Al roker coauthors new cookbook with daughter, courtney | members only

_Today _show weather anchor and host Al Roker, 70, is known for his quick sense of humor and ready smile. In his 28 years on NBC’s national morning show, he’s publicly shared his health

issues, including prostate cancer treatment in 2020 and his more than 100-pound weight loss after gastric bypass surgery in 2002. Through it all, Roker’s love of food has been a common

theme, and now he’s releasing his third cookbook, _Recipes to Live By: Easy, Memory-Making Family Dishes for Every Occasion_, which he coauthored with his daughter, Courtney Roker Laga, 37,

a professional chef. The book shares the Roker family’s time-honored recipes, behind-the-scenes photographs and personal stories about how food shapes their time together. He’s especially

proud of his first grandchild, Courtney’s 1-year-old daughter, Sky, who appears in a few of the book’s photos. As much as Roker loves gathering around the table and working on television,

he says he’s not a fan of being the center of attention for events, such as at his recent 70th birthday celebration in August. “Even though I love being on camera, I am a relatively shy

person,” he says. Roker shares with AARP how this new book came about, how he balances his love of food with a daily fitness routine, and the one celeb he’d love to have join him in the

kitchen.  _This interview has been edited for length and clarity. _ CONGRATULATIONS ON THE NEW COOKBOOK. WHAT WAS IT LIKE COLLABORATING WITH YOUR DAUGHTER? It is a great moment of pride for

any parent, when they get to the point where they realize that their kid is actually really good at what they do.… I knew [Courtney] knew what she was doing.… She kind of conceived it. We

talked about the recipes. We talked about stuff I’ve made and the stuff her grandmother, her mother and [other] family members and friends made. We gathered them and then created the actual

recipes. She was doing this all while pregnant. My job was to write the head notes for each recipe. To watch her create all of this was just an immense source of pride as a parent. DO YOU

THINK YOUR LOVE OF FOOD HAS ENCOURAGED COURTNEY’S CHOSEN CULINARY PROFESSION? I don’t know. I do know that, even when she was 6 — we were living in Westchester [N.Y.] — we had a garden and

there were edible flowers. On her own, she found those flowers and would decorate the plate. She was very much into the presentation. So I think it was always in her. She was the one who

said, “Dad, I think I want to go to culinary school.” She’s worked in fine dining kitchens. She’s worked as a recipe developer. Now she’s working as a private chef. She has multiple skills.

HAVE YOU EVER TAKEN A COOKING CLASS? No, I haven’t, although I would like to. I would love to take a baking course because I’m not a great baker. When you cook, you can ad-lib a lot. It’s

almost like jazz, but when you’re baking, that’s science. That’s more like classical music. You pretty much have to follow the rules if things are going to come out. I’d like to take a knife

skills course. I think that’s one of the things that just holds you in good stead, because so much of cooking is prepping, and so much of prepping is cutting things up.