I have sort of a “love-hate” thing for celebrities.
On the one hand, the egalitarian streak in me thinks of them as regular people, just like you and me. This is why I get so bent out of shape when celebrities easily get out of legal trouble or go on TV to tell us who to vote for.
On the other hand, they are “America’s Royalty”, aren’t they? That’s why it’s just so hard for me to picture Tom Cruise popping a Lean Cuisine in the microwave, or Julia Roberts sorting through piles of “you’ve been pre-approved for a platinum Mastercard!” junk mail.
I guess the illusion of royalty is why I’m so fascinated by celebrity recipes. Again, celebs are just people, and like anyone else they had mothers who whipped up green bean casserole or beans and franks when they were kids. Maybe I secretly think that celebrities don’t eat. Maybe I think that every celebrity, no matter how d-list, has their own cooking staff. I don’t know… but the thought of Reese Witherspoon or Johnny Depp in the kitchen just strikes me as… odd.
That’s why I’m fascinated with this site, which has dozens of recipes culled from various celebrity cookbooks. Most of the “celebrities” featured on the site are from your parent’s (or grandparent’s) generation… and some of the recipe names just might crack you up – “Liberace’s Sticky Buns” and “Dinah Shore’s Red Snapper” come to mind – but there’s lots of great stuff to be had there. Even better: each recipe is available as a Microsoft Word file, so there’s no need to cut and paste!