If there were ever a cookbook that felt like being welcomed into a friend’s kitchen - barefoot, dogs napping nearby, tea on the stove - it’s Simply Julia by Julia Turshen. Subtitled 110 Easy Recipes for Healthy Comfort Food, this book is full of meals that don’t aim to dazzle, but to soothe. It’s as if Julia is right there, lovingly handing you a wooden spoon while chatting about what’s always in her fridge and how to make the best almond chicken cutlets for the people you love.

7 things I’m comforted by in Simply Julia

Meals That Hug You

Julia herself describes these recipes as “meals that don’t try to wow you, but hug you.” And that’s exactly what they feel like. From Breakfast Nachos to Lemon Ricotta Cupcakes to Roger’s Jambalaya, every page reads like a warm embrace from someone who has plenty of practice making food with care - in every sense of the word.

“While I care deeply about giving you trustworthy recipes, pretty photos to show you what they look like, and stories to tell you what they all mean to me, what I care most about is who you’re cooking for, including you.”

Personal Stories + Headnotes That Feel Like Conversations

Reading this book feels like sitting at Julia’s kitchen island while she tells you about her life, her wife Grace, their sweet pups Winky + Hope, and how she thinks about food and health. Each recipe opens with a story - where it came from, who it’s for, or why it matters. It’s intimate and generous, like something a dear friend would share across the table just for you.

Essays That Make You Feel Seen

Scattered throughout are personal essays on everything from body image to volunteering to a love letter to her gas grill. Some are playful, others deeply reflective—especially her beautiful piece on the worthiness of our bodies in a world shaped by diet culture. Each one shares another layer of who Julia is and what healthy comfort food truly means to her.

A Freer, Gentler Take on Healthy Eating

“Healthy food... does not have any room for guilt. It’s full of agency to pick and choose. It comes from a place of love, not fear. It’s about feeling full, in a truly holistic sense, and has zero to do with deprivation of any kind.”

Julia’s definition of “healthy” feels like a big exhale. Inspired by her real life - living with a partner with type 1 diabetes and cooking for community kitchens - her recipes are often low-carb, “have a light hand with ingredients like butter and sour cream (but are not afraid of them!), and are mindful of excessive sugar, and favor plants and grains.” And there’s a helpful index in the back that highlights which recipes are vegetarian, vegan, dairy or gluten-free (there are lots!).

Unique Chapter Organization

Each chapter includes eleven thematically linked recipes - “Eleven Chicken Recipes,” “Eleven Weeknight Go-Tos,” “Eleven Make-Ahead Mains,” and more. It feels like your bestie Julia is replying with ideas to your group chat plea: “I’ve got chicken for tonight - what should I make?” It’s casual, creative, and breaks the norm of the usual category structure in a fun and playful way.

Charming and Thoughtful Lists

I didn’t know I needed to know Julia’s “Seven Favorite Solo Meals” or “Seven Things She Learned as a Private Chef” until I read them. These quick, funny, deeply personal lists feel like kitchen secrets passed between friends—and I loved every one.

Homey, Light-Filled Photography + Clean, Personal Design

The food photos by Melina Hammer are bright, unfussy, and full of life, while the lifestyle shots by Winnie Au show Julia at home—barefoot, relaxed, welcoming. Designer Leah Carlson-Stanisic keeps things clean and breezy, with Julia’s own handwriting sprinkled throughout like little fridge notes just for you.

Simply Julia: 110 Easy Recipes for Healthy Comfort Food is by Julia Turshen

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You can find more about on as well as her website and instagram. You can also take amazing virtual cooking classes with her in her Sundays with Julia series!

CLUB CHAT

• How has Simply Julia shifted how you think about “healthy” food?

• What recipe from Simply Julia gave you that “hug on a plate” feeling?

• Julia shares her favorite solo meals—what’s yours?

• How about your version of “Eleven Weeknight Go-Tos”?

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*Reminder: Cookbook Club is a place for celebrating cookbooks, their authors and the wider creative teams that make them! There are plenty of places on the internet for snark, let’s stay in our joy here!

8 things I’m obsessed with in California Soul

Tanya Herself

California Soul was my introduction to . Gifted her cookbook for Christmas a couple years ago, I actually avoided cracking its pages for a few months (something I do when I know I’m going to love something so much its almost painful). Once I did open it, I found myself so moved by it that I was crying by the introduction. (What can I say, I am truly a sucker for well crafted creative expression.) Besides the book itself, I also fell in love with its author. Her authenticity, love for food and life jumps off the page. And something that truly inspired me about Tanya is her book is not just about her, it is a celebration of black history and community and through her work she shines her light on others.

Delicious Locally Driven Recipes

Tanya is the real deal. The chef behind Brown Sugar Kitchen, her recipes are “influenced by the Great Migration of African American families, including Tanya’s own”. They are inventive, flavorful and driven by local California ingredients. Her Brentwood Corn and Bellwether Ricotta Hushpuppies, for example, call for a corn varietal grown in the Sacramento River Delta (and as I grew up eating it I can attest that it really is the sweetest) as well as ricotta from Bellwether, a family run farm in Petaluma. I love the celebration of food and its makers that this shows, but if you don’t have access to them, the recipes are delicious made without these local ingredients too. Making her Rice-Flour-Fried Chicken Paillards recently might have sealed the deal as my best attempt at fried chicken yet! So crispy and zingy, and gluten free to boot! Her Dirty Potato Salad with All the Peppers and Onions may be my only potato salad from now on. And I’m enjoying a pillowy just the right amount of sweet Buttermilk Muffin with Cinnamon Cardamom Streusel as I write this. Delicious.

