My Fathers Daughter - Gwyneth Paltrow

Those close to me know my love for Gwyneth! I personally think she is amazing. Her journey through self discovery has been both public and personal. I am a HUGE fan of her blog, Goop. Gwyneth lives a healthy lifestyle, eating a healthy diet, exercise (with Tracy Anderson) and so on. Watching her father go through pancreatic cancer was another catalyst to her speaking out more about healthy eating.  I loved watching her food journey on Spain on the Road Again, feeling as if I was getting to know her and when she announced her cookbook I was the first person in line to buy it! She has put together a wonderful cookbook with options for vegetarian, vegan, kid-friendly, etc. I seriously just love this woman!

While I like everything in this cookbook here are few highlights from "My Fathers Daughter" and "Spain on the Road Again"

Gwyneth Paltrow's Horchata Recipe

Serves 2
1 cup blanched whole almonds, soaked overnight in 2 cups cold water
1 vanilla bean, split
1/4 cup of sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Cayenne pepper
2 cinnamon sticks

Put the almonds and their soaking water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Transfer to a blender and blend until smooth.  Strain through a very fine strainer (discard the solids), and pour the almond milk back into the clean blender. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add them to the blender, along with sugar and ground cinnamon; blend well. Pour into two glasses, sprinkle with cayenne, and garnish with cinnamon sticks.

copied from: Spain: A Culinary Road Trip by Mario Batali with Gwyneth Paltrow. HarperCollins. 2008.

Gwyneth Paltrow's No-Fry Fries!

• 2 large russet potatoes (2/3 lb each), peeled
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt

1. Heat oven to 450°. Cut potatoes in half horizontally; cut each half into 1/3-inch-thick fries and place in a bowl of cold water. Remove from water and dry thoroughly. Toss with oil and sprinkle with salt. Place fries on a cookie sheet. Roast until browned and cooked through, turning occasionally, 25 minutes.

175 calories per serving, 7 g fat (1 g saturated), 27 g carbs, 2 g fiber, 3 g protein
copied from: My Fathers Daughter by Gwyneth Paltrow. HarperCollins. 2010.

I love reading cookbooks...they are my novels! This one is a must buy for the bookshelf!

Here is the link to Amazon: My Fathers Daughter

Great Read!

I am not a big reader but between my husband and I we read some interesting books.  I thought I would start sharing books we have read and want to read with you. I recently came across this book and it holds very close to my heart.


"The Feast Nearby" was written by Robin Mather.  After searching online I found she has a blog too! Here is some information on Robin Mather. I can't WAIT to read her book! Here is a brief exert from an article I read about her.

Within a week in 2009, Mather lost her job as food writer for The Chicago Tribune and ended her marriage of twelve years. Depressed and lost, she retreated to a small summer home beside a lake in rural Michigan. Few people in the town were full-time residents; most came up on warm weekends, and in the winter the lake was quiet and peaceful. Mather saw this cottage as the perfect place to make a new home with her talkative parrot and playful dog.  With a very limited income, Mather knew that she had to watch her food bills. But she also knew she wanted to spend as much of her forty dollars a week in food expenses on local growers and businesses as she could. She lays down a few ground rules in the book's introduction, including allowances for coffee beans, sugar, and spices to be sourced from further away. But her weekly consumption of produce, meat, and grains would come from farmers within her immediate surroundings, and of course her diet would follow the schedule of the growing season. For more information, click on this link for more on Leah Douglas's article.

Here is Robin's blog too if you would like to continue to follow her, The Feast Nearby.