What can I say, except that Joanna Gaines is perfect? I don’t know if you’ve read my “about” page, but she has pretty much checked off my dream list at the ripe ol’ age of 40. Farm, Bed & Breakfast (two of them), café, … check, check, check… Oh, plus a home goods store, furniture and home decor line, successful TV show, magazine, restaurant, garden, great hair, slim figure, fabulous kitchen floor tile… Not bad. And now, with baby no. five in tow, she has published her first cookbook: Magnolia Table, A Collection of Recipes for Gathering. I love it. I knew I would. Doggone it, if she just isn’t the most practical down-to-earth humble and fantastic home cook! Joanna Gaines understands that it’s not about perfection, it’s a more of “a celebration of bringing people together.” Getting into the kitchen, slowing down and making something to nourish her family is a way for her to unwind. I can relate to that.

There is no pretense in Magnolia Table. Joanna Gaines doesn’t claim to be a chef. She is just a mom… wife… daughter… with a love of tradition, meals with her family and making memories with loved ones at a table, counter top, or in the garden with good food. She states “…things within these pages might look like contradictions… I often buy organic meat… but I consider store-bought refrigerated dough and boxed broth to be gifts…” Ditto. Her cookbook gives easy to follow recipes for JoJo’s Biscuits and Perfect Roast Chicken, but she admits she is all for substituting with store-bought rotisserie chicken and ready-made canned biscuits. After all, every busy person knows that short cuts are an absolute when you’re trying to do it all! If time and planning permits, sure- make it from scratch. But when you want the home cooked results and just don’t have enough hours in the day… There is no shame in the pre-made game. Joanna isn’t too proud to admit things such as using frozen shredded potatoes in Jo’s Fatayar. And to be honest, that makes the recipe more approachable for me. To quote Nancy Fuller, “fresh is best, unless you’re stressed.” (And with four kids ages 12 and under, I’m like always stressed.)

Of course, her pictures are amazing. Not like over-stated, melted cheese nailed to a board and stretching pictures, but simple, rustic, and delicious looking images of food that you want to eat. Nothing seems short on flavor, including and ranging in influences from her Korean background (Mom’s Bulgogi) and her local Tex-Mex (Party Queso). And the book is sectioned into categories the way I cook- Breakfast, Soups & Salads (possibly my favorite chapter?), Appetizers & Starters, Side Dishes, Dinner, etc. She covers all of the basics; pie crust, mashed potatoes, chocolate chip cookies, chicken pot pie. But, includes her spin on family favorites like Gaines Brother Burgers with Drip Jam, King Ranch Chicken with Mexican-Style Jicama Salad, and Beef Tenderloin with Pickled Jalapeño Sour Cream. Joanna shares the same notion of never wanting the dome-lidded cake plate on my kitchen island to be empty. So, she offers plenty of recipes for easily grab-able goodies like Orange Scones, Cinnamon Swirl and Walnut Quick Bread, and Lemon & Lavender Ice Box Cookies. And then she totally melts your heart with a copy of a hand-typed Syrian Donut recipe she made with her grandfather as a child. She has a grip on practical family foods like casseroles and crock pot recipes… Hello? Eggs Benedict Casserole! (A recipe I nabbed from the winter edition of her magazine too, because Eggs Benedict for the whole family at one time is genius.) And she completely surprised me with some new recipes I’ve never tried… Baked Chicken with Bacon Bottom & Wild Rice. Am I the only one who has never lined the bottom of a 13×9 baking dish with a layer of bacon and rice? Side note: It is also very likely that I will once again buy Velveeta. Because, let’s just admit the truth: it’s a delicious food product… and so creamy! And since Ree Drummond and Joanna Gaines have found place for it, who am I to hold back?

Needless to say, I’m a fan. (And I’m going to start twirling my baked Chicken Spaghetti into little nests, because it is adorable.)