First, please join and me at 5 PM ET/2 PM PT today (Thursday, 6/4) for a Substack Live. We’ll be talking cookbook covers, specifically our favorites from last week’s Summer Preview. Frances and I have both chosen our top five and look forward to revealing them!

Second, I had the pleasure of chatting with the one and only on his podcast. We talked all about cookbooks, of course, including influencer titles, cookbook awards, and what drives me crazy in cookbooks. Have a listen! ⬇️

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As someone who is passionate about cookbooks, I’m always up for talking about them with other cookbook collectors. I know there are lots of cookbook collectors out there, but one who really stands out is Jenna Helwig, who writes the Cookbookery Collective newsletter…

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Now, on to today’s show!1

This was originally meant to be a Tuesday recipe post. But as I read through Spanglish (Bookshop/Amazon) by Monti Carlo, published on May 19 by Simon Element, I kept highlighting parts of the chapter introductions and other essays to share with you. Finally, I realized that Monti’s story and writing are too compelling to leave to the side, and I wanted to hear from Monti herself.

Interestingly, she says as much in the interview below. It’s clear that, while she cares deeply about the recipes, this book originated with the stories. It’s no surprise to learn that Spanglish was originally pitched as a memoir. (For more details about Monti’s publishing journey, read Behind the Book Deal by , Monti’s agent.)

Born in Puerto Rico, Monti mostly grew up on the mainland, straddling two worlds and two languages. She writes:

Most of my life felt like performance—shape-shifting, shrinking, and stretching to fit what was expected of me. I spent years trying to be enough for both sides, hiding one part of myself to be accepted by the other.

Spanglish is divided into three parts that roughly trace Monti’s biography: A Puerto Rican Gets Lost, A Puerto Rican Gets Torn in Two, A Puerto Rican Learns to Speak Spanglish. From the introduction to the third part:

When I was twenty-four years old, I signed up for broadcasting school. It was a six-week course. On Day 1, my instructor asked what my dream was, and I said I wanted to tell food stories and host a show on Food Network, just like Emeril. On my way to school on Day 3, my car got T-boned by a dump truck.

More than 10 years later, after she hit rock bottom both professionally and personally (yes, more rock bottom than being T-boned by a dump truck!), Monti got her big break: an opportunity to audition for Gordon Ramsay on MasterChef.

I had no money, and nothing left to my name to sell. I was facing homelessness with a two-year-old. I found myself in the ludicrous position where trying to win a world-renowned cooking competition was the only way I was going to keep my kid and me off the streets of LA. I had no formal culinary training and no way to afford it, so I did what I had to do and taught myself.

Monti finished in the top 5, and, in a full circle moment, Gordon Ramsay wrote the foreword to Spanglish.

Enjoy the interview and Monti’s recipe for Caribbean Cowboy Caviar. I made it over the weekend. It’s easy to prep and a pleasure to eat, so much more flavorful than any other Cowboy Caviar I’ve tried. Thanks for being here, Monti, and for sharing your recipe and, of course, your stories.

The Cookbookery Q&A with Monti Carlo

I know that Spanglish started as a memoir pitch, but did you always want to write a cookbook?

MC: Honestly, no. I never grew up dreaming about writing a cookbook. I dreamed about telling stories. For most of my career, whether I was hosting television shows, writing articles, or creating digital content, I was always more interested in the people behind the food than the recipes themselves. Food has always been my entry point into bigger conversations about identity, family, culture, and belonging.

Spanglish began as a memoir because I wanted to explore my journey in the food world and what it meant to grow up Puerto Rican between the island and the continental United States, never feeling entirely at home in either place. The cookbook emerged when my editor, Doris Cooper at Simon Element, asked me to put the memoir aside until I had written a cookbook. I ended up using the recipe headnotes to highlight different experiences in my life, and the essays at the beginning of each section to take a closer look at a milestone in my life through a food lens. In the end, Spanglish became both the memoir and the cookbook I wanted to write.

What was the hardest part of the cookbook writing process?

MC: The recipes were the easy part. The hardest part was being vulnerable. Writing honestly about my family, my childhood, my marriage, my mistakes, and my complicated relationship with identity was much harder. There were moments when I wondered whether I should leave certain stories out because they felt too personal. But the premise of the book is that living between cultures is messy, and I couldn’t ask readers to embrace that messiness without first showing my own. The stories were just as important as the recipes because they explain why the recipes exist in the first place.

What are you most proud of about Spanglish?

MC: I’m most proud that it doesn’t ask anyone to choose sides. For a long time, I felt pressure to be “Puerto Rican enough” in some spaces and “continental American enough” in others. Spanglish rejects that idea entirely. The recipes are Puerto Rican and continental American. The stories are Puerto Rican and continental American. The language itself moves freely between English and Spanish. I hope readers see themselves in that. I hope they recognize that identity isn’t something that has to fit neatly into a box.

What do you wish were different about the book?

MC: Like most authors, I immediately noticed things I would tweak the second the book was printed. There are always recipes you want to change up a little or stories you wish you had dug deeper into. But honestly, those imperfections feel appropriate for this book. Spanglish isn’t a story about having everything figured out. It’s about embracing the in-between, which is often an unfinished space.

Tell me about the cover. Did you always know this would be the image?

MC: The back cover is actually the photograph we spent the most time on, close to four hours. It was the shot we thought would be our cover.

Our editors and art department chose the shot that became the front cover. We shot it in fifteen minutes. I picked up the sweater I’m wearing off the floor and put it on, never thinking it would be central to the shot! I think the editors and art team made the right choice. We wanted readers to see joy. I wanted them to see color, movement, and personality. Most importantly, I wanted them to see a real person, not a polished version of a television host or chef. The cover reflects the energy of Puerto Rico, the vibrancy of the recipes, and the fact that I’m wearing a dirty sweater is so ME.

What cookbooks did you take inspiration from when writing yours?

MC: I am inspired by books that understand food is never just food. Writers like Anthony Bourdain, , and Roy Choi taught me that food can be a vehicle for exploring identity and culture. I also love books that feel deeply personal. The cookbooks I return to again and again are the ones where I feel like I’ve spent time with the author by the time I reach the final page. That’s what I wanted Spanglish to be. A cookbook that teaches you how to cook, but also invites you into a life, a family, and a way of seeing the world.

To you, what makes a great cookbook?

MC: I think the best are really about people. Sure, recipes matter. Nobody wants to buy a cookbook and end up with food that doesn’t work. But the books I return to over and over are the ones that tell me something about the person who wrote them. I want to know what they ate growing up, who taught them how to cook, what makes them laugh, and who broke their heart. That’s the stuff that stays with me.

Spanglish was never just about recipes. It was about documenting a very specific experience of growing up between cultures and trying to make sense of where you belong. The recipes are part of that story, but they’re not the whole story. If someone makes the Hibiscus Baked Beans or the Morcilla Sloppy Joes and loves them, that’s amazing. But if they finish the book feeling a little closer to Puerto Rico, or understanding the diaspora experience in a way they didn’t before, that’s probably what means the most to me.

Interview has been lightly edited. If you purchase a book through one of these links, I may receive a small commission.

Caribbean Cowboy Caviar

SERVES 6 (Makes about 10 1/2 cups)

My abuelo grew bell peppers on our finca. He walked my brother and me to the patch next to our tin-roofed farm a few times a week to watch them get bigger and bigger. They transformed over the course of a couple of weeks from vivid green to stop-sign red. Even though he asked me not to, I couldn’t help but run my finger along their ridges. It always earned me an irritated “Carajo! ”

Making anything with red bell peppers always reminds me of my abuelo, and maybe that’s why this salad is so special to me. It’s got great texture, with loads of crunch from the fresh peppers, a pop of honey from the mango, and earthiness from the cilantro. This is a great cookout salad as it racks up the compliments, feeds loads of people, and is easy to put together. Open a few cans, cut up some produce, and you’re basically done. Feel free to substitute the honey mangoes with whatever mangoes you can score—even high-quality frozen ones will do the trick; defrost and taste them before you add them to the salad. You can sweeten it with a drizzle of honey if necessary.

Dressing

3 tablespoons olive oil
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon Pique (page 41)
1 teaspoon Adobo (page 30)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon light brown sugar

Salad

1 (15-ounce) can garbanzo beans
1 (15-ounce) can pink beans
1 (15-ounce) can black beans
6 to 7 ounces sweet peppers (red, orange, yellow), seeded, and cut into a small dice
3 Roma tomatoes, hulled, and cut into a small dice
2 honey mangoes (also called Ataulfo mangoes), peeled, seeded, and cut into a small dice
1/2 medium red onion, cut into a small dice (1/2 cup)
1 (packed) cup chopped fresh cilantro
Kosher salt
Plantain chips, for serving

1. Make the dressing: In a liquid measuring cup, whisk together the olive oil, 2 tablespoons of lime juice, lime zest, the Pique, Adobo, salt, and brown sugar, until the sugar has dissolved.

2. Make the salad: Line a baking sheet with paper towels. In a colander set in the sink, combine the garbanzo, pink, and black beans. Rinse them well with cool water and drain, then pour them onto the prepared baking sheet and pat dry.

3. In a large bowl, combine the beans, sweet peppers, tomatoes, mangoes, red onion, and cilantro. Pour the dressing around the inside of the bowl and mix gently so the vegetables are evenly coated.

4. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled. Stir and add salt to taste before serving with plantain chips.

JH Recipe note: There are two sub-recipes referenced in the ingredients list, one for pique, a spicy vinegar-y hot sauce, and one for adobo, a seasoning blend. Per the ingredient section in the book’s introduction I subbed in Tabasco sauce for the pique and used store-bought adobo.

Excerpted from SPANGLISH: Recipes & Stories. Copyright © 2026 by Monti Carlo. Photographs by Rafael N. Ruiz Mederos. Reproduced by permission of Simon Element, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. All rights reserved.

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As always, thank you so much for being here. Your comments and enthusiasm are what makes writing and sharing this newsletter so worthwhile. (Well, that and the free cookbooks. ;)

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May Newsletters

More Summer Cookbooks

I missed a few books in my round-up on Thursday. These are also now on the master list.

Chuck’s Flavor Train: Your Ticket to Smokin' Hot Barbecue by Chuck Matto (Weldon Owen): “All aboard Chuck’s Flavor Train as social media BBQ sensation Chuck Matto brings his bold, high-energy cooking style to the page.” (June 16)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Recipes From Sunnydale by Kim Laidlaw (Insight Editions): “Slay your next dinner party with recipes inspired by Buffy, Willow, Xander, and the rest of the Sunnydale crew!” (July 21)

The Complete High-Protein Cookbook: Hit Your Protein Goals, Boost Fiber, Love Every Bite (America’s Test Kitchen): “Nourish your body and fuel your day with deliciously satisfying high-protein recipes packed with fiber and essential nutrients.” (August 4)

Harry Potter Official Sweets and Treats Cookbook: From Butterbeer-Inspired Candy to Golden Snitch Cupcakes, 60 Delicious Recipes Inspired by the Harry Potter Films by Veronica Hinke and Kim Laidlaw (Insight Editions): “Recreate the most magical sweets from the wizarding world with 60 candy and baked good recipes inspired by the Harry Potter films!” (August 4)

Kari: Reimagined Plant-Based Indian Recipes by Sheil Shukla (DK): “From the James Beard Award–nominated author of Plant-Based India, a cookbook that celebrates the quintessential Asian American food—curry—with 75 reimagined plant-based recipes.” (August 18)

Last Bites

• The Life-Saving Magic of Community Supported Agriculture - I’m not a CSA’er, but this almost made me convert (via )

• Like Miranda Priestly, I Love to Work. Don’t You? - There’s a line in The Devil Wears Prada 2 that gave me (and the author of this essay) goosebumps. (via )

• Cookbook Club: The Secret of Cooking - Katie and Meredith at took a deep dive into this modern classic by .

Thanks for reading, and happy beginning of (northern hemisphere) summer!

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Hello friends and welcome to your summer cookbook preview! Summer is traditionally a slower time of year for cookbook publishing, and while it’s true that this list isn’t as robust as spring’s or what we’ll see in fall, it’s more substantial than I expected. There are plenty of books to get excited about!

Two quick announcements:

First, next Thursday, June 4, at 5 PM ET, I’ll be doing a Substack Live with . We’ll chat about our favorite summer cookbook covers and maybe ones we wish were a little more punchy.

Second, my first novel The Foreign Correspondent’s Wife is available for pre-order! A mystery set in 1949 Paris (with plenty of food in the mix), the book launches in October. It’s available on Bookshop, Amazon, and probably at your favorite independent bookshop. For a signed copy, pre-order from one of my favorite indies, The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City. Pre-orders really help a book’s success, and I’d so appreciate your support!

A few observations on the summer cookbooks:

• Big books aren’t waiting for fall. I was especially struck by the fact that we have a few “big” books (ex: What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking: Make It Fast1, Every Leaf, Every Stem; Protein-Packed Vegetarian) coming in August…titles that I might have expected to arrive in September during prime cookbook season.

• Bottoms Up - So many cocktail books! Plus mocktails and coffee drinks.

• Still Protein-ing - When I went to the giant food trade show Expo West this past spring, I expected that fiber would have overtaken protein as a selling point in new food products. I was wrong. Protein was still going strong, and that’s the case in cookbooks too.

• Family-Friendly - There are seven explicitly kid or family-targeted titles on this list, more than on any previous one I’ve compiled.

• Spotted - A Halloween book and Christmas book (gulp!). Time marches on.

The usual caveats and explanations:

• This aspires to be as complete a list as possible of every cookbook released in the U.S. this spring. Despite my best intentions, I’m sure I missed some books. If I did, please let me know in the comments (or hit reply and email me), and I will both update this post and include the book in the next newsletter.

• The descriptions that follow each book are promo copy.

• All of these books are available for pre-order. Go for it, and make an author happy!

Thoughts? Books you’re excited about? Please share in the comments, and enjoy!

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June 2

The Art of Frozen Desserts: Ice Cream, Sorbets, Cakes, Macarons, Popsicles, & More by Emmanuel Ryon (Tra Publishing): “60+ artisanal recipes for making and enjoying gourmet frozen desserts by Emmanuel Ryon, winner of the Meilleur Ouvrier de France title for ice cream and pastry.”

Broke Vegan: Over 100 Plant-Based Recipes That Don't Cost the Earth by Saskia Sidey (Hamlyn): “Easy, affordable vegan recipes everyone will enjoy.”

Caribbean Cocktails: Drinks and Bites from the Afro-Latino Diaspora by Nelson German and Andréa Lawson Gray (Ten Speed): “Sip and savor the bold flavors and vibrant culture of the Afro-Latino diaspora with over 40 drink recipes and 20 food recipes from Top Chef alum and acclaimed chef-restaurateur Nelson German, the culinary visionary behind Meski, Sobre Mesa, and alaMar Kitchen and Bar.”

Cooking the Borderlands: Spice and Smoke Between Mexico and the States by Claudette Zepeda (Clarkson Potter): “A culinary journey along the Mexican American border, telling the story of its intertwined cultures and communities with more than 100 vibrant, flavor-packed recipes from Top Chef star, Iron Chef Mexico finalist, and Tijuana-San Diego border kid Claudette Zepeda.”

Eat Like a Sardinian: Live to 100 by Francesco Mattana (Murdoch Books): “An exciting debut cookbook from a rising star in the world of Italian cooking!”

