Nigella Lawson

In a recent article in The Observer, Viv Groskop confesses to being a Nigella Lawson addict. In a world where the Kardashians and other non-notable celebrities receive far too much press, we're happy to find someone who adores a celebrity for all of the good things she brings (besides her photogenic qualities).

For example, Groskop writes: "Her approach to food (and life) is decadent, abundant, over-the-top, no-expense-spared. If ever I'm feeling miserable, I only have to leaf through one of her books for life to seem bearable again. She has taught me to trust my instincts. Where once I followed her instructions slavishly, now I tweak. It's how she'd want it."

And she prefers Nigella the author to Nigella the on-camera celebrity:  "The way she comes across in the books feels real. She's not playing to the camera, she's just being herself. Nigella the food writer is a more complicated, nuanced person, someone you could be friends with and who would surprise you and annoy you and delight you and make you laugh and bake you brownies if you were going through a bad patch."

But even apart from the warmth of the article, this is worth reading just for the story of the occasion on which Groskop met her idol, and embarrassed herself horribly. It could happen to any of us - and makes for one of the funniest stories we've read in a long time.

And if you're tempted to make any of the recipes that Groskop so lovingly describes, you can easily search for them in our large collection of indexed Nigella Lawson cookbooks.