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Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Giada at Home

Giada de Laurentiis is one of my favorite chefs / food personalities (along with Ina Garten, Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver, and Anthony Bourdain) so I was thrilled to be able to attend a signing of her new book, Giada at Home! My mother is a wonderful cook and growing up, I never felt the desire to learn to cook since she handled that department so well at our house. Plus, anytime I’d ask her to teach me how to make something, she would take over and hardly ever gave me measurements to use because she didn’t need them. Having said that, my mom definitely instilled in me an appreciation and love of good food along with a desire to make delicious food that my loved ones could enjoy. I didn’t really learn to cook until around the time that I got married nearly five years ago. I would watch Barefoot Contessa and Everyday Italian ( I still do, along with Giada at Home) and learned so much about food and cooking techniques. I like to think that Giada and Ina taught me to cook!

giada and jade

{Giada and her beautiful two year-old daughter, Jade}

I’ve always enjoyed watching Giada cook because of her relaxed, cheerful disposition, her use of fresh, delicious, and healthy ingredients, and her passion for Italian food and culture. I minored in Italian Studies so I naturally gravitate towards anything Italian and studied many of Giada’s grandparents’ films in my Italian Cinema class. I was nervous to meet her because part of me felt as if I knew her. Watching her on her show, she seems so relatable and I feel like I could chat with her for hours. Unfortunately, at a book signing, you only get about 30 seconds.

What would I say to her? There were countless things that I wanted to ask her about. I wanted to share the fact that I have made her Italian turkey for Thanksgiving over the past few years and it’s been a huge hit. I wanted to tell her that I wear OPI’s Bubble Bath on my nails, too! Could we have a conversation in Italian? Should I tell her that I absolutely love that she pronounces mozzarella, bruschetta, prosciutto, and parmigiano reggiano in Italian as they should be?  I could tell her that I studied her grandfather, Dino’s films in college and that she is a huge part of why my friends and family consider me to be a good cook now.

Easter 2010 014

Naturally, I blanked when it was my turn to have my book signed. I greeted her in Italian and she was super sweet and just as gorgeous in person as she is on television. I asked her about Jade and she was so, so nice and just like that, it was over. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take pictures with Giada, only pictures of her from a distance.

Easter 2010 009

The new book, Giada at Home is filled with wonderful family recipes inspired by both Giada’s Italian heritage and her life in California. The recipes are composed of fresh ingredients and are at once simple, elegant, and simple to prepare. I was able to taste her Pea Pesto Crostini while I waited in line and it was absolutely delicious! If you read La Dolce Vita regularly, then you most likely will appreciate the beautiful styling of the book. Not only is it filled with scrumptious images of the food, but it also features many photos of Giada’s gorgeous family (including her sweet little girl, Jade who is an absolute doll) in the kitchen as well as at a beautiful dinner party.

19 comments:

That Girl in Pearls said...

Ugh!! I so wanted to go to this!! The downside to my 9-5... Is she amazing or what?

Beatriz.
thatgirlinpearls.com

Trish {Pink Preppy Lilly Lover} said...

You are so cute, you remind me so much of myself! I just got this book for my birthday and LOVE IT! How cute is she with her baby girl?

I met her last year at a book signing as well, and of course had it all planned out in my head what I was going to wear, what I was going to say, etc. etc. - JUST LIKE YOU I froze! I spoke to her a bit about my sister in culinary school and also asked about the baby, and she was so super sweet. And like you said, then it was over! A very happy memory though.

Hope you enjoy your new book! Can't wait to see which recipes you like best! XOXOX

Crystal @ Plush Palate said...

Oh Paloma!!! How I envy you! And in reading your post I realized you and I have so much more in common than I already thought! I also minored in Italian, studied Dino's fims, and have a love for Italian cuisine that goes beyond words. Living there for three years and observing the culture through shared meals taught me so much about life!

I hope I can meet Giada one day too! I'm so happy you got too!

xo,
Crystal

P.S. I hear you on the mozzarella, bruschetta, prosciutto, and parmigiano reggiano pronunciation. Bruschetta being mispronounced is a huge pet peeve of mine!

ashlina {the decorista} said...

this woman is my absolute idol. i am obsessed with her. i love her personality and cooking style. my boyfriend loves her too.

great photos. i am sooo jealous you got to meet her.

Carrie said...

Very cool that you got to meet her, I too love everything about her! I must get her new book stat!

Michelle Schraudner said...

Oh my gosh, so jealous! Giada is amazing!

Sarah Ring said...

Oh I would love to meet here! She is fabulous. I too enjoy her recipes so very much!

Sara said...

I was so tempted to jet from work for this!! Love Giada and Love your blog!!

Anonymous said...

Lucky, lucky girl! I love Giada! She is such a sweetheart!

Julie said...

I met her at a book signing last year as well, and she was absolutely adorable!! I die over her style and have been hoping that someone would do a blog post on how to imitate her style...hint hint! :)

Jennifer said...

Hi! I love Giada as well! I got to meet her in Atlantic City when she spoke & did a cooking demonstration. During the Q & A...I asked the 1st Question about what her hubby Todd does? She said he works @ Anthropologie...and he was in the back of the audience.
During her talk she said her name means Jade, in Italian & she was thinking of calling her baby "Jade"...but wasnt sure. When I met her afterwards I said...The name Jade is beautiful...go for it. She named her little girl, Jade! She thanked me for asking the 1st question. I also asked her about East Coast/West Coast life. She was on Today NBC at the time. She said she wanted to stay on West Coast after the baby...
She is soooo petite & says she only eats bites of food...small portions...

Kalee said...

What a fabulous experience! I couldn't agree more, to me Giada is easy elegance personified. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Megan Lee said...

I am just like you- I watch Giada and Barefoot Contessa every day and recently just blogged about one of Giada's cookbooks I got for Christmas. I can't wait to get her new cookbook!

Nancy@marcusdesign said...

Very nice! I would love to get this new book, it sounds gorgeous. Thanks for sharing!

Riviera Boardwalk said...

Thanks for sharing a great post.
xoxo,
nanct

Cara @ Live the Home Life said...

Giada! I love that lady even though she makes me feel fat, ugly & hungry all at the same time.

-Cara

Anonymous said...

Giada and Ina are my very favorites. :) So fun that you got to meet the Italian food queen herself!

Lovely B. said...

Giada will be doing a book signing tomorrow in Atlanta, but unfortunately I will be at work all day. I would've loved to meet her in person as well!

22lovelyb.blogspot.com

LSYSD_1 said...

You didn't tell me that you met Giada! Have you seen her line of cookware/ pasta/ coffee at Target? I just saw it the other day for the first time.