I’m posting this mostly because I NEVER remember when Gossip Girl is on and I do like to watch it ‘live’ once in a while. I ventured out into the world outside the workroom on Monday – Pages (stack of magazines), Get Outside (winter boots), King Textiles (stack of fabric) & Lee Valley (legs for my cube)…

I’m not ready for the holidays even though I’ve been spending my days getting everyone else ready for the holidays.

It is a Sunday night tradition at our house to watch, “Jamie at Home”, on the Food Network. I’ve been a dedicated fan of Jamie Oliver since the days of the “Naked Chef”. He just keeps getting better and his newest show is brilliant.

The show focuses on Jamie cooking with ingredients straight from his garden (and sometimes he actually cooks out in the garden). He also shows how easy it is to grow your own food, wherever you live. His recipes are down to earth and delicious. I’ve spent the last year jotting down the recipes as I watched the show on television. I finally went to pick up a copy of his new book, “Jamie at Home”, at Pages on Monday.

When I brought the book home, I sat out in my garden with some homemade peach and lime sorbet and carefully flipped through it. The book is beautiful. Lovely graphics and photography fill the 400+ pages. Plus, of course, all the recipes. I’m excited to have all the recipes properly written down in one place, instead of on random bits of paper. I know many of them already. The mothership tomato salad, tomato basil sauce with sausage meatballs and proper chicken Ceasar salad have become standards in my cooking repertoire. I can’t wait to try out more, like the pizza bomba and the beautiful zucchini carbonara. This book will be my inspiration for many future meals.

Jamie is my cooking hero. (and his British accent is sweet music to my ears)