"SteveB" <toquerville@zionvistas> wrote in message
...
>I have a friend in California who is a real chef. She's a dear, and a hard
>worker. They are retired now, and her kitchen is like on TV. Viking,
>Dacor, Wolf, you know. BUT THE WOMAN CAN COOK.
>
> Coming from a medical career, she also is very conscious of fats and
> cholesterol and everything else that tastes good, sometimes being
> annoying. We go visit them a couple of weeks a year, and it is like going
> to a resort. Playing golf, eating good on the hilltop patio, driving
> around in a Ferrari, Maserati, or Porsche.
>
> I come home and have this thing that I'm going to eat healthier, and learn
> to cook like her. Lots of her stuff is very simple, but tasty beyond
> description. Lots of it is Italian or European in nature, as they
> traveled there a lot.
>
> Are there some starter cookbooks and ways I can get headed in a new
> direction away from pork chops and fried potatoes and gravy? I do cook
> lots of more complicated stuff, but at times, I just have a mental block
> when thinking of what to prepare for dinner, and grab what's easy and I
> know.
>
> Maybe I'll ask for a particular cookbook this Christmas. Which one?
>
> Steve

IMHO

The problem you are looking at is quite common, the problem is the eating
habits in Italy or any other country other than the US is followed daily not
just for a meal or 2. The French eat great amounts of animal & other fats
followed by red wine. The Italians eat small amounts of animal fats and
large amounts of carbs with a lot of wine.

Since you are probably going to be eating American style ( a wide variety of
ethnic cuisines) I would suggest you look at any of the AHA *(American Heart
Association) cookbooks and start there. The other option if to go the
opposite way entirely and start on a LOW Carb regime in which case South
Beach or Atkins will do nicely.

Dimitri