The Italian Table: 100 Classic Recipes Celebrating the Spirit of Italy by Theo Randall2 (Quadrille): “The Italian Table is acclaimed chef Theo Randall's celebration of the food of Italy.”

Peas, Beans and Lentils: Growing & Cooking by Gail Harland (Equinox Publishing): “Peas, Beans and Lentils covers topics such as growing, cooking with and eating pulses and the wider historical and cultural aspects of legumes.”

Retro Recipes: Vintage Dishes with a Modern Twist by Bobby Hicks (Countryman Press): “Nostalgia is in, and Bobby Hicks knows nostalgia. As the charming host of TikTok's Retro Recipes Kitchen, he regularly gives loving updates to classic American staples and ingredients like boxed cake mixes, canned soups, and more to suit today's tastes.”

School of Wok: Jeremy Pang’s Chinese Kitchen: Simple Techniques. Delicious Recipes (Hamlyn): “The must-have Chinese cooking bible from Jeremy Pang and the award-winning cooking school, School of Wok.”

The Vegan Asian Kitchen: 100+ Plant-Based Recipes Inspired by Malaysia, China, Thailand, and Beyond by WoonHeng Chia (Avery): “East Asian classics made vegan—from Dim Sum dumplings to Sichuan-style Dan Dan noodles—inspired by beloved creator WoonHeng’s life immersing herself in Asia’s bold, vibrant flavors.”

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June 9

Chetna’s 5-Ingredient Indian: Delicious Recipes Made Easy by Chetna Makan (Hamlyn): “Cooking a delicious meal from scratch doesn't have to be complicated. With Chetna Makan's newest book, you can make flavorful Indian dishes with five simple ingredients.”

Japanese Comfort Cooking: An Opinionated Guide to Modern, Homey, Classic Japanese Recipes by Tadashi Ono and Harris Salat (Ten Speed): “Join the bestselling authors of Japanese Soul Cooking for a fun, passionate dive into modern Japanese comfort cooking, with over 100 achievable recipes.”

MEDesque: Everyday Recipes with Mediterranean Roots by Georgina Hayden (Bloomsbury): “In MEDesque, award-winning food writer Georgina Hayden finds the very best recipes from across the Mediterranean and adapts them to suit the home cook.”

Your Turn to Host: A Guide to Great Parties and Gatherings by Amber Mayfield Hewett (Artisan): “An inspiring and practical guide to throwing parties where guests feel seen, cared for, and connected.”

June 16

Chuck’s Flavor Train: Your Ticket to Smokin' Hot Barbecue by Chuck Matto (Weldon Owen): “All aboard Chuck’s Flavor Train as social media BBQ sensation Chuck Matto brings his bold, high-energy cooking style to the page.”

The Classic Cocktail Sessions: A Bartender's New-Fashioned Approach to the World's Most Beloved Recipes by Toby Maloney and Emma Janzen (Clarkson Potter): “A convivial master class in classic cocktails from the James Beard Award-winning authors of The Bartender’s Manifesto.”

Cooking From Scratch: A Careful Selection of Useful Recipes by Toya Boudy (Countryman): “Cooking from Scratch is chef and storyteller Toya Boudy's most personal--and most irresistible--cookbook yet. Written during a transformative chapter in her life, it's infused with the warmth, humor, and grit that have made her a morning-show favorite.”

Emily's Cooking: How to Make Food Your Kids Will Actually Eat: Over 100 Snacktivities, Lunchboxes and Food Hacks by Anouska Emily Mauree (Hamlyn): “Brilliant hacks and flavor-saving strategies from EmilysCooking, the internet's go-to for child-friendly food, that make every mealtime fun for the whole family.”

Executive Eats: The Cookbook for a Better Working Life by Adam Kingl and Jakub Radzikowski (Practical Inspiration Publishing3): “From sustained energy to improved focus and mood, each chapter in this extraordinary cookbook pairs the latest nutritional research with practical culinary applications, offering readers scientifically backed recipes designed to address the challenges they face in their day-to-day lives.”

Healthy Living High-Protein Cookbook: 85 Recipes and Meal Plans to Build Muscle, Balance Metabolism, and Thrive at Any Age by Toby Amidor (Cider Mill Press): “Feel stronger and support your health--one delicious meal at a time. The Healthy Living High-Protein Cookbook helps you meet your health goals with easy, satisfying meals powered by protein.”

Ice Cream Queen: Flavors from Black America's Past, Present, & Future by Lokelani Alabanza (W.W. Norton): “Back in the 1840s, a free Black woman ran a successful ice cream saloon in Nashville. Her name was Sarah Estell, and she became known as "the Ice Cream Queen." Now taking up her crown is Lokelani Alabanza, a trained pastry chef and avid collector of all things Black Americana.”

Veracruz All Natural: Fresh Mexican Recipes from Our American Home by Reyna and Maritza Vazquez with Nils Bernstein (Simon Element): “A new take on Mexican American cooking rooted in the fresh produce of coastal Veracruz, this is a deeply personal book from the immigrant sisters who founded the Veracruz All Natural restaurants in Austin, which enjoys a nationwide cult following of people who want to make their recipes.”

June 23

Drizzle: Olive-Oil-Infused Recipes from Across the Mediterranean by Sarah Fulton Vachon (Mitchell Beazley): “A glorious celebration of a golden liquid, Drizzle is a collection of 80 beautiful sun-soaked, olive-oil drenched recipes, from the UK's fastest growing premium olive oil brand, Citizens of Soil.”

Fitwaffle’s Easy 6: 100 Sweet and Savoury Dishes Using Just Six Ingredients by Eloise Head (Hamlyn): “Discover how simple cooking can be every day with over 100 easy, tasty recipes using only 6 ingredients.”

Pizza Love: 100+ Recipes Perfected for the Home Cook by Leo Spizzirri (Weldon Owen): “This one-of-a-kind cookbook is filled with authentic pizza recipes perfected for the home cook, from Maestro Pizzaiolo, Leo Spizzirri.”

Smoke, Rice, Water: Recipes and Stories from a Bengali Home by Kishwar Chowdhury (Hardie Grant4): “In Smoke Rice Water, Kishwar Chowdhury shares 100 recipes from the vibrant, interconnected and culinarily underrepresented region of Bengal.”

Solid Wiggles: Recipes and Techniques for Phenomenal Jelly Shots and Cakes by Jena Derman and Jack Schramm (Ten Speed): “Learn how to make over 45 mouthwatering boozy and alcohol-free jelly shots and cakes, from the cofounders of Solid Wiggles.”

June 30

Disney Moana: The Official Cookbook: Pacific Recipes Inspired by Motunui by Monique Fiso (Insight Editions): “Embark on a culinary adventure with Moana of Motunui with Pacific recipes inspired by Moana and Moana 2!”

Indian 101: Real Indian Recipes Made Simple by Karan Gokani (Bluebird): “Indian 101 introduces beginners and seasoned home cooks to Indian recipes in a simple and intuitive way, making real Indian home cooking enjoyable for everyone.”

July 7

Equal Parts Cocktails: The Simple Ratio for Spectacular Drinks by Fred Siggins (Ten Speed): “Ditch the measuring cup and easily mix up delicious drinks with this collection of 50 cocktail recipes made with equal part components.”

Recipes for Pickling and Preserving: 65 Traditional Recipes by Francesca Huntingdon (Hamlyn): “An indispensable collection of 65 easy-to-follow recipes that you can make from scratch - all packed full of natural ingredients and bursting with flavor.”

Recipes for Savory Bakes: 65 Mouthwatering Recipes by Francesca Huntingdon (Hamlyn): “Recipes for Savoury Bakes the perfect ode to the rich and hearty world of savoury baking, packed full of tasty and easy-to-follow recipes that will help everyone embrace the pleasures and rich rewards of home baking.”

Recipes for Soup: 65 Nourishing Recipes by Francesca Huntingdon (Hamlyn): “Recipes for Soup is the perfect book for soup fans everywhere, packed full of classic easy-to-follow recipes for every occasion, and a great way to convert soup sceptics to soup lovers.”

Recipes for Summer: 65 Seasonal Recipes by Francesca Huntingdon (Hamlyn): “Recipes for Summer is perfect for lazy summer days when the last thing you want to do is spend hours cooped up in the kitchen.”

The South African Cookbook: Authentic flavor-packed recipes from Cape Town to Durban by Nokx Majozi (Interlink): “Rising star Chef Nokx Majozi brings a taste of the myriad cultures and influences of South African cooking to your kitchen.”

July 14

The Gin Drinker’s Year: Drinking and Other Things to Do with Gin, Season by Season by Tara Richardson (Pyramid): “The gin drinker's day-to-day guide - featuring 30 gin-laced food recipes, 150 gin cocktail and gin-fusion recipes, snippets of gin-eral knowledge, plus games and crafts.”

July 21

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Recipes From Sunnydale by Kim Laidlaw (Insight Editions): “Slay your next dinner party with recipes inspired by Buffy, Willow, Xander, and the rest of the Sunnydale crew!”

Epic Veg: Bold, Satisfying Meals That Hit the Spot by Jessica Prescott (Hardie Grant): “Following on from the bestselling Epic Salads, Epic Veg is an essential kitchen bible with over 80 delicious vegetable-centered dishes that are low cost, low effort, and big on flavor.”

The Halloween Movie Cookbook: 65 Hauntingly Delicious Recipes Inspired by Your Favorite Spooky Movies by Ryan Alvarez and Adam Merrin (Simon Element): “A fang-tastically fun cookbook with recipes inspired by classic Halloween films for every ghoul, goblin, and horror buff who believes October 31st is the most delicious night of the year.”

Hungry: Healthy and Satisfying Recipes to Eat on Repeat, Designed by a Nutritionist by Caroline Hanna (Hamlyn): “Over 90 recipes designed by a nutritionist, incorporating the foods you love to feel satisfied and sustained for longer.”

Spinasse: An American Love Letter to Piemonte Cuisine by Stuart Lane (Skyhorse): “Bring the flavors of Northern Italy into your kitchen with the Cascina Spinasse cookbook, which celebrates Piemonte’s rich culinary traditions through the vision of Seattle’s acclaimed and beloved Piemonte restaurant, Spinasse.”

July 28

Chillies: Recipes, Profiles & Inspiration by Sophie Dupuis-Gualier (Mitchell Beazley): “Spice up your life with chili peppers - the latest in the gorgeous sprayed edge cookery Bible series.”

Cuisine to Kill For: Recipes and True Crime Stories from the World's Most Haunted Places by Amy Bruni (Harper Celebrate): “From bestselling author, paranormal investigator, and Kindred Spirits co-host Amy Bruni, Cuisine to Kill For intertwines the macabre with the culinary to uncover some of history's most gruesome true crime stories and the ghosts they left behind.”

August 4

The Complete High-Protein Cookbook: Hit Your Protein Goals, Boost Fiber, Love Every Bite (America’s Test Kitchen): “Nourish your body and fuel your day with deliciously satisfying high-protein recipes packed with fiber and essential nutrients.”

Great Bakes: Modern Classic Recipes from the Midwest by Martin Sorge (Agate Midway): “Martin Sorge, winner of The Great American Baking Show, guides readers through more than 100 recipes for sweet and savory bakes that celebrate the bounty of the Midwest, from modern classics to innovative show-stoppers.”

Harry Potter Official Sweets and Treats Cookbook: From Butterbeer-Inspired Candy to Golden Snitch Cupcakes, 60 Delicious Recipes Inspired by the Harry Potter Films by Veronica Hinke and Kim Laidlaw (Insight Editions): “Recreate the most magical sweets from the wizarding world with 60 candy and baked good recipes inspired by the Harry Potter films!”

The Little Book for Mocktail Lovers: Recipes, Crafts, Trivia and More - The Perfect Gift for Any Aspiring Mocksologist by Rufus Cavendish (Summersdale): “Discover everything you need to know to become the ultimate mocktail master with this beautifully presented pocket guide.”

More, Please! Feel-Good Meals for Busy Families and Their Picky Eaters by Rachel Mansfield (Simon Element): “Delicious, stress-free meals for busy families, with flexible solutions for any dietary need, from food entrepreneur Rachel Mansfield.”

You Do You: 100+ Endlessly Adaptable Recipes to Boost Your Culinary Confidence by Serena Wolf (BenBella Books): “When it comes to creating the perfect meal, the best cooks know when it’s time to go off the book. Culinary expert Serena Wolf returns with a celebration of individualism in the kitchen, designed to boost creativity and confidence, one recipe at a time.”

August 11

150 Traybake Recipes: Quick & Easy All-in-One Recipes for Busy Weeknights or Lazy Weekends by Jenny Tschiesche and Liz Franklin (Ryland Peters & Small): “Everyone loves a one-pan wonder, and the dishes in this book will save you time and washing up whilst providing delicious dishes for meat eaters and plant-based diners alike. The sheet pan is your new best friend!”

Cheese Please: Over 90 Indulgently Cheesy Dishes--Melty, Crispy, Savory, and Sweet by Sue Quinn (Hardie Grant): “The ultimate book for everyone who believes that cheese makes everything better.”

Coffee Shop at Home: The Ultimate Guide to Making Your Favorite Coffee Drinks by Katerina Diaz (Clarkson Potter): “Say goodbye to your pricey coffee shop habit with the ultimate beginner's guide to making delicious, creative lattes, mochas, cold brews, and more at home—with 60 recipes for your favorite classic and seasonal drinks plus approachable info about the basics of brewing.”

Cooking con Omi: A Love Letter to Puerto Rican Home Cooking by Omi Hopper (Ten Speed)": “A love letter to Puerto Rican cooking through 100 recipes interwoven with stories, histories, and traditions that shine with joy and a celebratory spirit, from TikTok star and Next Level Chef runner-up Omi Hopper.”

Now We’re Cooking: All-Purpose, Laid-Back Recipes by Matthew Broussard (Simon Element): “In Now We’re Cooking, Matt Broussard—known to millions as @ACookNamedMatt proves that great food isn’t complicated.”

Perfect Pasta: More than 70 Recipes for Classic & Modern Dishes by Laura Santini (Ryland Peters & Small): “When it comes to eating fresh and delicious food – pasta is the ideal choice. This book includes over 70 recipes, from authentic Italian classics to vibrant and contemporary dishes.”

ScandiKitchen Christmas: Festive Recipes & Seasonal Traditions from Scandinavia by Brontë Aurell (Ryland Peters & Small): “Let Brontë Aurell of The ScandiKitchen Café show you how to celebrate your Christmas Scandi-style by sharing her delicious recipes and family traditions with you.”

Sheet Cakes! More Than 50 Exceptional Cakes to Make in One Pan by Zola Gregory (Workman): “Through 51 nostalgic, unique, and downright delicious recipes, Sheet Cakes! teaches how to use the humble sheet pan to its full potential--crafting not only no-fuss single-layer rectangles, but roll-up cakes, and layered cakes, too.”

Veg: Recipes That Make the Most of Roots, Bulbs, Shoots & Stems (Ryland Peters & Small): “More than 150 recipes for making the most of your home-grown or locally sourced vegetables – from warming comfort food to vibrant summer salads and tangy preserves. Curated for you by the expert food and drink editors at Ryland Peters & Small, and originally created by our highly-regarded cookery authors.”

What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking: Make It Fast by (Union Square): “Following the breakout success of the New York Times bestselling What to Cook When You Don't Feel Like Cooking, Substack star Caroline Chambers returns with a new cookbook offering 100 more recipes for busy people who love good food—and these can be made even faster!”

