It’s a good thing I like to cook, because I got a pile of cookbooks when I got married. An immediate standout from the pack was Everyday Italian by Giada De Laurentiis. What makes this book such an asset in my kitchen is its simplicity and its reliability. I don’t want to come home from work and slave for hours over a dinner that will get eaten in fifteen minutes (who does, really?), so on busy nights, Giada’s chicken parmesan is my salvation. Since the recipe doesn’t bread or over-fry the meat, the final product is light and satisfying at the same time. Most of the cook time is in the oven not on the stove top where I have to babysit it, so I can make the salad and get the garlic bread toasted while the chicken bastes itself in its own tomatoey-cheesy juices. The resulting meal is like a warm hug on the inside: I get a happy husband, and minimal clean-up. On other nights, I like to whip up Giada’s light and airy alfredo sauce to serve over pasta, and there’s an amazing recipe for osso buco that is so simple and impressive that it’ll cement your cooking prowess in the eyes of whomever you cook for. Who could ask for anything more?