Holiday Gift Giving Guide – Celebrity Cookbooks

I am a bit of a fiend for cookbooks. I read them like novels and often walk away with a whole slew of new ideas. I tend to buy based on chefs that I like or styles of cooking that I want to know more about. One type of cookbook that has never really been a blip on my radar is the “celebrity” cookbook. A few weeks back I stumbled upon a news item about The Ron Paul Family Cookbook. After shaking my head to be sure I was seeing that correctly it got me to thinking, if Ron Paul can put out a cookbook, what other public figures have slapped their name onto a cookbook and tried to make a quick buck. Let’s look shall we?   Some of them make sense, like the Elvis Cookbook;

Elvis and food are often tied together, whether it is his choice in sandwiches or the rumors of his meat packed colon, when you think of Elvis, you think of food. And maybe music.

Al Roker, sure, the former fat man, now odd looking bobblehead has a long relationship with food so his grinning face on a  cookbook is natural thing.

And of course Jimmy “Sausage King” Dean is a natural to have a cookbook. Some Jimmy dean products have almost certainly made their way into your house so why not a cookbook that teaches you how best to take advantage of his porky pleasure.

However, for every well thought out food/celebrity tie in there are 5 complete headscratchers.  Why don’t we start with , If it makes you healthy, seasonal recipes with none other than Sheryl Crow. When I think Sheryl Crow I think of a good beer buzz early in the morning, not seasonally fresh ingredients.

How about Patti Labelle?

This one jumped out at me in my searches as an oddball. Outside of Lady Marmalade I don’t have any connection between LaBelle and food. if she can write a cookbook,  how about Paddington Bear? He actually eats marmalade (and marmite?), that makes him more qualified in my book.

 And the outright winner in my findings was Cookin’ With Coolio. Coolio? Really?  I know nothing about Coolio other than he apparently has  no sense of humor, judging by his reaction to Amish Paradise

This is not a man who I want to get cooking advice from.

I guess I’m jut not ready to pimp my kitchen.