August 18

Eat With Afia: A Celebration of Plant-Based Ghanaian Cooking by Afia Amoako (Avery): “A rich collection of plant-based Ghanaian recipes and some of West Africa’s singularly iconic dishes—from the beloved creator of Eat with Afia.”

Every Leaf, Every Stem: Craveable, Creative Vegetables All Year Round by (Clarkson Potter): “Discover the joy of cooking the produce of each season with vibrant, creative, and approachable recipes from the acclaimed food content creator Pierce Abernathy.”

Kari: Reimagined Plant-Based Indian Recipes by Sheil Shukla (DK): “From the James Beard Award–nominated author of Plant-Based India, a cookbook that celebrates the quintessential Asian American food—curry—with 75 reimagined plant-based recipes.”

Plain Jane Sourdough: Simple Ingredients & Techniques for Stunning Artisanal Bread by Emily Harryman (Page Street): “A collection of timeless recipes for the home baker.”

Rebel Girls Family Favorites: 75+ Kid-Tested Recipes to Enjoy Together (Ten Speed): “75+ family-tested, crowd-pleasing recipes to enjoy together for fun, empowering, and stress-free family time—by the creators of Rebel Girls Cook and Rebel Girls Make Dessert.”

Small Batch Breads: 50 Recipes for Loaves, Buns, and Flatbreads Made with One Cup of Flour by (Ten Speed): “Using just one cup of flour, create sweet and savory bagels, buns, rolls, and pastries with 50 approachable and accessible recipes from the creator of The Practical Kitchen.”

The Sourdough Deck: Flavor, Fun & Variety in 50 Recipe Cards by Elaine Boddy (Page Street): “Artisan sourdough—made easy and convenient.”

Tramontana: Northern Italian Recipes from Sea to Summit by Simon Bajada (Hardie Grant): “Tramontana is a culinary journey through Italy's northwestern frontier - from the sunlit coastlines of Liguria to the snow-capped peaks of Aosta. Following the ancient salt trading routes that wind inland from the Mediterranean, Simon Bajada uncovers a rich and surprising tapestry of regional food culture, where fresh, delicate coastal dishes give way to the buttery, hearty fare of the mountains.”

Use What We Have: 101 Easy Weeknight Meals by Alex MacLaren (Countryman): “With her playful spirit and lovingly chaotic home life, Alex MacLaren has captured the hearts of parents everywhere.”

August 25

Cooking Thai: Heritage and Modern Recipes from My Kitchen Notebooks by Pim Techamuanvivit and (Ten Speed): “Through 100 stunning recipes, an award-winning chef shares her Thai culinary heritage, blending intriguing flavors, rich culture, and multi-hued stories.”

Everyday Eats: 100 Simple and Healthy Recipes for Real Life by Alex Snodgrass (William Morrow): “New York Times bestselling author and queen of easy, healthy meals Alex Snodgrass shares 100 delicious, low-stress meals. Short ingredient lists, a focus on pantry staples, and minimal pans to wash make these recipes a breeze!”

The Montessori Kitchen: Cooking Together to Nurture Your Child's Curiosity, Confidence, and Love of Food by Kristen Miglore and Junnifa Uzodike (Workman): “The kitchen is the perfect home Montessori learning environment, and now award-winning cookbook author Kristen Miglore teams up with bestselling Montessori author Junnifa Uzodike to create a perfect guide for parents and kids to play and learn together through cooking.”

Protein Meal Prep Plan: 30 Weekly Plans + 180 Recipes to Eat Better, Stress Less, and Save Money by Cassy Joy Garcia (Voracious): “Meet and exceed your protein and fiber goals while saving money (and stress!) with this ingenious cookbook devoted to high protein meal prep plans.”

Protein-Packed Vegetarian: Easy, Nourishing Recipes to Fuel Your Day by Grace Elkus (Clarkson Potter): “Achieve your daily protein goals without relying on meat through 100 nutritious, energizing, and delicious vegetarian recipes.”

Weeknight Winners, Family Dinners: Kid-Approved, Adult-Loved Recipes by Jack and Emmy Zhang (Simon Element): “From the beloved family behind the internet phenomenon Cooking for Levi, a practical collection of 30-minute meals designed for the whole family—with ten ways to get your kids excited about food while also developing connection and language.”

If you purchase a book through one of these links, I may receive a small commission.

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This week’s NYT Bestsellers: Spain, My Way5 by at #3 (Ecco) and Dig In! by at #8 (Simon Element), on the list for the second week.

Thanks for reading! I will leave you with one Last Bite. I recently discovered , written by the anonymous , a satirical send-up of the digital food media landscape. In addition to food journalists like me, it also (lovingly) skewers Trader Joe’s fans, restaurant-goers, wine drinkers, and yes, cookbook buyers. I appreciate the chuckles!

The Shallot

5 New Cookbooks I'll Cook From Once and Show Off Forever

I own hundreds of cookbooks I’ve barely ever cooked from, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop adding to my collection any time soon. This year’s crop of spring cookbooks offer top-notch decor. I should know…

Read more

2 months ago · 2 likes · Amelia Vidalia

Greta’s latest Every Salad Ever (Bookshop/Amazon) was first published in Canada in April 2025, and, also astonishing, it has been on the bestseller list for over a year.

Even more impressively, Every Salad Ever was self-published. Greta was the author, publisher, food stylist, photographer, marketer, publicist, and even the distributor—she struck an exclusive distribution deal with Canada’s national book chain Indigo (think: Barnes & Noble). That means that Every Salad Ever has been a bestseller for over a year in Canada without being on Amazon.

Now, Every Salad Ever (Bookshop/Amazon) has a U.S. publisher: Clarkson Potter. (Yes, it’s available on Amazon in the States.) I had so many questions for Greta, including why she wanted to partner with a bookstore, how Every Salad Ever made it to the U.S., and why she thinks this book has been such a hit. She has a lot of thoughts on the latter question, in particular, and one of them comes down to knowing her audience:

In the recipes I use only mainstream ingredients, nothing too gourmet or fancy. I shop at my two local grocery stores and if they don’t have a certain ingredient, then it doesn’t go in the book.

This reminds me of something my former Real Simple editor Rory Evans said to me once: so many food editors develop recipes for other food editors, not their audience. I think about this—and mention it and try to avoid it!—all the time. I think this is an easy trap to fall into in cookbook writing too.

Thank you for being here Greta and for sharing your story!

The Cookbookery Q&A with Greta Podleski

Tell me how the original version of Every Salad Ever came to be.

GP: All five of my previous books were general, all-purpose cookbooks. I was toying with the idea of a single-themed cookbook and decided that salads were the perfect focus, since I’m a salad fanatic and a bit of a health nut. I ran the idea by friends and their positive responses (OMG yes! Do it! I love salads but I’m in such a rut! I’ll buy 10 copies!) motivated me to move forward. I worked for ten months straight with only two days off to write Every Salad Ever. It almost killed me, but I needed to hit an April launch deadline (just in time for salad season).

I know the book has been a huge success in Canada.

GP: Every Salad Ever was launched in Canada on April 15, 2025 (under my own publishing company, One Spoon Media Inc.) and has remained at the top of the cookbook national bestseller list this entire time. (It dropped to #2 a couple times when other big names launched their new cookbooks, then rebounded back to #1 very quickly. Crazy!) We’re approaching 60 weeks straight on the list. I’m not sure why I say “we” because it’s just me. But I somehow feel I’m not alone in this venture and I include my long-time fans and supporters in my success.

Why did you decide to work exclusively with one bookstore?

GP: I wanted to reduce my workload and stress load (I’m not 35 anymore!) and I don’t have employees, so an exclusive arrangement eased my mind. In exchange for the exclusive rights, Indigo bought a ton of cookbooks, non-returnable. Many people don’t realize books are returnable for a full refund. You could sell 10,000 books to a major retailer, receive payment, and then 6 months later they could send 5,000 books back, sometimes damaged, and expect their money back. It’s the part of book publishing that drives me (and likely most publishers) nuts. But it’s always been that way.

When you approached Indigo, was the team receptive?

GP: Yes, I'm a well-known cookbook author in Canada and each one of my six cookbooks has reached #1 on the national bestseller list. I have dealt with Indigo since the beginning (as well as Amazon, Costco, Walmart), so I had a well-established reputation with them as a successful author. When I approached them about the exclusive distribution arrangement, they were very excited about it.

Why do you think Every Salad Ever has been such a big hit?

GP: The sales success of Every Salad Ever is due to three factors, I think:

1) I promoted it like crazy doing media interviews on launch and for at least 6 months after...plus tons of social media posts;

2) People who bought the book loved it so much that they passionately spread the word to their friends and family and became unofficial unpaid brand ambassadors! I’m not kidding! It’s like I had thousands of free employees across the country hand-selling my book. It was truly wild. Indigo was blowing through cookbooks and initially stores were selling out until the head office realized they needed to double shipment quantities to keep up.

3) The excellence of the book. This is very hard (uncomfortable) to say about my own book, but I truly believe Every Salad Ever is an outstanding, high-quality, user-friendly, practical and beautiful book. There. I said it. LOL. When you’re a one-woman company and you’re both author and publisher, you need to be able to toot your own horn. Toot! Toot!

Also, my style is very casual, approachable and friendly. I think you feel that instantly when you open the book and see my choice of fonts and the interior design. When you read the introduction, you see my quirky personality, my love of silly humor and obsession with the TV show Friends. I’m just a “normal” person and readers relate to me, often treating me like their friend or neighbor. Every Salad Ever is not intimidating. Big bold food photos jump out and scream “Pick me! Make me!”

Tell me more about the photography.

GP: I only use natural light and I keep the props simple. The salad is always front-and-center. When readers open to any page, I want them to see the photo and think “Yum! I’m making that!”—not “Oh, I wonder if that linen napkin is from Williams Sonoma.” Potential buyers form an impression of a cookbook very quickly and I believe my style draws people in and makes them want to keep looking. “I can do this. I can make that. I have all those ingredients already.” That’s the reaction I’m hoping for. I set up my garage as a food photography studio because it has a couple big windows and plenty of shelving for my ridiculously large collection of dishes.

How did you go about finding a U.S. publisher for the book?

GP: Within a month of Every Salad Ever’s launch in Canada, I started hearing from Americans who either received my cookbook as a gift from a Canadian relative or knew about it from social media and wanted to buy it. Indigo wouldn’t ship to the US because of tariffs. These inquiries continued all last summer. In August 2025, I contacted agent extraordinaire , because I once dealt with her mother, Lisa, many years ago. I emailed Sally the bestseller list with my cookbook at #1 and asked if I could please send her a copy of Every Salad Ever “to have a look.” When she received my package, she contacted me immediately and said, “We need to talk!” Sally had a really good sense for which publishers would love my cookbook. We signed a deal with Clarkson Potter in a matter of a couple weeks. Basically, I blinked and we had a deal. After the initial Zoom call with Editorial Director Jennifer Sit, I knew that Clarkson Potter was the best match for me. I’m not used to relinquishing control, so this has been a learning experience!

Tell me about the evolution of the cover from the original to the current US cover.

GP: Clarkson Potter wanted a “big salad” on the cover and chose my recipe called The Iconic Cobb Salad from my Classics chapter. It’s a fully loaded, totally decadent meal-in-a-bowl and I think with the current trend towards “high-protein everything,” it works! I was told the trend in cookbooks is not to have authors pictured on the front cover. This was a decision I didn’t agree with—but it wasn’t a hill I was willing to die on. I personally love seeing the face and personality behind the book. I’m on the back cover though! So, we compromised ☺

For the Canadian edition, because I’m a well-known, established author, I’m pictured on the front cover. I went with a textured, leopard-print book spine to match the shoes I’m wearing (which are made from recycled bottles). Not a typical look for a cookbook, that’s for sure! But it stands out.

What are you most proud of about the book?

GP: I’m most proud that despite an incredibly tight (nearly impossible) timeline to produce the book, I didn’t sacrifice ANYTHING in the way of content, design or quality along the way. I was able to intently focus for 10 months and crank out work like a madwoman. My editor still can’t believe I did it without collapsing. When you’re a perfectionist with a bit of OCD and ADHD mixed in with some ABC/XYZ and tons of passion and enthusiasm, anything is possible!

What would you say to someone who questions why cookbooks still matter in our “digital age”?

GP: Sometimes the online world feels a bit like food chaos, doesn’t it? First it’s cottage-cheese everything, next day it’s Greek yogurt “cheesecake” with Biscoff cookies shoved in it, then it’s fiber-maxxing with fava beans, then it’s whatever Haley Bieber is eating. If I hear the term “viral” one more time I’m going to break out in hives!

A cookbook is slower, calmer, comforting, motivating. The opposite of chaos. Cookbooks are tactile. And they aren’t just a collection of recipes, they’re an experience. It feels good to crack one open and browse for ideas and inspiration while sipping coffee. Cookbooks remind us of our childhood, our mother, our grandma, “the good ol’ days.” Cookbooks teach us to slow down a bit. And that’s a good thing. (Nod to old-school cookbook queen Martha Stewart.)

Finally, as a cookbook author speaking from decades of experience, anyone who’s written and published a cookbook has poured their heart, soul, blood, sweat, tears and usually years and lots of money into creating recipes and sharing stories and ideas meant to inspire others to cook. Authors deserve our support.

What do you find boring in a cookbook?

GP: I’m not sure if this qualifies as “boring,” but one thing that always jumps out at me is poor food photography. And that’s usually due to bad lighting. All the food-styling in the world can’t make a poorly lit pad Thai look good. And I do get tired of seeing the same fonts and layouts repeated over and over.

Anything else you’d like to add about Every Salad Ever?

I think I’m the only author in history to intentionally misspell a word on my book cover.

Every Salad Ever: From Grains to Greens and Pasta to Beans plus Every Salad In Betweens.

Rhymers gotta rhyme!

Interview has been lightly edited. If you purchase a book through one of these links, I may receive a small commission.

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Last Bites

• I’m working on Cookbookery’s summer preview - If you’re a publicist or an author with a book that will be published in June, July, or August—and you’re not sure if I know about it—please fill out this very short form.

• Pitch and Get Press - Seasoned authors and are offering a 90-minute workshop on how to get buzz for your book or business if you can’t afford (or don’t want) to hire a publicist.

• What Lies Inside, Outside, Around, and Beyond Peaks - A look inside a truly stunning new cookbook

• Recipe developer vs. content creator/food influencer - Cookbook author ’s IG post has generated a lot of discussion

• This week’s NY Times bestsellers: Dig In! by Erin O’Brien at #2 (Simon Element)

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, please tap the ❤️ button, restack, or share with another cookbook fan.

When I first saw the cover of Spain My Way (Bookshop/Amazon) by chef and World Central Kitchen-founder , I was immediately taken by it. There’s a real sense of personality here, but also action, setting, and, dare I say it, vibe. The photo is casual—I would be shocked if it was purposefully taken as a cover try (someone please enlighten me!)—and the best part is that the looseness of the cover continues into the rest of the book.

Spain My Way is packed with photos—beauties of the food, of course, but also process shots, street scenes and landscapes, ingredient details, and seemingly candid photos of José. It feels like the chef took a trip to visit his friends, made and ate a lot of food, and a photographer just happened to be along for the ride. Happily, the reader is too.

Enjoy this sangría recipe. It’s what I would like to drink all summer long, please. One note: José calls for Spanish orange liqueur; don’t tell him, but I will probably just sub in Grand Marnier. Salud!

