookbook, My Father's Daughter: Delicious, Easy Recipes Celebrating Family & Togetherness
. Ms. Paltrow is an actress, not a chef. But the book is amazing, received rave reviews and it is obviously a labor of love - love of food, love of her family and especially love of her recently-deceased father, the great film director, Bruce Paltrow. The recipes are not complicated and do not require strange ingredients. The actress has two small children and can't be bothered with overly-fancy preparations. The recipes are honest and the photography (by Ellen Silverman) is outstanding. There are many old family photos throughout the cookbook and many photos of the (seemingly make-up-free yet still completely gorgeous) author! In full disclosure, we are friends with Kevin Bacon a friend of the Paltrow family and I have it first-hand that Ms. Paltrow (aka Gwynnie) is just a darling girl.

The recipe consists of freshly grated parmesan cheese, the zest and juice of one lemon, pepper, fresh basil, olive oil and spaghetti pasta. I'm fairly certain you can find these ingredients at your neighborhood Winn-Dixie. I will admit to using a very good imported parmesan cheese, organic dried spaghetti from Italy and an organic lemon from Brother Steve & Gina's ranch. With such few ingredients, I thought it crucial products were of the best quality.


I also suggest a very chilled Italian Pinot Grigio... but I nearly always suggest a very chilled Italian Pinot Grigio.

Until my next update, I remain, your lemony correspondent.