I love cookbooks that not only have great recipes, but that are a fascinating read from cover to cover, and this book qualifies on both counts. It's beautifully written. G&D provide a recipe for fresh pasta and tell you how much they love to roll it out by hand. They tell you how to make pizza dough. They provide Gabriele's many-trialed bread recipe, including nurtured starter. However, I love that they're not food snobs: they say go ahead and use dried pasta and buy your pizza dough and bread from the grocery store. Although they surely use only fresh tomatoes and fresh or dried beans in Italy and California, in "EV" they almost always call for canned. After all, they'll tell you, they have young children (from photos, perhaps 6 and 8?), and they need to save time, just like the rest of us. They explain why they use or substitute a certain type of ingredient. I find the ingredients accessible: several that may call for internet ordering depending on your local sources, but this is an Amazon review, so anyone reading will know how to find ingredients online. The book is also entertaining-friendly: this is obviously important to D&G, and they share tips along the way. One reviewer complained that there were "too many pork meals." The pork entrees were literally only a handful. Pork in the form of pancetta, prosciutto, etc., does appear in many other recipes but is easily omitted for those who, like me, do not eat pork or other meat. I found that reading about Gabriele's childhood history with pork was fascinating and does help explain why he loves to slip in some pancetta from time to time. Another reviewer found the book "for beginners." I strongly disagree: there's a very high degree of sophistication here. Tuscan food IS simple: it's about the ingredients. I've been cooking from my copy of Marcella Hazan's completely-marked-up "Classic Italian Cookbook" since the early 80's, own and own and use several other Italian cookbooks. However, although I've probably baked hundreds of loaves of bread, I've never made my own bread starter nor, for that matter, my own pizza dough. "Extra Virgin" also tells me how to make my own pre-ricotta "cagliata" (fresh cheese curds), a technique I never knew but am dying to try. I love a cookbook that makes me want to try something completely new. I believe that the book is extremely approachable for beginners and seasoned cooks alike. The family tips alone (think of thin-crust pizza as a vegetable-delivery system for your children) will be invaluable for those cooking for children.