Sangría de Cava

SERVES 4 to 6

If you ask one hundred Americans what the most famous drink of Spain is, ninety-nine of them would say sangría (and the last one would be thinking too hard). You know I love to give Spain credit for all good things, but the history books tell us that sangría is actually very, very old, older than Spain—as old as the Roman Empire, where they loved a sweet, spiced wine called “hippocras.” Today you can find sangría throughout the country, in homes and bars. But too many versions of it, especially in tourist areas, are bad—too sweet and too spiced, usually covering up bad wine. When you make it at home, use something you’d be happy to drink on its own—not the very best stuff, but not the worst. After that, make your sangría your own—you can do the same process with tinto, blanco, rosado, or Cava, like we do here in this recipe, and add whatever fruits you like, as long as they are in season.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups fresh seasonal chopped fruit, such as strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, peaches, or nectarines

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup Manzanilla sherry

1 1/2 ounces Spanish orange liqueur, such as Magdala

1 bottle of Cava, or another Spanish sparkling wine

1 bunch mint

1 orange, sliced into wheels 1 lime, sliced into wheels

DIRECTIONS

• Put the chopped fruit, sugar, sherry, and orange liqueur in a pitcher and stir until well combined. Set aside to macerate for at least 1 hour.

• Put a few pieces of the macerated fruit into four rocks glasses and set aside.

• Fill the pitcher with ice. Take a few sprigs of mint and gently smack them on the palm of your hand to release their aroma, then add them to the pitcher along with a few slices of orange and lime. Pour in the Cava, tilting the pitcher to retain as much carbonation as possible.

• To serve, fill each glass with ice. Pour in the sangría and garnish with mint, lime, and orange. Enjoy the fruit as a snack while you drink your sangría!

From Spain My Way: Eat, Drink, and Cook Like a Spaniard by José Andrés with Sam Chapple-Sokol. Copyright © 2026 by José Andrés. Excerpted by permission of Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

❤️ Thanks for reading!

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1. I’m working on Cookbookery’s (surprisingly robust!) summer preview (see the spring preview here). If you’re a publicist or an author with a book that will be published in June, July, or August—and you’re not sure if I know about it—please fill out this very short form.

2. Last week, People featured the “cover reveal” of my debut novel The Foreign Correspondent’s Wife!

Speaking of bookstores and favorite places, today I’m delighted to share an interview with Troy Chatterton, owner of the brand-new bookstore Wild Sorrel Cookbooks in the East Village of Manhattan.

I first learned about Wild Sorrel thanks to a tip from that someone was raising funds on Kickstarter to open a new culinary bookstore in New York. I donated a little bit of money, and when I mentioned Wild Sorrel in this newsletter, some of you did too! (I always say, cookbook people are the best people.)

On Kickstarter, Troy wrote about his determination to make Wild Sorrel more than just a place to buy books.

I want it to be a place where people find what they need, and discover something unexpected; a place where people feel welcomed, seen, comforted; a place people leave feeling better and brighter than they arrived. I want Wild Sorrel to inspire people to cook more often, with more confidence, more freedom, and with joy. I want people to feel like Wild Sorrel was made for them.

Troy reached his fundraising goal of $70,000, and the shop opened in mid-April. I’ve visited twice now and can vouch for the fact that Troy is making his vision for the shop come true. Everyone who walks in gets a warm greeting; there’s a palpable friendliness about the place.

Wild Sorrel is petite, and yet I feel like I could browse there for hours. The shop sells new and used cookbooks, plus a selection of gardening books, novels, and interesting housewares. There are two large tables with books in the center of the space and a couple of comfortable benches for relaxing. Troy’s dog, Olive, is often in attendance.

One often hears about the gritty reality of owning an independent bookstore. Lovely and community-building for sure, but an incredible amount of work and narrow margins. I haven’t asked Troy about the margins, and I know he has put his blood, sweat, tears (probably), heart, and soul into this shop. It also seems like he’s having an amazing time. Wild Sorrel already feels like a fixture in both the neighborhood and the city’s cookbook community. Thank you Troy for answering my (endless) questions and for bringing us all Wild Sorrel!

One note on the book links below: Obviously, if you’re interested in one of these titles and can make it to Wild Sorrel, you should go visit Troy. (Or call!1) But, I’ve included Bookshop.org links as well. I’m skipping Amazon this week to keep things indie.

The Cookbookery Q&A with Troy Chatterton

When did you know you wanted to open a cookbook shop?

TC: I worked at Three Lives [a storied independent bookshop in the West Village] for 14 years. It was a great, perfect job. But, two and a half years ago I was walking out of a cookbook shop, and for the first time I thought, “I wonder what it would be like to have my own cookbook shop.” As I walked home, I just kept thinking, thinking, thinking. And my partner Sam will tell you that from that day on, it was like, okay, how do I get to here?

Why a cookbook shop specifically?

TC: I love to cook, and after 14 years, I know that an independent neighborhood bookshop is a great place to work—lots of conversation, a great mix of people. And I thought, if you’ve got that kind of shop and it’s all centered around cooking, what kind of life is that? The best. Right?

How do you decide which books go on the tables?

TC: I really want the front table to represent what’s new.

The second table is near the back corner where there are a lot of books on kitchen gardening, farming, preserving, and foraging, Alice Waters and David Tanis. So on the back table there will be new cookbooks, but also ones that have something to do with gardening.

Are you planning on doing events?

TC: First I want to settle in. But just like at Three Lives, I’m always going to make sure authors know that they can come in anytime and sign a big stack of books. And then, yes to events and to finding a way to have really interesting talks with cooks and food people that maybe aren’t so tied to a brand new book—just interesting conversations about food.

How is selling cookbooks at a dedicated culinary bookstore different than selling them at a more general independent bookshop?

TC: Here’s one way. At Three Lives we had one case of cookbooks. They sold very, very well. But, anytime you would put a cookbook up there that wasn’t a name, or it was a little obscure, it didn’t. We didn’t really have the time and the space to give books the chance they deserved. And here I will. That’ll feel really good.

Now that you’ve been open for a few weeks, what has been the biggest surprise?

TC: How many neighborhood people are so happy about a new cookbook shop! You should see the shop on the weekends—many young people, eager to find books, new and old, and talk about where they are eating and what they are cooking. I’m also happily surprised about all the many chefs, food writers, and cookbook authors who have come in to visit and say hello. A woman came in the other day passing along a hello from Book Larder in Seattle! I’m thrilled every time a cookbook writer comes through the door on their own volition— , Mariam Daud, , , , , , Roxanna Jullapat, , and Lucie Franc de Ferriere from the bakery From Lucie on 10th Street! How fun is that?!

What are the top sellers so far?

TC: First is The East Village Cookbook, then Cake From Lucie. The whole neighborhood is in love with Lucie’s baking. A customer has already brought in her attempt at making Lucie’s salted dark chocolate chip cookies. DELICIOUS. Trinity’s new and first cookbook Eating at Home has a striking artful cover, and people can’t resist picking it up. Once they have a look, they want it for themselves. Weekend Recipes by Jess Elliott Dennison, a book I saw in London in the spring and knew I wanted to have in my shop, has been re-ordered each week. Jess is a cook from Edinburgh, and her writing is so personal, that you’re immediately taken in by the beautiful photography and her taste in food. This is the cookbook I’ll be cooking out of all summer long, eagerly. Then plotting a trip to Edinburgh to visit her shop!

Superiority Burger Cookbook is selling like it was just released. Oh, and one last one—Vegetables the Italian Way by is one of those books that people look inside, and they know immediately they want to cook out of it. The day it arrived in the shop, I took it home, and Sam made the asparagus recipe. We’ll be using the book all year long.

What is a cookbook cover (or two) that you’re obsessed with?

TC: A cookbook this spring that is perfectly designed is The Butter Book by . I won’t spoil the surprise of seeing it in person. And a shout out for one of my all time favorite cookbooks and cookbook covers: The River Café Cook Book Easy2 (2003). With its silver foil cover, and its bold colorful font, it is so River Café and so Warhol. I keep a stack in my front window. And it sells!

How do you decide which new books to stock?

TC: I go with what I find interesting, and I’m always thinking about what other people might be curious about and find helpful in their cooking lives. I listen to a lot of food podcasts—Ruthie’s Table 4, Good Food, TASTE, Splendid Table, and Grow, Cook, Eat, Arrange with Sarah Raven. I pay attention to what they are loving, who they are talking about, and who they are interviewing. Jenna, you too! Your cookbook roundups are very helpful, and your interview with Domenica Marchetti caused me to order up on Italian Cookies, and I’m glad I did. It flew out the door. And soon, Domenica came walking in!

How are you feeling overall?

TC: I’m only three weeks in, but it has given me so much pleasure to look out into the shop and see it so alive with people who are already making it their own. A room full of conversation, people sitting and looking at cookbooks, people discovering books they didn’t even know existed. I’ve made so many new friends, and I can’t wait to see what the summer holds.

I owe so much thanks to those who have helped support Wild Sorrel, and the many people who have spread the word about this little shop on 13th Street. People are making the effort and the journey to see it for themselves. I’m humbled, grateful, and delighted. It’s been full on and so much fun.

Interview has been lightly edited. If you purchase a book through one of these links, I may receive a small commission.

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Last Bites

• A really pretty cover - from an unexpected (to me) source

• Speaking of vegetarian cookbooks… The New York Times announced Veg Everything, out this fall

• I wrote about cooking my way through an 8-lb cabbage for Real Simple - Some of you followed along this journey on Notes

• Orange Aperol Spritz Cake Recipe! - From the upcoming Cake Picnic by Elisa Sunga

• This week’s NY Times bestsellers: none

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, please tap the ❤️ button, restack, or share with another cookbook fan.

I used to make them at home regularly too, but at some point they started feeling fussy—so many individual ingredients to cook and dress, plus chopping shallots and/or garlic for the vinaigrette, at least in the recipe I used.

Happily, the salade Niçoise recipe in ’s new cookbook Riviera (Bookshop/Amazon), published by William Morrow, is blissfully simple. There’s no vinaigrette to whisk. Instead you just bathe everything in olive oil and then spritz it with lemon juice or vinegar. Somehow that dressing tweak and Mélanie’s generously permissive headnote made the prep feel pleasantly relaxed, languorous even. I really could pretend the Mediterranean was outside my window!

Mélanie is the founder of Ghia, the NA aperitif brand. Born in France, as a child she reguarly spent time on the French Riviera with her grandmother, a stellar cook. I love how Mélanie describes this region as “where France relaxes into Italy, where the formality of French cuisine softens under the Mediterranean sun.” The book is full of low-lift, big-flavor recipes like this salad, and I’m confident I’ll be cooking from it more this summer.

Hope you enjoy this recipe!

Recipe notes: Take the active and total times with a grain of salt.1 You can’t really leave the kitchen for long while the potatoes, green beans, or eggs are cooking. And, really, 25 minutes total is very optimistic. From the time I set a pot of water onto a boil, gathered ingredients, and washed veg, this took me 35-ish minutes, and I boiled the eggs in a separate pot (easy and time-saving!).

I also skipped grilling the lemon because, well, I didn’t have a grill nearby and didn’t want to use another pan. Instead, I followed Mélanie’s headnote instructions and just splashed the salad with good vinegar before serving. And, I used asparagus instead of green beans! Completely untraditional, obviously, but springy and delicious. And I did quick pickle the onion—just sliced it, covered it with red wine vinegar, tossed it with salt, and let it sit while I got on with the rest of the recipe.

Salade Niçoise

SERVES 4 • PREP TIME: 10 MINUTES • COOK TIME: 25 MINUTES

This salad strays far from Nice’s original—no lettuce, yes potatoes—but it’s the kind of thing you can throw together from a well-stocked pantry and whatever’s left from the market. The key is getting each element just right: potatoes still warm when they hit the olive oil, eggs with properly jammy centers, really good-quality tuna in oil. Purists prefer to use only lemon and oil to season this salad, but if I have leftover pesto on hand or a vinegar I really love, I never mind using a splash of those either.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 garlic clove, halved

• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved lengthwise

• Kosher salt

• ¾ pound (340 g) small waxy potatoes

• ½ pound (225 g) haricots verts, trimmed

• 2 eggs

• 1⁄3 cup (80 ml) your best olive oil, plus more for drizzling

• Two 5-ounce cans best-quality tuna in olive oil, drained

• ½ red onion, very thinly sliced (if pickled, even better)

• ¼ cup (35 g) caper berries

• 1⁄3 cup (45 g) pitted or unpitted Niçoise olives

• 1 lemon, halved

• Freshly ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Rub the inside of a wide serving bowl thoroughly with the garlic halves. Place the tomatoes in a medium bowl and lightly sprinkle them with salt. Set aside.

2. Fill a medium pot with salted water and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat—we’ll use this for all the cooking. First, add the potatoes and cook until a knife slides in easily, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove them with a slotted spoon and set aside.

3. Next, cook the beans for 3 minutes, until tender but still with a snap. While the beans are cooking, in a large bowl prepare an ice water bath. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the cooked beans to the ice water bath to stop the cooking. Once cool, scoop them out and set them aside (keep the bowl of ice water).

4. Finally, cook the eggs—I like them jammy, so I set a timer for 7 minutes from the second they get into the boiling water. Transfer them to the ice water bath until cool, then peel and halve the eggs.

5. Layer the warm potatoes in the garlic-rubbed serving bowl, drizzling with the olive oil and lightly sprinkling with salt as you go. Arrange the tomatoes, beans, eggs, tuna, red onion, caper berries, and olives in sections.

6. Grill the lemon halves cut side down until charred, about 2 minutes. Squeeze lemon juice over the salad, drizzle generously with olive oil, and season with pepper.

Recipe excerpted from RIVIERA Recipes from the Coast of France and Italy by Mélanie Masarin. Copyright © 2026 by Mélanie Masarin. Used with permission by William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.

Thoughts on chopped versus composed salads? Or the active/total times in recipes? ❤️ Thanks for reading!

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When my friend and I started dreaming up Cookbook Social in the fall we wrote a tagline for the event: A friendly gathering connecting authors, readers, and eaters. We envisioned an afternoon where cookbook fans could chat with their favorite authors, buy signed books to gift or keep, and make new friends. Of course, there would be delicious food and drinks throughout it all.

We recruited authors and sponsors, partnered with independent bookstore Rough Draft, put 125 tickets on sale, and held our breath.

I am thoroughly delighted (and frankly relieved) to report that our vision came true! The event was held at Rebecca’s gorgeous studio The Upstate Table in Kingston, New York, on Saturday, May 2. We had 14 incredible authors on board, tickets sold out, and our guests purchased hundreds of cookbooks.

The event kicked off with three panels:

• Why We Cook, Write, and Live Upstate featuring, from left, , Maya Kaimal, and , and moderated by .

• Cookbooks for Gathering: The Why and How of Hosting featuring, from left, , , Marissa McMullen (), and Mariana Velásquez, and moderated by Rebecca

• Family Ties: Cookbooks That Celebrate Heritage featuring, from left, , Dan Pelosi, , and Chitra Agrawal, and moderated by me.

Then there were a couple of hours of book buying, meeting authors, mingling, eating, and drinking.

Guests arrived eager to make new friends and buy books. The authors were warm, gracious, and equally eager to meet readers. The food was delicious, the drinks were flowing, and the swag bags were stacked. It felt like a super fun party where you knew everyone would be nice. A party where all the guests love cookbooks?? I mean, sign me up!

