Shiny, Happy People

I love to cook, but living in the tight, confined spaces of New York leaves kitchen space something to be desired. However, I do try to cook meals as often as I can. In fact, when I first moved here I cooked quite a bit (even took a whack at Thanksgiving dinner) and I used to get teased as being the only person in NYC using their oven for cooking purposes (oddly enough, I found that most people use it to store things like their sweaters in the summer). One of the reasons I love cooking so much is that it brings people together. Cooking something…and by that I do not mean throwing a bag of frozen stir fry in a skillet…usually demands lots of tantalizing ingredients and an audience of at least four people.

Last week, my friend Peggy emailed me with a short, yet compelling note saying there was this cookbook I just had to pick up. Honestly, I try not to buy cookbooks because I typically find recipes online (again, no space to store things), but the fact that she took the time to write me a note about it peaked my interest.

Let’s start with the name of said cookbook “Shiny, Happy People.” At first thought, it seemed more like a hippy/cult book to me, but that thought was immediately abandoned upon reading the tagline: “These are my friends. These are their tastes.” As I have already mentioned, I love cooking because it brings people together, so what better idea for a cookbook then housing all of your friends’ favorite recipes? This had to be good…

Instantly, you are drawn in with the introduction page where this South African author describes a world of change; where the word “home” has a new definition in that it is not uncommon to have family members scattered across the globe. To fill the void, friends become local family members. Being 16 hours from my family, I consider myself beyond lucky to have such a colorful and loving group of friends who provide comfort in hard times and warmth, laughter and smiles the rest of the time:)

Rather than a normal cookbook being broken out by cuisine type, Neil’s book is organized by each friend and their respective recipes. Their stories, houses and lives come to life through his stunning photos and their attractive recipes. You also get to learn a bit about each person and why certain recipes were chosen. Even the presentation of the actual recipes is unique and is accompanied by little anecdotes and artistic images. Side note…even if you don’t like to cook, you should buy this book simply for its aesthetic value….

My favorite parts of the book (other than the recipes of course) are the rapid fire Q&A pieces at the end of each section. As a reader, you nearly feel like you have gained new friends. It’s like you have been invited to a dinner party; first starting with a tour of the home to get a feel for the personality of the owners, socialize with interesting people, eat yummy food and leave with the knowledge of something new (either a life lesson, enlightening quote or a new recipe to try on your own).

I bet all this sounds like a funny description of a cookbook though, right? Well, not to disappoint, it is! But that was the main reason I enjoyed it so much and I can tell you that I could not put it down until I had gotten through the entire thing. My only complaint is that the ingredients need to be converted. However, this is truly an insignificant deterrent and small price to pay for the delight you will get from this book! I will leave you with one of my random favorite quotes of all time, but also happened to find its way into this book:

“Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.”
– Harriet Van Horne

Hurry, go pick up your copy and let’s have a dinner party!

P.s. I found my copy at Anthropologie… Title: Shiny, Happy People. Author: Neil Roake