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Quote of the Day: Jamie Oliver

December 11th, 2008

I’m a big Jamie Oliver fan, always have been. I’ve watched most of his cooking shows and his documentary/show about trying to make British State School food healthier. He’s definitely doing his part to make local, sustaineable food popular. I’m currently reading his cookbook/gardening book Jamie at Home: Cook Your Way to the Good Lifeand it’s fantastic!

“I spent my childhood growing up in a village in Essex and I moved back there three or four years ago with my wife and kids. Like most people these days, with a busy family life and a hectic working schedule, I began to struggle with finding a balance between the two. I seem to have evened things up a bit now, and it’s all thanks to my veg garden, believe it or not. I love spending the odd hour out there, as it really relaxes me. You might think I sound like a complete hippie now, but growing my own veg for these past few years has filled me with such pride, pleasure, and passion. Witnessing changes in the garden through the year, having successes and failures, realizing that certain types of fruit or veg can have certain personalities and you have to work with them in different ways, it’s all just fascinating to me!

The garden has also made me think about food in a different way: about how it grows and what it stands for. To me, growing food at home means eating outside in the garden in the summer at family get-togethers and occasions, or cozying up next to a fire tucking into an amazing comforting stew or soup made with stuff from the garden which you’ve had to go outside and pull up in the rain! It might seem odd, but during the last sixteen years of training and working as a chef, I never thought I would ever grow stuff properly.”

Jamie Oliver: Jamie at Home: Cook Your Way to the Good Life


I’ve really enjoyed reading this book. I like that each chapter has growing how-to’s followed by recipes for those vegetables. Pick it up at your local library and give it a read!

Anyone have any other cookbooks they love and want to recommend?

9 Comments to “Quote of the Day: Jamie Oliver”
  1. N. on December 11, 2008 at 7:03 am

    When J. and started to eat more whole wheat we checked the King Arthur Whole Wheat Cookbook out from the library and liked it so much we bought a copy. It covers all sorts of baked goods from sweet to savory and includes tips and tricks.

    Reply to N.'s comment

  2. Jesse on December 11, 2008 at 5:17 pm

    My cookbook list could go on for miles! I just discovered Jamie Oliver (no, I don’t live under a rock… clearly I’m just oblivious). I LOVE Jame’s Italy and have added this book to my wishlist. It sounds great!
    One of my favorite books for a long time now is Heidi Swanson’s Super Natural Cooking.

    Reply to Jesse's comment

  3. kristin on December 11, 2008 at 5:20 pm

    “Serving Up the Harvest.” The most thorough and useful gardener’s cookbook I’ve seen. If SOMEone (MOM) took my hint, I should be getting it for Christmas, so I don’t have to keep checking it out of the library.

    Reply to kristin's comment

  4. Susy on December 11, 2008 at 5:37 pm

    I also love Heidi Swanson. I don’t have her book yet, but I have her blog in my RSS reader. She has such great natural healthy recipes. I haven’t read Jamie’s Italy yet, but it’s on my library request list.

    I’ll have to look up the Serving Up the Harvest book as well. Thanks for the suggestions.

    Reply to Susy's comment

  5. Brax on December 16, 2008 at 10:12 am

    Hello

    Just wanted to say two things.Firstly: Absolutely LOVE your website But secondly: I feel the intense need to clarify something that to a Brit ( I am english and live in Warwickshire,UK) is extremely important. Jamie Oliver has had NOTHING to do with Public schools. In the UK Public Schools are private schools where the minority of very rich people send their kids. Our normal schools are known as State schools and are government or local authority funded. Its the State schools that Jamie Oliver has tried to change the menu at. Sorry to be pedantic but to a UK national there is an important difference between Public and State schools!

    Reply to Brax's comment

  6. Susy on December 16, 2008 at 10:33 am

    Thanks for the clarification Brax.

    Here in the U.S., “public” schools are the state schools and “private” are the non-state sponsored schools with paid tuition.

    Reply to Susy's comment

  7. Cooking Meat Rabbits | Chiot's Run on December 8, 2009 at 4:48 am

    […] even know if those are local. I was trying to decide how to cook them, when I remembered the Jamie Oliver cookbook I read last winter featured a wild game section. Since his recipes focus on fresh local ingredients […]

    Reply to Cooking Meat Rabbits | Chiot’s Run's comment

  8. Lynn on January 20, 2010 at 10:34 pm

    I know the post is a bit late but I recommend Alice Waters’ “The Art of Simple Food”. It too is all about cooking around the fresh pick of the day.

    Reply to Lynn's comment

    • Susy on January 21, 2010 at 10:45 am

      That is a wonderful book!

      Reply to Susy's comment

About

This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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