Giant thank yous to my partner in crime Rebecca Ffrench, our chef Lee Kalpakis, our staff and volunteers (including the tireless ), for hosting our “after party,” our guests, and, of course, our fantastic sponsors: Straus Family Creamery, ButcherBox, Colavita, and Wisconsin Cheese. I joked throughout the event that I spent more time planning Cookbook Social than I did my wedding. That is 100% true, and while obviously I’m not going to claim that it rivals my wedding day in terms of importance (lol), I will say it was absolutely a day to remember.

And now, Toni Tipton-Martin!

During the Family Ties panel at Cookbook Social I introduced Victoria Granof as a legend, but when I saw her expression, I realized quickly that it wasn’t the right word. “That makes me sound like I’m dead!” she said. Someone from the audience helpfully shouted, “Icon!” and I quickly corrected myself. Thank you audience member!

Today’s guest, Toni Tipton-Martin, earns the icon title, as well. A journalist and culinary historian, Tipton-Martin sparked a shift in our collective understanding of American food with her books The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African-American Cookbooks (Bookshop/Amazon) and Jubilee: Recipes From Two Centuries of African-American Cooking (Bookshop/Amazon). In those titles and her other work, she has helped to open up our awareness of Black cooking in America—that it goes far beyond soul food or stereotypical “Southern” food.

Tipton-Martin has won three James Beard Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2025. And now she’s written the foreword to the 50th anniversary edition of The Taste of Country Cooking (Bookshop/Amazon), by Edna Lewis, another icon. Born in rural Virginia in 1916, Miss Lewis (as everyone calls her) was an accomplished chef in Washington DC and New York City. She published The Edna Lewis Cookbook in 1972. But, it is The Taste of Country Cooking that endures most powerfully.

The Taste of Country Cooking is almost as much memoir as cookbook. Miss Lewis tells the story of growing up in rural Freetown, Virginia, the grandchild of formerly enslaved people in an agrarian community founded by formerly enslaved people. In the introduction she writes:

Whenever I go back to visit my sisters and brothers, we relive old times, remembering the past. And when we share again in gathering wild strawberries, canning, rendering lard, finding walnuts, picking persimmons, making fruitcake, I realize how much the bond that held us had to do with food.

The book is divided by season and then by menu, and I swear I can smell the green fields, hear the birds, and taste the butter-sautéed wild asparagus when I read it. Miss Lewis is often called the godmother of seasonal, farm-to-table cooking, and this book shows why.

In her foreword, Tipton-Martin explains that Miss Lewis’s cooking style wasn’t a fad.

When she implored us to seek out fresh ingredients of fine quality prepared when they are at their seasonal best, and to serve them elegantly, Ms. Lewis was reminding us to reclaim and honor a rich inheritance, not a romanticized trend.

Having Toni Tipton-Martin and Edna Lewis together between two covers feels like a gift: two icons in conversation. Thank you for being here Toni!

The Cookbookery Q&A with Toni Tipton-Martin

About how many cookbooks do you own?

TTM: I own more than 2,500 cookbooks.

How do you organize them?

TTM: My books are organized as they were in the newsrooms where I worked — alphabetically by country, region, culture, then author. I store them in various parts of the house: Health/Fitness in my workout room, science in the kitchen, cultural in my office, close to my heart and work.

What would you say to someone who questions why cookbooks still matter in our “digital age”?

TTM: Cookbooks still matter in our “digital age” because they are permanent historical records. Besides, paper is personal and tactile. I love the way that books feel and they don’t give eye strain.

When did you first encounter The Taste of Country Cooking?

TTM: My first encounter with The Taste of Country Cooking came after meeting Ms. Lewis at a food conference in Los Angeles in the early 1990s. I had just purchased a copy of The Edna Lewis Cookbook and I wanted to know more about her.

How has your experience with the book changed over the years?

TTM: I learn something different every time I read and cook from TToCC. My initial response was surprise to encounter a book that celebrated Black kitchen wisdom. It gave me a sense of pride. Today I enjoy listening to her storytelling as if she was right there beside me sharing her seasonal cooking tales.

There are very few cookbooks that have stood the test of time like The Taste of Country Cooking has. Why do you think it has remained so relevant and inspiring over the past 50 years?

TTM: TToCC has remained relevant and inspiring over the past 50 years because Miss Lewis’s voice is so genuine and authoritative. Every few years she invites a new generation into her kitchen to learn from her knowledge. I have been blessed to learn from her directly, but her storytelling feels like a personal hands-on lesson that anyone can enjoy.

What’s the first cookbook you remember cooking out of?

TTM: The first cookbook that I cooked from wasn’t a book; it was a collection of mail order recipe cards issued by McCall’s magazine. The front side presented a beautiful styled food shot and on the back there were how-to, step-by-step images and instructions. My food writing career was just getting started and without a culinary education, I needed all the support I could get. There was a cookbook store called Jessica’s Biscuit where I learned about cookbooks. I also registered to receive deliveries of cookbooks of the month.

What kind of cookbook reader/user are you?

TTM: TBH I mostly read cookbooks for ideas and cultural storytelling. When I do want to cook, I adapt a dish according to what is in my pantry.

What’s one cookbook you read, but don’t cook from?

TTM: A Book of Mediterranean Food by Elizabeth David

What do you find boring in a cookbook?

TTM: I am bored by cookbooks without photos and headnotes that don’t tell stories for context.

What’s a cookbook cover you’re obsessed with?

TTM: I must admit that the cover of my own cookbook Jubilee (Bookshop/Amazon) continues to be awe-inspiring because of the provocative elements it promoted at the time — Black hands and a shrimp dish that does not reflect the expected soul food plate.

You’re only allowed to cook/bake from three books (aside from your own) for the rest of your life. What are they?

TTM: That is like asking a mother to choose her favorite child: impossible.

Interview has been lightly edited. If you purchase a book through one of these links, I may receive a small commission.

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Last Bites

• James Beard Award nominations - Cookbook and media nominations were announced yesterday. Congrats to all of the nominees including previous Cookbookery guests Kristin Donnelly, Alison Roman, and Helen Goh! Reminder: there are dozens of excellent cookbooks published every year. These awards and all the others can only recognize a fraction of the worthy ones.

• Recipes we know by heart - Katie and Meredith at asked several food writers (including me!) for our back-pocket recipes. There are some great ones here!

• Want more Cookbook Social? recapped it beautifully here.

• This week’s NY Times bestsellers: Zariz by at #9 (Avery)

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, please tap the ❤️ button, restack, or share with another cookbook fan.

This is Lisa’s second cookbook, after The Fresh Eggs Daily Cookbook (Bookshop/Amazon) in 2022. She is a poultry-raising expert, television host, Substacker, and the creator of the Fresh Eggs Daily blog. Unlike in her first book, In Season’s recipes are not strictly egg-focused. Here, there are chapters for soups, salads, vegetables, sandwiches, and cocktails. But, it wouldn’t be a Lisa Steele book without plenty of egg recipes! Other chapters include Poached Eggs, Baked and Broiled Eggs, Omelets and Quesadillas, and Deviled Eggs. So…I couldn’t resist choosing an egg recipe to share. If you make it, let me know what you think!

Caesar Deviled Eggs

A classic salad, but make it deviled eggs. You’ll recognize all the flavors of a traditional Caesar in each delicious bite of my deviled eggs, right down to the miniature garlic butter croutons on top of each one. These are so much fun to make—and even more fun to eat!

Makes 12

Ingredients:

• 6 eggs, hard-cooked, peeled, and halved lengthwise (see page 30 for method)

• 4 tablespoons mayonnaise (store-bought or homemade using the recipe on page 89), divided

• 2 teaspoons stone ground mustard

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan, plus 12 curls for garnish (optional)

• 1/4 teaspoon anchovy paste

• 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest (less than 1/2 lemon)

• 4 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, divided (about 1/2 lemon)

• Freshly ground black pepper

• 1 teaspoon butter

• Slice of bread, cut into 24 (1/4-inch) cubes

• Pinch of garlic powder

• 2 tablespoons shredded romaine lettuce

Method:

In the bowl of a food processor add the egg yolks, 3 tablespoons of the mayonnaise, mustard, garlic, grated Parmesan, anchovy paste, lemon zest, 2 teaspoons of the lemon juice, and a few grinds of pepper. Pulse until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.

Slowly add 2 to 3 teaspoons water and continue pulsing until the filling is smooth and creamy. (Alternatively, you can mash the yolks and mix the filling with a fork or potato masher.)

Arrange the egg whites on a plate and, using a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch round tip, pipe the filling into the whites.

In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter, then gently stir in the bread cubes and toast, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Remove the croutons from the heat and toss with the garlic powder.

In a small bowl whisk the remaining 1 tablespoon mayonnaise with the remaining 2 teaspoons lemon juice until smooth.

Garnish the eggs with the shredded romaine, garlic mini croutons, and Parmesan curls, if using.

Drizzle with the lemon mayonnaise and season with pepper.

Serve immediately or chill until ready to serve. Leftovers should be stored in the refrigerator and eaten within 3 or 4 days.

Fresh Tip: Save uneaten deviled eggs and chop them up into a delicious egg salad for the next day.

Excerpted from In Season: 125+ Sweet and Savory Recipes Celebrating Simple, Fresh Ingredients (Lisa Steele, Harper Celebrate)

P.S. Cookbook Social was AMAZING! A recap coming on Thursday!

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When Ashley Lonsdale moved to New York City in 2009 she planned to pursue a career in advertising and art design. But, when she was working at The Standard as a hostess, she peeked her head into the kitchen and was immediately smitten. Ashley gave up her hostessing job to be a cook, and soon took the leap and went to culinary school.

After working in restaurant kitchens, catering kitchens, and in an upscale French restaurant “at the tippity-top of JP Morgan,” Ashley moved into personal cheffing and then product development at culinary startups like Daily Harvest, where she worked for more than four years. Eventually she left to pursue writing and recipe development, with a goal of giving people more confidence in the kitchen.

As ButcherBox’s in-house culinary expert, Ashley shares recipes and cooking techniques with the brand’s community. Protein can be intimidating, she says, and it’s an investment. “So how do we make it easy? How do we spread the good word of dry brining and how that’s going to transform a whole chicken? I’m there to help customers get the best out of every cut of protein that lands in their kitchen.”

Ashley is also a regular contributor to NYT Cooking. Her parents are from Jamaica, and she grew up in Miami, which she says was another layer of culinary education. Many of the recipes Ashley develops for the platform are based on her Jamaican heritage. She mines her dad and uncle for information, she says. “It’s like a fun family project, but I also just do tropical accented recipes, too.” I asked about her favorites, and she mentioned the Crispy Coconut Salmon (gift link). “It’s modeled after my coconut-shrimp-laden upbringing.”

As a former personal chef and a recipe developer myself, I loved hearing how much Ashley looks to cookbooks for inspiration and guidance. You’ll see in our interview below that she’s a true fan. Thanks for being here Ashley!

The Cookbookery Q&A with Ashley Lonsdale

What role have cookbooks played in your career?

AL: Cookbooks have been my constant reference point. I look to them to guide me on how to build a recipe and how to figure things out in the kitchen where there isn’t a chef there telling me how to do things.

About how many cookbooks do you own?

AL: I did a pretty big move last year, and my cookbook collection got a haircut, so it’s under a hundred. But I’m calm about it. I gave away a lot of books to people I love, and it’s kind of fun rebuilding thoughtfully. I’m also checking out cookbooks from the library.

Do you have a way of organizing them?

AL: Aside from pure chaos? Because I pull random ones off the shelf so often, putting them back in the right place feels a little too fussy to me. There is some organization by spine length.

What was the last cookbook you pulled off your shelf and why?

AL: It was Islas (Bookshop/Amazon) by Von Diaz. I was looking for the pikliz recipe. It’s just so delicious—a really spicy, pickly condiment—that I served with a rich pork dish.

Why do print cookbooks still matter today?

AL: Cookbooks are history books. They’re anthropological, snapshots of moment in time. I have all of these older Caribbean cookbooks, and they assume so much of the reader. “Coconut milk” is blended coconut, or it’s mashed up. No one’s calling for cans of coconut.

Digital recipes are wonderful because of accessibility, but their impermanence is scary. I love the Buvette chocolate mousse recipe so much, and the other day someone asked me for it. It had been on marthastewart.com for over a decade. But, now it’s gone, and guess who gave away the Buvette (Bookshop/Amazon) cookbook when she moved? It’s a reminder that, just like our cookbook shelves, online recipes are constantly being curated1. I like to have a little bit more control.

What’s the first cookbook you remember cooking out of?

AL: Well, first of all, my Easy Bake oven instruction manual. That’s a cookbook If we’re being technical. But as a kid, I fell in love with the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, the one with the red gingham binder. I was obsessed with the baked custard, and the pages were all wet and crumpled from the water bath.

What’s a cookbook that you read but don’t cook from?

AL: I recently went to a panel in London with the chef Cynthia Shanmugalingam, author of Rambutan (Bookshop/Amazon). She read an excerpt on jackfruit, and the whole room started crying. So I obviously bought the cookbook, and I ran to the safety of my home with my tissues and cried through the rest of the book. The essays in Rambutan tell the story of the gentle heartbreak of immigration with sentimentality and nostalgia. The book is a very good reminder that food ties us to our memories and can be used as a tool to preserve them.

What do you find boring in a cookbook?

AL: Almost nothing. I love opening a window into how people operate. I like the pantry section. I want to know what they stock their kitchen with, what the tools are. I know that there’s a lot of repetition in those sections, but I always feel like you learn something. Reading someone’s cookbook is as close as possible to cooking with them in their kitchen.

What’s a cookbook that changed the way you cook?

AL: Vegetable Kingdom (Bookshop/Amazon) by Bryant Terry. The recipes are so beautiful, and it’s nice to have a book that unapologetically says we’re going to spend some time in the kitchen and make some serious recipes.

What’s a cookbook that transports you?

AL: Melissa Thompson’s Motherland (Bookshop/Amazon). It’s a really beautiful Jamaican cookbook with updated modern recipes for all of the classics, all of the hits. I pull it off my shelf all the time.

What’s a cookbook cover that you are obsessed with?

AL: I really love Cooking for Artists (Bookshop/Amazon) by Mina Stone. It was huge, and it was sold in art bookstores. The cover drew me in, and then you open the book and the photos are gorgeous. Also the The River Cafe Cook Book Easy. I love text-based covers.

Are there any books that you’re sheepish to admit that you haven’t cooked out of?

AL: I’m so embarrassed to say The French Laundry Cookbook (Bookshop/Amazon), which my parents bought for me when I graduated from culinary school. I don’t know what I thought I was going to be cooking when I got off work at midnight or 1:00 AM, but it definitely wasn’t caviar and oysters and tapioca pearls.

Is there a recent cookbook that you think didn’t get enough attention?

AL: Can I instead say one that I hope gets all the attention? The Caribbean Cookbook (Bookshop/Amazon) by Rawlston Williams. It’s almost 400 recipes! He is so brilliant. I miss his restaurant, Food Sermon, and I’m just so excited to have this bible.

You’re only allowed to cook from three books for the rest of your life. What are they?

