Paper Palate

Let me share with you one of the favorite gifts that I bought myself for my birthday: Classic 30 Minute Meals by none other than Rachael Ray. I love Rachael Ray to begin with, and have many of her books. When I had a television, I really enjoyed watching her shows. I think I only started watching the Food Network in college because she was on it.

This is the first hardcover book that I have from her collection and it’s quite a find. It’s a compilation of her greatest hits from other various cookbooks and travels. I’ve seen some of the recipes before, but it’s nice to have them all in one place and categorized into sections like everyday, date nights and parties. The recipes are the same sort of thing you’d expect on her shows: fast and simple with recognizable and easy-to-find ingredients.

I also like the layout of the book (I’m a newspaper kid, what can I say?  I notice these things). The font, colors and placement of many, many photos bring a scrapbook feel to the book. And I love having so many photos! I tend to cook better when I know what the final product should look like — even if mine doesn’t quite turn out like that. There are also pictures of her various shows and Rachael as a child. Only because she’s a celebrity does all of that work in this book. You can snag a copy of Classic 30 Minute Meals on Amazon for $14 or so, so check it out. It’s worth the minimal investment.

This article originally appeared on Kelly the Culinarian.