I could have made this title much longer by adding (AKA Why I Love Gail Simmons) at the end of it, but I decided to spare it today. The holiday season means you see a lot of things in excess, so a super-long title needn’t be one of them.
Hi!
It’s been a while, hasn’t it?
I’m sorry I haven’t written in a while. I’ve intended to, but haven’t. Awww. There was other work going on, including a creative nonfiction piece to write and math homework to do and an extra alternative proof of the Pythagorean Theorem. Then I got home, baked a bunch of cookies, and settled into Vacation Mode. How to tell? I have flour in my hair (not at this moment, but typically) and the callouses on my feet are not from dancing but from pacing the kitchen floor barefoot.
We had a so-called Drop Holiday last week, which meant that I got to read this lovely book. I love Gail Simmons so much. She is a great writer, a wonderful television personality (one of the few I can stand), and a beautiful person inside and out. This is her autobiography that came out last year (though almost two years ago at this point).
Gail was born and raised in Toronto in a family that loves food. She has two brothers, an adventurous appetite, and more currently, a husband named Jeremy. She works for Bravo on the TV show Top Chef (where I first saw her), as well as hosting Top Chef: Just Desserts and writing. She has previously been the head of the Food and Wine Classic in Aspen, CO and trained as a chef and worked in professional kitchens. She set four goals for herself in her parents’ house once she graduated from college that she’s since been trying to live up to: “Eat. Write. Travel. Cook.” This book charts her life’s adventure to secure all of those things and find balance and happiness in her busy life.
I think Gail is such an inspiration. She’s a lovely woman who went to culinary school, cooked in kitchens as the only girl in the savory kitchen, written fiercely, and knows tons of amazing chefs (can you say Daniel Boulud and Eric Ripert and Hubert Keller and Dave Chang? Yes, and more). Her knowledge of food and the little quirks of the industry is undeniable. She’s a fantastic female role model, and has a humble and wonderful balance of self-confidence and admitting that she makes mistakes.
I give her book four of five stars. There are some great diagrams in it, and the “life in a day of meals” idea at the very end is unique and really well thought-out. The writing rambles a little bit at parts, and I would love for her to share a bit more of her culinary education along the way. She does in small spurts, but cumulatively, more could be useful. However, that said, loved this book as a quick, easy read, with wonderful messages and lessons in body image and humility and growing up and figuring out what you want to do with your life and working with food and valuing yourself.
I will post later this week with a couple end-of-year lists. I’m thinking Best Things I’ve Read This Year and maybe a What I’m Looking Forward to Reading: 2014. I promise there won’t be quite so long a gap between posts, as that was unsightly.
Have a wonderful week! Read fantastic things!
-Nicole
A Book and A Button 