Pamela Anderson Gives a Peek Inside Her Gorgeous Vancouver Home (& Teases Her Upcoming Cookbook)

The actress and best-selling author, 57, is photographed in her stunning home and garden, both of which make me want to fill all of my own spaces with flowers, rustic details and delicious baked goods (more on that later).

But it's not just gorgeous photos. In the cover story, the star opens up about everything from her love for baking (and upcoming cookbook!) and the advice she gives her kids to her transformative journey of returning to her roots.

In case you missed it, Anderson has been having something of a Renaissance these past few years, with the release of her candid memoir, Love, Pamela, a tell-all Netflix documentary and tons of ultra-chic appearances that solidified her status as a fashion icon (albeit in a different way than in the '90s). Of her public persona, Anderson tells Betters Homes & Gardens, "People have this pneumatic kind of image of me from Playboy to Baywatch, to my rock ’n’ roll type of husbands, to everything else. And as much as I threw every dinner party and cooked all those meals for family and my kids, it wasn’t what was seen publicly. But I also played into the image that was created around me. I’m glad I did all that, but I’m really glad I’m where I am now. I think the most important part is, I made it through all of it. And now it’s such a relief that I get to be myself and enjoy this time."

And enjoying it, she is, but returning to Canada (she was born in Ladysmith, British Columbia) wasn't all sunshine and roses. She tells the mag that she wasn't in a good space when she first moved back. "I don’t know what happened over the last few decades, but I feel so far removed from the image of who I was," she reveals. "I felt very sad and lonely...I came to a point where I decided to move home and disappear and get into my garden. And when I started building my garden, it was really like a metaphor of putting my life back together. I began planting seeds, and the smallest things became really profound."

She also, as it turns out, found solace in baking—especially sourdough bread. She says, "This bread thing is such a meditation for me…There’s something about it that I compare to giving birth. If all those other people have done it, then so can I. Baking teaches patience. I’ve come to realize there’s so much about cooking that is good for you. If you like to cook, you’re good at lots of things."

As for what's next, Anderson's cookbook, I Love You: Recipes from the Heart, is set to publish October 15. Sweetly, the cookbook started out as a housewarming gift for her sons, Brandon Thomas, 28, and Dylan Jagger, 26. She shares, "I remember my mom used to have these recipe cards in a box. I decided I had to find the ultimate recipe card box…The box was for the boys, who had just bought a house together, and their girlfriends, all four of them. Of course, my son Brandon, being the businessman, said, 'This is a book, Mom.' And so we did it, and titled the book I Love You since that was engraved on the recipe box."

Anderson is forging her path on her own terms, candidly opening up about the importance of breaking generational cycles. "I don’t want to keep running either," she says. "I want to stay. I still have a lot of growing up to do. In some ways I’m still a little kid trying to figure it all out."

To that I can only say: Bravo.