AL: One would have to be a reference book, like The Flavor Bible (Bookshop/Amazon). I use it all the time. When you need inspiration, it’s nice to have someone else doing the legwork and saying, why don’t you try this? The Real Taste of Jamaica by Ina Donaldson, which is just a beautiful reference book. I cook out of it all the time, and I’m pretty sure I grew up on my parents cooking those recipes for me. And I will probably be nerdy and say, Larousse Gastronomique (Bookshop/Amazon). I just love the descriptions and the way it’s so scientific and perfectly done.

And then one more for developing meat-specific recipes: The Food Lab (Bookshop/Amazon) by Kenji Lopez-Alt. I think Kenji is such a genius at bringing science into meat cooking and making it less intimidating.

Interview has been lightly edited. If you purchase a book through one of these links, I may receive a small commission.

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Last Bites

• Giveaway alert! — In celebration of the 100th episode of The Dinner Plan podcast, Maggie Hoffman is hosting a huge giveaway, with prizes including high-quality pantry goods; a Staub 7-quart enameled cast iron Dutch oven; Cuisinart's Fast Freeze ice cream maker; a glass food storage system from OXO; and so many cookbooks. Get details here!

• Nerding Out on Trends — and on how food trends influence cookbooks and the viability of titles centered on consumer brands.

• This week’s NY Times bestsellers: Come Eat by Melissa Ben-Ishay at #4 (Harper Influence)

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, please tap the ❤️ button, restack, or share with another cookbook fan.

I’m sorry to say that my knowledge of Hawaiian cuisine has not progressed much over the years. That’s just one reason it has been a pleasure spending time with Aloha Veggies (Bookshop/Amazon) by Alana Kysar, published by Ten Speed and out today.

Kysar is also the author of the beloved Aloha Kitchen (Bookshop/Amazon). In this latest book, she applies traditional flavors and techniques frequently used for meat dishes—like shoyu, katsu, and loco moco—to plants. The book is structured like a classic Hawaiian plate lunch, divided by mains (traditionally meat, here veggies), sides, and starches. There’s also a chapter of desserts.

The Kale Salad with Shoyu Mushrooms recipe that I’m sharing today is in the Sides chapter, and while there are three components to it, they’re all super easy. The dressing is one you whisk together and after two minutes of prep the mushrooms roast hands-off in the oven. The mushrooms are also crazy delicious, crispy and deeply flavorful. I will double the amount of them next time I make this salad. Enjoy!

Kale and Shoyu Mushroom Salad

Years ago, I fell in love with the oyster mushroom tacos in Ottolenghi’s Flavor and have been putting a Hawai‘i twist on them ever since. The mushrooms in this salad are tossed with a flavorful, sweet soy mixture that has strong shoyu chicken vibes; they’re roasted at a high heat, delivering many textures at once, which Ottolenghi deftly describes as “crispy, chewy, and soft.”

Serves 4 to 6

Shoyu Mushrooms (recipe follows)
Shoyu Sesame Dressing (recipe follows)
Two 8-ounce bunches lacinato (dino) kale, midribs removed and thinly sliced
2 Persian (mini) cucumbers, thinly sliced on a bias
2 green onions, chopped

1. Make the shoyu mushrooms as directed.

2. While the mushrooms are roasting, make the dressing.

3. In a salad bowl, combine the kale with 1 tablespoon of the dressing. Massage the leaves with the dressing for a minute. Add the cucumbers and green onions and toss with half the dressing. Add more dressing to taste.

4. Top with the shoyu mushrooms and serve immediately.

Shoyu Mushrooms

I find myself making these Hawai‘i-style shoyu mushrooms to add to everything from the above salad to jook (rice porridge) and Coconut Sweet Potato Mash.

Serves 4 to 6

3 tablespoons neutral oil
3 tablespoons soy sauce (shoyu)
1½ tablespoons maple syrup
2 garlic cloves, finely grated
⅛-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
12 ounces oyster mushrooms, torn into bite-size pieces

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a half-sheet pan with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, soy sauce, maple syrup, garlic, and ginger. Toss in the mushrooms and mix well to evenly coat. Pour onto the lined sheet pan and arrange in an even layer, aiming to have no mushrooms touch if possible.

3. Roast until crispy, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool on the sheet pan for 5 minutes.

Shoyu Sesame Dressing

Makes about ½ cup

2 tablespoons soy sauce (shoyu)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
¾ teaspoon honey
1½ teaspoons sugar
⅛-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
½ garlic clove, finely grated
⅛ teaspoon white miso (optional)
2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds, ground
3 tablespoons neutral oil
1½ teaspoons toasted sesame oil

In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, vinegar, honey, sugar, ginger, garlic, and miso (if using) until the sugar has dissolved. Whisk in the sesame seeds. Stream in the neutral oil and sesame oil and whisk to emulsify.

Reprinted with permission from Aloha Veggies: Veg-Forward Recipes Celebrating the Flavors of Hawai’i by Alana Kysar. Copyright © 2026 by Alana Kysar. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

For more recipes from Aloha Veggies, visit The Dinner Plan, and Deb has an interview with Alana over on Smitten Kitchen.

Thanks for reading! Drop a ❤️ if you’re interested in making this recipe. And, tell me, how bad is it that I’ve never been to Hawaiʻi?

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April Newsletters

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Last Bites

• David Lebovitz shared his book tour itinerary for the upcoming The Great Book of Chocolate.

• Mega-influencer Nara Smith announced her first cookbook. I was at a food conference yesterday and there was some lively discussion about this cover.

• Roxana Jullapat Changed My Baking Life - on the author of Morning Baker and the subject of a recent episode of .

• Goodbye Minimalism? Hello, Humanism - Not food, but good.

Thanks for reading and happy almost May!

Now onto today’s regularly scheduled programming:

If you aren’t a cookbook author or food writer, you might not know ’s name. But if you’re reading this (meaning you’re a cookbook person) I can almost guarantee you’ve read or cooked from a book that she somehow had a hand in creating.

A journalist by trade, Dianne has spent the past 30ish years helping food writers hone their craft. She coaches authors on their book proposals, edits cookbooks, teaches workshops around the world (including an upcoming one in Morocco), and writes a newsletter that features interviews with food writing professionals (like me!) and curated links about the biz.

Dianne is also the author of Will Write for Food, now in its fourth edition and a true classic. When I attended a cookbook talk with last fall, an audience member asked how she learned to be a food writer. Yasmin credited Will Write for Food. No less an authority than Anthony Bourdain blurbed the book.

Between her book, newsletter, workshops, and coaching, Dianne is a consummate teacher, reaching writers at all stages of their careers.

I wanted to talk to Dianne about cookbooks because she has such a long-term, insider perspective. She’s also one of those people (my favorite sort) who isn’t afraid to offer her unvarnished opinions. Thank you so much for being here Dianne, for sharing your cookbook wisdom, and for giving us all the tools to be stronger, more engaging writers!

The Cookbookery Q&A with Dianne Jacob

About how many cookbooks do you own?

DJ: Maybe 200. I moved house a few years ago so I got rid of many.

How do you organize them?

DJ: They’re in my office now because there’s nowhere in my kitchen to put them. I have a big section for authors I’ve worked with. It’s satisfying to see shelves of books by those whom I coached on book proposals. Sometimes I edit cookbooks, both for publishers and individuals, so those books are there too. I also have a shelf for the cookbooks of friends and colleagues. There’s a section for Asian food, one for vegetarian food, and one for baking. And then the rest are kind of miscellaneous. Sometimes I have stopped cooking from them, but I can’t bear to give them away, because I like the book so much or I know the author.

What would you say to someone who questions why cookbooks still matter in our “digital age”?

DJ: Cookbooks are a different animal when compared to staring at a screen. Cookbooks have a cohesive theme. They provide a tangible way to immerse yourself in a country’s foods, a type of cuisine, or even a way to cook meals in 30 minutes. The big cookbooks are beautifully designed in ways that are impossible to emulate on the web. They provide eye candy in terms of design, color and photos. And those pillow tops and embossed texts are touchable in a way that screens are not.

What’s the first cookbook you remember cooking out of?

DJ: Betty Crocker’s Cookbook for Boys and Girls. I still make the sugar cookies. Recipes like Cream Dried Beef were foreign to our immigrant family, so the cookbook seemed exotic to me. There was an intriguing spread of a color photo with faces made from a banana, canned pear half and half an orange. My mother didn’t have to entice me to eat my fruit!

What kind of cookbook reader/user are you?

DJ: I tend to photocopy recipes I want to try, and then I decide whether to keep the book. If I get one great recipe worth repeating, I’m good. Sometimes I keep books for further reading. I’m not above flipping through a cookbook in bed.

When I’m done with a cookbook I sell it to a used bookstore. When I get a credit of a few hundred dollars, I give the trade slip to the head of a nonprofit preschool where I once served on the board. That way she can order whatever kind of books she wants for her kids and sometimes their parents.

Do you have any favorite cookbooks for reading?

DJ: Sometimes I like to dip into a cookbook that is of a time, such as Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone (Bookshop/Amazon) by my friend Deborah Madison. It reminds me of when cookbook authors were French-trained and thought you had to put butter, cream, and cheese in vegetables to make them taste good. (Not that it’s untrue, but there are other ways.) There was little mainstream knowledge then about pan-Asian vegan cooking.

What do you find boring in a cookbook?

DJ: Oh, I have lots of opinions on things I don’t like! Headnotes that say, “Serve with a salad and a loaf of crusty bread.” That’s tired. Passive voice — because cooking and baking are active. Recipes for chicken broth in the Basics chapter. I want to scream. Recipes that are nothing new. Writers who want me to make everything from scratch because they do so.

What is a cookbook that changed the way you cook?

DJ: Jerusalem (Bookshop/Amazon) by and . It’s a little fussy about exact measurements and number of ingredients, but the recipes are terrific. I also love the way they present Jerusalem as a melting pot through photos, that it’s not just full of European Jews. My family is Iraqi-Jewish and the majority of people in Israel are now Mizrahi.

What’s a cookbook that totally transports you?

DJ: I had to look through my bookshelf to find an answer. The Contemporary Encyclopedia of Herbs & Spices: Seasonings for the Global Kitchen by Tony Hill. Yes, it’s by a white guy and it’s global cuisine, but that was 2004 and things changed somewhat after that. The recipes are excellent. I haven’t been able to get rid of it. I learned about Grains of Paradise by reading it, which I’d never seen used in a recipe by anyone except .

What do you wish there was more of in the cookbook space?

DJ: The cookbook space is still pretty white. I’ve read that it’s about 75 percent Caucasian, down from averages in the nineties in the past. So there’s more work to do with creating ambassadors for cuisines from other countries, or the American version of them, or allowing non-white writers to get out of lanes tied to their families’ country of origin.

How are you feeling about the cookbook business in general these days?

DJ: I really feel for people who want to write a cookbook but don’t have big social media numbers. I know it’s going to be a struggle. I’m tired of publicists writing to me about the newest influencer cookbook and how I should promote it. Mostly they don’t appeal to me, but of course, there are exceptions. I love how B. Dylan Hollis presents his take on food history.

How do you feel when you think about how influential your work has been?

DJ: Oh man. That’s a hard one. I don’t think about it, to be honest. Although I am proud of the endorsement from Anthony Bourdain that has graced the cover of Will Write for Food for many years. I feel fortunate to have been around in the early days for the heyday of food blogging, restaurant reviewing, and the rise of food writing. I tried to understand and chronicle it all.

Interview has been lightly edited. If you purchase a book through one of these links, I may receive a small commission.

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Last Bites

• An Interview with Hardie Grant’s Publishing Director - talks with Jenny Wapner about cookbook design. Books mentioned include Lido (one of my favorite covers of the spring), Chesnok, and Soomaliya.

• Behind the Book Deal - Agent on how the new book The Lao Kitchen came to be

• The Bestseller List - More explanation of the various lists, this time from fiction author and independent bookstore owner .

• An Easy Recipe for Rhubarb Compote - From Will This Make You Happy by Tanya Bush. ‘Tis (almost) the season!

• This week’s NY Times bestsellers: Nothing this week!

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, please tap the ❤️ button, restack, or share with another cookbook fan.

From Lucie is a pocket-sized bakery in New York’s East Village, opened by native française Lucie Franc de Ferriere in 2023. The bakery is one of those spots that sees regular line-ups outside. I am not usually someone who believes in waiting in line for food, but Lucie’s cakes (and cookies and brownies) are truly special.

Now thanks to Cake From Lucie (Bookshop/Amazon), published last week by Clarkson Potter, we don’t need to queue up to partake.

Today, I’m sharing Lucie’s recipe for Raspberry Cheesecake Swirled Brownies; my husband I devoured them last weekend. I’ve also baked the famous Salted Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies, the most popular goodies in the bakery according to the book. I’ve yet to tackle a cake, but based on the success of both the brownies and the cookies, it won’t be long.

Raspberry Cheesecake Swirled Brownies

MAKES 15 BROWNIES

My mum used to bake these when I was growing up, and they’ve always been the perfect afternoon treat—a brighter, fruitier take on classic brownies. Cream cheese gives them a lovely lightness, while raspberries cut through the sweetness with just enough sharpness. The marble effect of the swirled chocolate and cream cheese creates a beautiful, swishy pattern that makes these even more irresistible. It’s the sort of recipe you simply have to try. At the bakery, we always trim the edges to make the brownies look neat and tidy—and somehow, we end up devouring every last one of those offcuts.

Softened unsalted butter, for the pan
7 ounces / 200g dark chocolate, chopped
1 stick plus 6 tablespoons / 198g unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups / 400g sugar
5 large eggs, at room temperature
¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon / 115g all-purpose flour
1¾ cups plus 1 tablespoon / 400g cream cheese, at room temperature and cut into small pieces
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup / 120g raspberries, fresh or frozen (not thawed)

1. Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350°F / 180°C. Lightly butter the bottom and sides of a 9 × 13-inch / 23 × 33cm metal baking pan, then line the pan with parchment paper, leaving about 1 inch / 2.5cm hanging over the sides.

2. Fill a medium saucepan with about 1 inch / 2.5cm of water and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Add the chocolate to a large heatproof bowl and set the bowl over the pan of simmering water, making sure the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl. Warm the chocolate, stirring occasionally, until melted. Remove the bowl from the pan (careful—it will be warm!) and use a clean kitchen towel to carefully wipe any condensation from the bottom of the bowl. Set aside to cool.

3. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, beat the butter and 1 cup / 200g of the sugar on medium-high speed, scraping down the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed, until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape the bowl, then add 3 of the eggs, one at a time, and beat, scraping the bowl before each addition and again at the end, until fully incorporated. Add the cooled chocolate and mix on low speed until fully incorporated.

4. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer, then gradually add the flour, gently folding with a rubber spatula, just until there are no streaks. The batter will be quite thick.

5. Spread about three-quarters of the batter in the prepared pan, smoothing the top. Set the rest aside.

6. In the clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a clean paddle, beat the cream cheese and the remaining 1 cup / 200g sugar on medium-high speed until it has the texture of whipped cream cheese, about 2 minutes. Scrape the bowl, then add the remaining 2 eggs and the vanilla and beat, scraping the bowl as needed, until smooth, about 1 minute.

7. Spread this mixture over the batter in the pan, smoothing the top but maintaining the distinct layers. Dollop the reserved chocolate batter over the cream cheese mixture and use a fork to swirl them together. Push the raspberries into the top.

8. Bake until a skewer inserted in the center comes out mostly clean with just a few moist crumbs, 45 to 50 minutes.

9. Let the brownies cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Carefully wiggle the parchment paper to release the brownies from the pan, then lift the parchment and use it to place the brownies on a cutting board. Cut into equal squares for serving. The brownies keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or can be well wrapped and frozen for up to 2 months.

