Rebel Homemaker: Food, Family and Life by Drew Barrymore

I am having trouble growing lettuce this year. Now in my third summer of lettuce growing, suddenly this year I am not seeing the success I had the previous two years. But I am experimenting to see how I can improve the growth. Maybe it is the heat, the water or the soil, but I was beginning to get a little miffed until I read this delightful book. "Rebel Homemaker" by Drew Barrymore with Pilar Valdes, is an enchanting cookbook and lifestyle memoir about what the actress-turned-talk-show host has been up to the last three years. Three times divorced, with two young daughters, she found herself doing things during the pandemic, like me, that she had never done before. She started gardening and cooking, and doing home-based activities outside of her normal comfort zone. It also didn't hurt that she started a talk show which features Valdes, a self-taught chef originally from the Philippines. First working for Barrymore as a private chef, the two have now turned their passion for food into recipes for this book, and segments on Barrymore's talk show. The book is highlighted by pictures of food, plants, and cooking gadgets, and many of the photos were taken by Barrymore. The dishes look delicious, especially things like Soft Scrambled Yuzo Kosho Eggs, Nutty Fish, Green and Herbs Quiche, and Harrisa Spaghetti. Barrymore's prose has her signature energy of a much younger person, and her pictures make the recipes look enticing to try, without the pressure to be perfect. Reading this book made me feel much better about my own lettuce. Hobbies don't need to have perfection as the end goal. They should bring joy, which I think Barrymore and Valdes would agree, is what hobbies should be all about. To buy this book on Amazon click here.