Nigellissima!

Last week I had the good fortune to chat with Nigella Lawson. I can’€™t believe I just wrote that sentence! She was in Toronto promoting her latest cookbook, Nigellissima, a collection of easy and delicious Italian-inspired recipes.
She spoke about a lot of things’€”not just her new book’€”and I was rapidly taking notes on my iPhone while listening to her words of wisdom. I thought it would be nice to share some of what she has to say with our readers, because if there’€™s anyone who’€™s savvy in the kitchen, it’€™s definitely her.

Here are six nuggets of cooking and life wisdom gleaned from the conversation that day:

Nigella on Food Styling: ‘€˜Use parsley on savoury foods and powdered sugar on sweets to amp up the presentation.’€™

Nigella’€™s Must-Have Pantry Staples: ‘€˜Unwaxed lemons, good salt and bacon.’€™

Nigella on Cooking With White Wine: ‘€˜Keep vermouth on hand instead. It can easily replace white wine in a recipe, and doesn’€™t go bad’€”meaning you can keep a bottle around for a long time.’€™

Nigella on Cooking With Kids: ‘€˜Do it! Have your kids choose a recipe and let them make it once a week for an entire month in order to perfect it.’€™

Nigella on Work/Life/Family Balance: ‘€˜A good friend told me you can have two lives, but not three: you can work and have kids, you can work and go out, or you can go out and have kids, but you can’€™t do all three.’€™

Nigella on Why We Cook: ‘€˜To be with friends, those we love and even those who irritate us.’€™

Are you a Nigella fan? Which celebrity chefs do you admire, and whose recipes do you most enjoy making?