Excerpted from Cake From Lucie Copyright © 2026 by Lucie Franc de Ferriere. Photographs copyright © 2026 by Lucia Bell-Epstein. Illustrations copyright 2026 © Maya Netzer. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Crown Publishing Group.

Let me know if you bake these…or if you have another brownie recipe I should know about. Aside from ice cream, they’re basically my favorite dessert. ❤️

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When I started Cookbookery Collective in March 2025, my why was simple. I wanted to talk to people about cookbooks, one of my true loves. I wanted to have a platform to shine a light on books I’m excited about and to explore the ins and outs of the book business. In a nutshell: I wanted to make cookbooks a bigger part of my life.

A year+ later, and I feel successful! I get to talk cookbooks with you (thousands of you!) every week, dive into upcoming titles, and speak to the cookbook professionals that I deeply admire.

An anniversary is also a time to take stock, and I had some fun going back through Cookbookery’s posts, checking the stats, and remembering some of my early faves. Without further ado, here is…

Cookbookery Collective, By the Numbers

Cookbooks Mentioned: 8082

Authors Interviewed: 38

Cookbook Biz People Interviewed: 4

• Erica Gelbard Is a Professional Cookbook Cheerleader - I did this interview when Erica was at Chronicle; she’s now at Union Square and still a professional cookbook cheerleader!

• Sally Ekus Is the Opposite of a Gatekeeper - A chat with the superstar literary agent (seriously, her clients are obsessed) and book business truth-teller.

• Cookbook Events Are Magic - A conversation with Amali Gordon-Buxbaum, events director at Brooklyn independent bookstore Books Are Magic

• How a Top Cookbook Editor Builds Her List - Jenn Sit, editorial director of cookbooks at Clarkson Potter, spills the beans

Top 3 Posts By Readership:

1. An Epic List of All* of Fall’s New Cookbooks

2. Spring 2026 Cookbook Preview

3. Cookbook Preview: January and February 2026

Top 3 NON-Preview Posts, By Readership:

1. Our Favorite Winter Cookbooks

2. David Lebovitz on Boring Headnotes, New Editions, and the Cookbooks That Got Away

3. A Deep-Ish Dive Into The Wishbone Kitchen Cookbook

Top 3 Author Posts, By Readership:

1. David Lebovitz on Boring Headnotes, New Editions, and the Cookbooks That Got Away

2. Alison Roman on Showing Restraint, Connecting IRL, and Decluttering Cookbooks

3. Tamar Adler on the “Exquisite Beauty of the Commonplace”

3 Posts That Brought in the Most New Subscribers

1. An Epic List of All* of Fall’s New Cookbooks

2. The Best Cookbooks to Savor Summer

3. Cookbook People Are the Best People (Even Online)

Authors Who Have Passed on a Cookbookery Interview: 1 (who shall remain nameless…unless you buy me a Negroni and then I will tell you.)

Times Joy of Cooking Was Mentioned: 9

I’m not 100% positive, but I think this was the most mentioned book.

Books We Are Sheepish Not to Have Cooked From: 8

Mentioned more than once: Mastering the Art of French Cooking and Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking

Next Projects Announced/Divulged: 3

• Zoë François

• Bryant Terry

• Martin Philip

Novels Announced: Just one!

3 Posts I Wish More People Saw - These all came from early in Cookbookery’s lifespan, when my subscriber base was in the hundreds, not thousands. So, if you missed these, check them out!

• Amy Thielen is Excellent Company: If you’re new to reading cookbooks like novels, start here.

• There’s So Much More to Food Than Going Viral, says Hawa Hassan: The author of Setting a Place for Us on why cookbooks matter and how she hopes people will come to her book for the recipes and stay for the history.

• I’m in My Molly Yeh Phase of Life: More enthusiastic, opinionated, cookbook-obsessed people, please!

As for what’s next, you probably noticed that you’re receiving recipes from new books in your inbox on Tuesdays. Cookbook Social, Cookbookery’s very first IRL event, in partnership with The Upstate Table, will take place May 2, 2026 in Kingston, NY. (There are only a handful of tickets left!) Seasonal previews will continue, and I have more round-ups in the works.

What would you like to see more of on Cookbookery in the coming year? Leave a comment, or just hit reply and let me know!

A huge thank you to all the authors and industry pros who have chatted with me for Cookbookery and answered my cookbook biz questions. I especially want to shout out for being such a champion of this newsletter from the very beginning. It helped bring Cookbookery to new audiences and still means so much. ❤️ (Read my interview with Dorie here.)

And, of course, endless gratitude to you—Cookbookery’s readers, subscribers, commenters, heart-ers, and sharers. Let’s keep talking cookbooks, shall we?

xxJenna

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Last Bites

• Jenna Helwig Does a Million Fun Jobs at Once - Yes, I do! Thank you so much for this interview . (P.S. Part of this interview is behind a paywall, but Dianne’s Substack is worth the paid subscription!)

• How to Be a Domestic Goddess - asked me to write about one of my favorite vintage cookbooks, and it was so fun to revisit this gem by Nigella Lawson.

• NYT Bestsellers - King Arthur Baking Company’s Book of Pizza3 at #6 (Simon Element) and Keep It Simple Y’all Every Day by Matthew Bounds with at #10 (Clarkson Potter)

In the early days of Cookbookery I would sometimes share a recipe from the book of the author I interviewed. I mostly let that drop because there was so much to talk about, and I didn’t want the newsletters to take all day to read.

But, I’ve missed sharing recipes, and there are always more books I’m eager to shout out. So the plan is that most Tuesdays, you’ll receive a recipe from a new or new-ish book. The recipe will give you a sense of the book’s photography, headnotes, and cooking style.

Today’s recipe is for a Grilled Asparagus Frittata from the brand-new book (out today!) Vegetables the Italian Way: Turning Simple and Fresh Into Extraordinary (Bookshop/Amazon) by and published by Artisan. Giulia is a Tuscany-based cooking instructor and the author of Cucina Povera (Bookshop/Amazon). Her husband Tommaso Galli shot both books.

Like most frittatas, this one is simple, but there are a few things that made it stand out to me. It never occurred to me to put whole asparagus in a frittata, and I love the look of it. There’s also mint in here, which just adds to the springiness of the whole affair. Finally, it’s thinner than many frittatas I’ve made in the past, and I enjoyed the higher veg to egg ratio.

I’ve also made the Fennel Gratin and the Escarole Pie from Vegetables the Italian Way. These two recipes were more involved, but truly delicious and special.

Recipe notes: because I am lazy (and my grill wasn’t set up for summer yet), when I made this, I just charred the asparagus in a cast-iron pan and then cooked the frittata in the same pan. It worked great and is an easy option if you don’t have a grill. Cooking in cast-iron also means you can broil the frittata to finish, instead of flipping if you are, like me, flip-phobic.

Enjoy!

Grilled Asparagus Frittata

Grilling asparagus brings out the vegetable’s bold, verdant flavor, with just enough char to lend complexity. Slightly tender but still with a satisfying bite, it makes a perfect side to scrambled or soft-boiled eggs and is an irresistible seasonal addition to a frittata. This asparagus frittata is great for brunch or dinner and it shines at picnics or in a lunchbox, tucked into a sandwich with crisp lettuce and a smear of mustard or mayonnaise.

Serves 2 as a main course, 4 as an appetizer

FOR THE GRILLED ASPARAGUS

1 pound/450 g asparagus

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 garlic clove, smashed and peeled

12 fresh mint leaves, sliced into thin ribbons

Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE FRITTATA

4 large eggs

2 tablespoons grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, plus more for serving

Fine sea salt and freshly

ground black pepper

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Fresh mint leaves, torn

GRILL THE ASPARAGUS: Prepare the asparagus by snapping off the tough, woody ends. Rinse the spears thoroughly. Slice any thicker spears lengthwise, leaving the slender ones whole. Place them in a large bowl and dress with the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and sliced mint. Toss gently to coat and let marinate for about 30 minutes.

Heat a cast-iron grill pan over high heat. To test if it’s hot enough, sprinkle a few drops of water into the pan—if they bounce and evaporate quickly, it’s ready.

Grill the asparagus in batches until tender, slightly bendy, and charred in spots, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate and season with salt and pepper.

MAKE THE FRITTATA: In a bowl, beat the eggs until smooth. Add the grated Parmigiano and season with a generous pinch of salt and several turns of pepper.

Place a 9- or 10-inch/23 or 25 cm nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Pour in the olive oil and heat until it shimmers. Arrange the grilled asparagus in a single layer in the pan. Pour the egg mixture evenly over the asparagus and gently shake the pan to distribute it. Scatter torn mint leaves over the surface.

Cook the frittata over medium heat until the edges are set, the bottom is golden, and the top is still slightly wet, 6 to 8 minutes.

Invert a large plate over the pan and, in one quick motion, flip the frittata onto the plate. Return the pan to the stove, slide the frittata back into the pan, and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, until fully set.

Slide the frittata onto a serving plate, flipping it so the nicest side with the neatly lined-up asparagus faces up. Sprinkle with more grated Parmigiano and serve immediately.

Store leftover frittata in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. Reheat gently before serving—or enjoy it cold for a quick meal.

Excerpted from Vegetables the Italian Way: Turning Simple and Fresh into Extraordinary. © 2026 Giulia Scarpaleggia. Photograph ©Tommaso Galli. Reproduced with permission of Artisan Books. All rights reserved.

So, Tuesday recipes! What do you think? Leave a comment and/or drop a ❤️!

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There are also funny, touching, or teasing subtitles. While these may not describe the content of the book in a nutshell, they preview the tone of the book for the reader. Two examples off the top of my head: Alex Stupak’s Tacos: Recipes and Provocations and Gus Constantellis’s upcoming book My Greek Mom’s Recipes: She Died. I Wrote This Cookbook.

As befits her journalism background, the subtitle of ’s new book Italian Cookies (Bookshop/Amazon), published by Gibbs Smith and out April 14 is an economical and informative gem: Authentic Recipes and Sweet Stories From Every Region. Let’s break that down. “Authentic recipes” is telling me that the cookie recipes in this book are grounded in research and heritage, not riffs, twists, or re-imaginings. “Sweet stories” suggests that there will be more than just recipes; readers will probably be treated to some history, context, and meet real people. “Every region”—there’s your organizing principle.

In the case of Italian Cookies the subtitle’s promise is thoroughly fulfilled. Domenica has a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University, and her reporting skills are on full display here, from detailed headnotes that unfurl each cookie’s backstory, to the essays that open each regionally-focused chapter, to the Cookie Stories peppered throughout that highlight cookie bakers living and working in Italy today.

Although she grew up baking Italian cookies with her mother and sister, Domenica says she never expected to write a book about them. But, as she explains in our conversation below, a chance bite of a cookie she’d never tried before sent her off on a quest to learn more about it and then about other cookies.

I started hearing about other cookies with stories—there were so many stories. History, lore, religious stories, family stories, stories about the artisan bakers…. Once I started down the rabbit hole there was no turning back.

Domenica is the author of several cookbooks focusing on Italian home cooking, including Preserving Italy (Bookshop/Amazon), a book I reference every summer. She writes the newsletter and leads small-group culinary tours and food writing workshops in Italy. Thanks for being here Domenica, and congratulations on Italian Cookies!

The Cookbookery Q&A with Domenica Marchetti

About how many cookbooks do you own?

DM: I’m pretty sure it’s more than 500.

How do you organize them?

DM: Mostly by cuisine or technique. For example, I have a section on Italian cookbooks, a section on French, Eastern European, Asian, regional American, etc. Baking is a separate section, as are bread baking, vegetarian, and preserving. I also have a “single subject” category with books on subjects like salad, potatoes, eggs, pizza (a category I consider separate from Italian), and so on.

What would you say to someone who questions why cookbooks still matter in our “digital age”?

DM: As a former newspaper reporter, I am probably not the best person to answer since I am biased. To me, sitting down with a cookbook, paging through it, reading the introduction and the headnotes, is an immersive experience. I hear the author’s voice. I can see the work that has gone into producing this physical object. Especially these days with so many deep dive cookbooks that have the power to transport you in a way that the online experience can’t. I know this isn’t true in all cases, but digital recipes often seem weightless, lacking in personality, especially because SEO demands that they be written a certain (horrible) way. Also, there is accountability in cookbooks that is often (though not always) absent in the world of online recipes. Finally, a word about viral Tik Tok recipes: No.

What was the inspiration for Italian Cookies?

DM: A few years ago, I was in Genoa when I came across a cookie I had never seen before—a pretty but plain-looking butter cookie in the shape of a flower. It’s called the canestrelletto di Torriglia. From the first bite, I was smitten. It had a pure flavor and an airy, crispy, crumbly texture. I wanted to find out more about it, so I went to Torriglia, in the hills beyond Genoa, where the cookie originated. Turns out the canestrelletto has a history dating to the 15th century. Torriglia is a small town, with about 2,200 inhabitants, but there are at least eight bakeries in town that now make and distribute this cookie throughout the region of Liguria and beyond. There are specific regulations that bakers must follow in order to label their cookies “canestrelletti di Torriglia,” and there is an annual festival in town that celebrates this cookie.

Did you come away from your research for the book with an overall thesis about Italian cookies?

DM: Yes: First, I realized that what I had considered to be a rather frivolous subject was not frivolous at all. Like all Italian cuisine, cookies are regional and seasonal. They are tied to religious festivals and ancient customs. Their ingredients often reflect the territory: butter in the north, olive oil and lard in the south; hazelnuts in Piemonte, walnuts in central Italy, and almonds pretty much everywhere, but especially in Sicily and Sardinia, where they are the essential ingredient in almost every cookie. The ingredients themselves and how they are combined was a revelation, especially the almond cookies. So many are made with just three ingredients: ground almonds, sugar, and egg whites, and yet, depending on the quantity of each ingredient, the way they’re mixed and shaped, how they are baked, the results can vary wildly.

Tell me about the cover shoot.

DM: This was one of my favorite moments of this entire project. It happened on the last day of a four-day book shoot in Manhattan. The photographer was Lauren Volo2, the prop stylist Maeve Sheridan3, and the assistant stylist Deborah Kim. The day before the shoot, my husband and I had driven up from Virginia in a car filled with containers of cookies. Hundreds and hundreds of cookies, plus frozen balls of dough that needed to be shaped and baked; ingredients for icings and decorations; candied orange peel and other embellishments; pizzelle irons; and more. At the end of every day of the shoot, we would give away the cookies that had been photographed. But we always kept a few of each kind, in case we needed them.

After the last cookie was shot, I suggested bringing all the different cookies together for a sort of group photo. Maeve and Lauren chose the creamy orange and white tile base, and started arranging the cookies on the tiles, moving them here and there like puzzle pieces until everything looked right. The minute Lauren took the shot, and it appeared on her computer screen, we all knew we wanted it to be the cover. Happily, the design team at Gibbs Smith agreed.

What are you most proud of when it comes to Italian Cookies?

DM: From the beginning, I wanted Italian Cookies to be more than a recipe book. I wanted it to be about Italian artisans, Italian culture, and Italian places, especially places that are unsung. There is so much repetition in the crowded world of Italian cookbooks. I enjoyed the challenge of creating a book that was something more.

What’s the first cookbook you remember cooking out of?

