Be Ready When the Luck Happens
By Ina Garten
Working in the White House may sound glamorous, but Ina Garten’s heart was most definitely in the kitchen. Counting the minutes to escape her unpleasant childhood, Ina met and married Jeffrey while he attended Dartmouth. The young couple landed in D.C., but accounting work never satisfied her appetite. While Jeffrey’s career soared, Ina was happily arranging small dinner parties in her spare time. Her joy was perfecting new recipes and feeding those she loved. One day an ad in the newspaper displayed a specialty food store called the Barefoot Contessa for sale in the Hamptons. Ina knew little about the area and even less about running a store. As fate would have it, she saw the opportunity as a challenge and her loving husband supported this crazy endeavor. Sharing the ups and downs of running a shop while expanding her career, there was no doubt Ina Garten belonged in the business of feeding people. More than 40 years later her recipes and entertaining tips include dozens of cookbooks, television shows and food products. The author – a non-trained cook – insists anyone can bring joy and satisfaction to eating good simple food. This delicious memoir has no calories.
Just One Taste
By Lizzy Dent
Some people thought Olive Stone was as cold as ice. Her scathing restaurant reviews in the London Post were often feared, yet greatly respected. When her estranged father, Chef Nicky, passes away unexpectedly, Olive inherits his small Italian family-style restaurant and with it the responsibility of completing the last few chapters of his latest cookbook. Although she cherishes her childhood memories filled with dreamy summers in Italy with her loving parents, recent years have been difficult. Olive has kept her distance physically and emotionally from the man she blamed for it all falling apart. Immediately Olive decides she should sell the restaurant, but agrees to travel through Italy for part of the summer with his sous chef Leo to finish the final recipes. Traipsing through Sicily, Tuscany and the coast, Olive and Leo cannot ignore the explosive chemistry they share and Italian food they cannot get enough of. With her father’s memory in her heart and his ashes in her carry-on, Olive must come to terms with her parents’ imperfect past and the scary future that lies ahead.
The Paris Novel
By Ruth Reichl
When Stella St. Vincent’s cold-hearted mother passes away, she is bequeathed a strange inheritance. Money has been provided for a prearranged trip to Paris. Stella is a reclusive copy editor living in New York. Her work fills her life with structure, routine and quiet. It is how she avoids memories of her abusive childhood and lonely existence. But in the 1980s, it is certainly acceptable to travel to Paris alone, and her boss insists she take this opportunity to expand her horizons. Upon arrival, she finds pleasure walking the cobblestone streets, letting her imagination take flight. One day she happens upon a magical boutique and tries on a dress that changes her life. The dress leads to a friendship with Jules, a widower who takes Stella under his wing. Jules introduces Stella to the world of delectable food, breathtaking art and history that may have been forgotten. Together they explore the life of a female artist whose work mysteriously disappeared. Experiencing this taste of love and friendship for the first time, Stella becomes tempted to search for her long-lost father. This story leaves you savoring its French flavors long after you’ve finished, just as any great meal should.
#WorthWatching: “From Scratch” is a delicious and heartbreaking series filled with heaps of incredible Italian food and finding true love. The series follows the lives of two artists as they are challenged by the many ups and downs life throws their way. Inspired by the bestselling memoir of Tembi Locke. Can be seen on Netflix.