DM: I don’t recall the name of it. It was a cookbook my older sister had gotten for her birthday. It had a recipe for cinnamon toast. That was the first thing I ever “cooked.”

What kind of cookbook reader/user are you?

DM: I am an avid reader and limited user with the best of intentions. Whenever I buy or am given a new cookbook, I page through it and read it over several days, bookmarking recipes I want to make or flagging interesting snippets of text. And then…I am so busy either writing or testing recipes—these days mostly for my newsletter—that I hardly ever get to follow through on making any of those bookmarked recipes. I think about them, longingly, and hope for the day when I’ll have more time to do them justice.

What do you find boring in a cookbook?

DM: Diet books or books that try to tell me how or what to eat or that try to restrict my choices. Also, books with recipes that have no stories or context, like a lot of compilation cookbooks.

I also don’t love technical cookbooks, in which the recipes have been tweaked to the nth degree so that they are “perfect.” I know they are incredibly useful for teaching people skills in the kitchen, but they can be dry. I like books that encourage the cook to develop a sense of intuition, that present recipes as a roadmap but that leave room for veering off a bit. I like to feel that a cookbook author is guiding me in the kitchen, not standing over me like some drill sergeant.

What is a cookbook that changed the way you cook?

DM: The Missing Ingredient: The Curious Role of Time in Food and Flavor by British food writer Jenny Linford. The book is a thorough and engaging exploration of the role that time, or what Jenny calls “culinary time,” plays in cooking, starting with seconds and stretching to years. For example, she writes about the process of making simple caramel, and how the melted sugar transforms within a matter of seconds from syrup to a deep caramel. In the “Years” chapter, she gets into the art of aging balsamic vinegar and the making of jamón. This book has made me a more thoughtful cook. (A disclosure here: Jenny was writing this book around the time that Preserving Italy was published and she interviewed me for a section on pickling.)

What is a cookbook that totally transports you?

DM: Alpine Cooking: Recipes and Stories from Europe’s Grand Mountaintops4 (Bookshop/Amazon) by Meredith Erickson. It is my favorite book to open up and read in winter when I want to “travel” but can’t actually go anywhere.

What’s a cookbook cover you’re obsessed with?

DM: There are two: Bitter: A Taste of the World’s Most Dangerous Flavor, with Recipes by Jennifer McLagan, which is one of my all-time favorite cookbooks. It’s simply a photo of silvery thistle leaves set against an inky background, but it’s such a dramatic, forbidding cover.

The other is the U.S. edition of Italian Easy: Recipes from the London River Café by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers. A very disco shiny silver cover with colorful block letters. It actually kind of clashes with the simple seasonal recipes within, but it’s so striking.

What’s a cookbook that you think didn’t get enough attention?

DM: I’m going back a ways here, to the 1990s. Verdura: Vegetables Italian Style and Unplugged Kitchen both by Viana La Place. Her recipes are beautiful: seasonal and intentional.

What’s one book you’re sheepish to admit you’ve never cooked out of?

DM: Joy of Cooking (Bookshop/Amazon) (I know!). We were a Fanny Farmer household, and I still love Marion Cunningham’s recipes. One of my favorite small books of hers is The Supper Book. It has this appealing gentle tone and recipes like Winter Vegetable Cobbler and Lil’s Ice-Water Crackers, and several Italian-ish recipes. After I learned that she had an Italian grandmother, I liked her even more, of course.

You’re only allowed to cook/bake from three books (aside from your own) for the rest of your life. What are they?

DM: My mother’s copy of Il Talismano della Felicità, by Ada Boni, the Kyle Phillips translation of Pellegrino Artusi’s La Scienza in Cucina e l’Arte di Mangiar Bene, and Le Ricette Regionali Italiane by Anna Gosetti della Salda. What can I say—I have wild taste!

Interview has been lightly edited. If you purchase a book through one of these links, I may receive a small commission.

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Last Bites

• One Year Ago - Cookbook People Are the Best People (Even Online)

• Wild Sorrel Cookbooks is opening next week in NYC! Get details here.

• An Aussie Love Story - goes deep on a gorgeous cookbook cover.

• I Wrote a Cookbook and Now I Know Too Much - on her favorite recent cookbooks and why, in her view, we probably shouldn’t be paying so much attention to the NY Times Bestseller list. Which brings me to…

• This week’s NY Times bestsellers5: Let’s Get Cooking by Remi Cruz Parsons at #5 (Simon Element)

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, please tap the ❤️ button, restack, or share with another cookbook fan.

Understatement of the year! It wasn’t just that he was a baking expert, though. Martin was clearly passionate about communicating what he knew in an accessible way. And, even on that call about scones and biscuits, I got a glimmer of something I’m pretty sure of now. Baking isn’t just a job or even only a craft to Martin. It’s a calling, a way of seeing and organizing the world, something he thinks deeply about. I would call him a philosopher of bread if I wasn’t afraid it would embarrass him.

Martin brings all of that knowledge, thoughtfulness, and attention to detail to The Book of Pizza (Bookshop/Amazon), the expansive and destined-to-be-beloved book that he and co-wrote with 1, Yekaterina Boytsova, and Ryan Salerno. It will be published by Simon Element on April 7, and if you don’t want to make (or at least eat) some pizza after paging through it, we are made of far different stuff. In our interview below, Martin walks us through how the team conceptualized the book and developed and tested the recipes.

He also talks about the differences between working on a cookbook with co-authors versus solo. Martin published Breaking Bread: A Baker’s Journey Home in 75 Recipes (Bookshop/Amazon) in 2017. It’s as much memoir as cookbook. In our latest conversation (not that one about scones and biscuits) he described it as “a story disguised as a cookbook.” As one would expect, it’s much more personal and idiosyncratic than The Book of Pizza or KAB’s Big Book of Bread (Bookshop/Amazon), which Martin also co-authored.

You could say the same about his Substack . It’s been on hiatus for the past year-ish, but there’s a rich and beautiful archive that’s worth spending some time with, especially if you agree that baking isn’t just baking.

For more from King Arthur, subscribe to the Substack. Thanks for being here Martin and to you and the team for this book. I am going to be making and eating so much pizza this spring and summer.

The Cookbookery Q&A with Martin Philip

Why a book about pizza?

MP: We’re in the good old days of pizza—right now. We’re in this time where we’re bringing the intention that we’ve brought to other things that are hitting our tables—whether it’s vegetables and where they’re sourced, or the wheat and where it’s grown, or how we’re treating farmers—to pizza. And the beauty of pizza is that it’s so varied. It’s not one thing, and it’s not one place. It’s sort of multifaceted in the most beautiful way possible.

Also, lots of home bakers are unlocking better pizza at home in a way that they haven’t before, whether that’s through rigging home ovens so that they’re as hot as possible or using baking steels or other equipment. A lot of us also have tabletop ovens, like the Ooni, which are opening up categories that were previously unattainable at home, such as a Neapolitan-style. So the playing field has been plowed and weeded. The big rocks are gone.

Where do you start when conceptualizing a book like this?

MP: We went straight to the doughs, which also became our TOC. We started asking ourselves, how many dough styles do we want? Do we need to have a Rhode Island slice in there? Do we need to have St. Louis? Do we need to represent Ithaca? Do we need to talk to people in Detroit? There are a lot of choices. Once we identified those doughs, we wanted to scope the book so it would reach an audience that’s serious about pizza, but also values expedience at some points. So we wanted to have a range of time commitments in addition to a range of styles. In terms of organizational structure, we decided to go from thinner crusts to thicker crusts.

After the structure of the book was decided on, what next?

MP: Once we had those guiding principles, I sort of left the chat and went and wrote what I felt like were 12 really good foundational doughs. It took me quite a while. Honestly, some of them came pretty quickly, and some of them I was terrified of. The first job I ever had in baking was in a pizzeria with wood-fired ovens that we would take up to 1400 degrees in the morning and then let them settle down to eight or 900. So I’m like, how am I going to make the best pizza in my life and have it come out of a home oven? I knew I had some challenges, and so I went with the easier ones first. Then I worked my way over to Neapolitans and felt like I got a really good method for those.

Was there one style that especially scared you?

MP: The New York style. It’s iconic, and, to me, if you flub it the whole book loses credibility. It’s unforgivable. So I saved that one until the end, plus one other that we’re calling the New American style. It’s all the things we love about New York, like the thin, crisp, slightly puffed edge crust. Then everything gets taken up a notch in terms of flavor, and there’s a slightly higher hydration. I knew that once I had the New York written, I would be able to write the New American relatively easily.

So you have the dough recipes. Then what?

MP: Then there was a big question: how do we handle the toppings? People are going to do what they want. They’re just going to put pepperoni or whatever on it, which is awesome. But we thought, let’s also be prescriptive and say, here’s a really good corn, cotija, jalapeño, and cilantro pizza. Here’s a French onion pizza. Here’s one with meatballs. We wanted to give people the option to just flip through the book and gain inspiration or to have an exact guide for how to do it themselves.

How did you and David Tamarkin work together on the book?

MP: David did most of the writing, and we just had tons of back and forth. I would write a dough and send it, or he would say something like, “Give me 500 words on tabletop ovens.” I would go write that, and then he would edit it and put it into his voice. This book is a little more voicey than Big Book of Bread. I know that Doris Cooper, our editor at Simon Element, really enjoyed David’s light approach. He’s got some jokes in there.

David was a good filter to put someone like me through, because I have a tendency to be maybe less approachable with some of the stuff that I write. Not unapproachable, but we want to make sure as a company and as people making cookbooks that we’re doing the best we can to bring everyone into this pizza party. If you combine David’s friendly nature with a couple cups of me and my attention to detail, I think the book becomes a really good resource.

Thoughts on the pros and cons of doing a book as a team versus creating your own book?

MP: The nice thing about working with others is that it’s easier, man. It’s so nice to have a full team of testers, someone who’s going to shoot the book, someone who’s going to style the shoot, someone who’s going to shoot the videos. The team approach lessens the weight that’s on your shoulders, which can be crushing. If you’re writing your own book, it can really crush you. On the flip side, there’s something really, really special about raising your own child, as it were. You know what I mean? When you build a book with a team, it’s like a kid you know really well who lives on your block. We’re friends. I know the parents, he trick-or-treats at my house, I’ll watch him grow up. There’s a level of attachment. But when it’s your own kid, it’s like you have this thing in your heart that will never elongate, that distance will never stretch. And so I miss that level of connection with my own stuff.

Last year there was Big Book of Bread, then Sweet & Salty. Now there’s The Book of Pizza. Is there another King Arthur cookbook happening?

MP: In process right now, and they’re testing recipes every week, is a broader baking resource. I think they’re just calling it book four. And then in the pipeline, I would say that there’s probably something in the works about sourdough. I’ll just put that out there.

What kind of cookbook reader/user are you?

MP: The truth is that I’m a flipper. I’ll look through a book and think, for example, “That’s an inspired flavor combination. I hadn’t thought about that in a scone.” Because I’m not a big risk taker with my time in the kitchen, I might make a scone base that I already know works well, but end up using the book’s flavor combination. I use most cookbooks as points of inspiration.

What books inspired you as a bread baker?

MP: I basically memorized The Taste of Bread by Raymond Calvel, a famous French baker. Another book that was really influential for me early on was Maggie Glezer’s Artisan Baking Across America. Dan Leader’s Bread Alone was one of the early books on artisan baking in America that actually had pictures. It was because of that book that I became a baker. The last one would be The Bread Builders (Bookshop/Amazon) by Alan Scott and Dan Wing. Alan was a legendary Australian oven-builder who moved to the States, started baking bread, and made all these ovens, some of which are still around. Dan was a former physician, and they wrote The Bread Builders. Chad Robertson2 was on the cover of it baking in western Massachusetts. I lived on that book as a young baker. That became my practice every single day, mixing, shaping, baking, scoring, judging, fermentation. All I ever dreamed of was to make one loaf that’s as beautiful as one on that cover.

What do you want from the visuals in a cookbook?

MP: I want them to really make you salivate. I’ll just be honest with you, I’m not a fan of the current trends in cookbook photography, which very much look like food magazines from the ‘50s or something. High contrast, highly stylized. Rarely do you see hands, or if you do, it’s like they’re setting the table. It’s rare that they’re actually making the thing. To me, a great photo conveys craft or process. And so that cover of The Bread Builders, with Chad pulling the loaves out of the oven, it shows the craft. He’s judging the level of bake. To me, that combination of human interaction with the most beautiful bread you’ve ever seen, it’s like, okay, you can stop taking photos now because this one is perfect.

Talk to me about the cover of The Book of Pizza.

MP: That’s me on the cover grating some cheese. Showing an intact round pie was very important to Simon Element. The cover that I was really pushing for was this gigantic, gigantic New York-sized slice, which is possible out of your home oven. I thought people would never believe it! And the publisher said, “Exactly! No one will think that’s from a home oven.” I think we ended up with a good cover. It informs people, and it does the job that it should do, which is say, “Hey, with this book you’re going to make beautiful pizza in your home oven.”

It also has what you were just talking about—it has hands, it has someone doing something.

MP: That’s super important to me. Food is not possible without people. And knowing that and remembering that and seeing that reinforces the idea that it’s our job as people who are producing food or selling or buying or eating food, to honor the people that it required to get it to where we are. There’s a human element to it which I think is important to celebrate, especially these days.

What’s a recent cookbook you’ve liked?

MP: ’s Everyone Hot Pot (Bookshop/Amazon). I like books that take me out of my own experience. I really don’t need any more bread books! I want to read about something that I don’t know anything about, like hot pot for example. That book was very eye opening and beautifully designed, including the illustrations. I love a book that has a multimedia, textural aspect to it.

Interview has been lightly edited. If you purchase a book through one of these links, I may receive a small commission.

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Last Bites

• One Year Ago - 100% Chinese Enough: Kristina Cho reveals the hardest part of making her latest book and shares a low-effort, high-reward salmon recipe.

• Cookbook Social tickets!

• Hetty Lui McKinnon on what she’s looking for in a cookbook and a new one that hits all the right notes.

• Deb Perelman interviews Ham El-Waylly about his new book Hello, Home Cooking

• We all agree that is an amazing writer, right? More proof in this Everything Cookbooks’ newsletter about the humble recipe headnote.

• This week’s NY Times bestsellers: The High-Protein Plate by Rachael DeVaux at #7 (Simon Element), The Scone Queen Bakes by Danielle Sepsy at #9 (Knopf), and Make Your Own by Javant Benton at #10 (Balance)

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, please tap the ❤️ button, restack, or share with another cookbook fan.

No joke posts here, just your monthly wrap-up in case you missed any Cookbookery editions. Enjoy!

March Newsletters

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Last Bites

• Cookbook Social is just over a month away! This is the event I’m co-hosting in Kingston, New York at the gorgeous Upstate Table. We’re featuring 13 incredible authors for inspiring cookbook conversations and book signings. Everyone will receive a swag bag, free food and drinks (including wine), and a free $10 gift card to get started on book purchases. See the author list and buy tickets here!

• How to Make Friends as a Grown-Up - From cookbook author (and more than somewhat related to Cookbook Social): how to get out there, take chances, and make more casual and close friends. My favorite tip: “Don’t play it cool.”

• Ifrah F. Ahmed’s Debut Cookbook Is an Ode to Somalia’s Culinary Past, Present, and Future - A story on Vogue.com about Ahmed’s new book Soomaliya.

• And, the last Giant Cabbage report

Thanks for reading and happy almost April!

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