Stories of Black California Food Producers

Throughout the book Tanya creates space to celebrate California based Black-owned businesses through beautiful Maker Profiles. Sam Cobb of his self named date farm in Desert Hot Springs, shares his story about falling in love with farming as a kid and then studying agriculture all through high school and college to live his dream and ultimately finding his love in farming dates. There are profiles of youth urban farm projects, BBQ sauce makers, coffee roasters, beer brewers, and farmers serving their communities all over California. Each one is inspiring.

Stunning Photography

The images in this book glow with California light. Photographer Aubrie Pick, in collaboration with Prop Stylist Claire Mack, and Food Stylist Carrie Purcell, created photos that feel golden and alive. You can practically smell the fresh produce and feel the breeze coming off the Pacific. Each image feels lovingly lit and full of heart — they aren’t just documenting the food, they’re telling a story.

Vibrant Colorful Design Choices

Every page in this book is another rich color. In a sea of cookbooks with expansive white pages, it feels fresh and unique and gives a texture that reflects the landscape and people it’s celebrating. There’s warmth in every design choice made by Designer Sebit Min and Art Director Emma Campion - from the saturated backgrounds to the classic typography - that makes the book feel as rich and layered as the recipes themselves.

Seasonal Recipe Sections

You all know I am a sucker for a seasonal structure - and this one is so well done! Organizing the book by California’s seasons invites you to slow down and cook with what’s freshest. Whether it’s citrus in winter or sweet corn in summer, it invites you to fall in love with ingredients at their peak.

Illuminating Historical Detours

Inset throughout the cookbook are stories of the history of the African diaspora in California, and the influence of Black farmers, chefs, and culinary traditions. These aren’t just side notes, they’re integral to the soul of the book. Tanya Holland shines a light on people and places whose stories often go untold in traditional food media, and reading them adds such depth to the cooking.

Celebration of California

I am a California baby, born and raised. And this book feels like home. From the coastline to the Central Valley, the diversity of ingredients, people, and cultures represented is breathtaking. Tanya honors the land, the farmers, the history, and the present in every recipe and every story. You can taste the sunshine, the creativity, and the love for this state in every bite.

Tanya Holland's California Soul: Recipes from a Culinary Journey West is by Tanya Holland

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You can find more about on as well as her website, her instagram and at her restaurant Brown Sugar Kitchen.

CLUB CHAT

• What recipe from California Soul did you try first — and what drew you to it?

• What were you most inspired by in any of the historical or cultural notes that stayed with you?

• What do you love about cooking seasonally — or what challenges you about it?

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*Reminder: Cookbook Club is a place for celebrating cookbooks, their authors and the wider creative teams that make them! There are plenty of places on the internet for snark, let’s stay in our joy here!

5 things I’m affectueux in The French Chef Cookbook

It’s Connected to the Show

The French Chef is the companion book to the beloved Julia Child cooking show of the same name. This particular copy is a recent (November 2023) reprint of the original book, Julia’s first solo cookbook, published in 1968. Each chapter is a direct reflection of one episode of the show, with the detailed recipes for the food Julia cooks in that episode. It collects over 300 classic French recipes, many of which come from her bible Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and many of which were designed specifically for the show. I love that each chapter and episode is a complete topic, some of which are based on technique and ingredients like The Mayonnaise Show (the 120th show) and some are full meals like Steak Dinner for Four in Half an Hour (the 108th show).

Behind the Scenes Photographs

Nestled throughout the book are behind the scenes photos that Paul Child - Julia’s beloved husband and creative other half - took while helping on set of The French Chef. The crew was lean in the early days of making the show and Paul was as instrumental as Julia in making it come to life. From planning out the flow of the show (which they shot straight through in 30 minute full length episodes without stopping!), providing notes on wine pairings, to hanging out of frame to pass Julia dupes or clear dishes, he was instrumental in helping his “Julie” bring her show to life. The end papers are contact sheets of his images, showing his notes and selects, which as a photographer myself I love seeing.

Illustrations by Paul Child

Paul also provided the illustrations and they could not be more delightful! The depiction of Julia is so perfectly her, and the cooking illustrations are so sweet, I wish I could buy a print of the seasonings illustration for my kitchen.

Delicious French Recipes

Last week I had some lovely French green beans from the farmers market, so I consulted Julia and decided to make the Haricots Vert au Maître d’Hotel (Fresh Green Beans Tossed with Butter, Lemon Juice, and Parsley) from her 15th show: Vegetables the French Way. Unsurprisingly, they were perfect. Tender but still with a snap, while the combination of butter and lemon gave them a lovely tangy flavor. Yum. Beyond these simple recipes, the book is full of French classics from Ratatouille to Boeuf Bourguignon to Chocolate Soufflé. Julia makes every recipe feel accessible. Because of her, I can’t wait to watch the 76th show and give my first approach at Croissants a try, or spending a rainy day watching the 97th show and making Soupe à l’Oignon Gratinée (French Onion Soup).

Reading Julia’s Voice

I have been a deep fan of Julia’s for almost 20 years. I know this does not make me unique, but somehow the relationship I have with her and the inspiration she provides me feels completely unique in my life. Reading her voice in this book feels like she is there personally helping me to learn new recipes and techniques. You can feel her lightness of spirit and her deep love for French food in every word. I can only hope to do her proud when I try something new from her book, knowing that regardless of if I nail it or not, she will be cheering on my mistakes, and no matter what I will be in for something delicious. Bon appetit!

My Life Week in France

I recently got the chance to tag along with my partner on a work trip to Paris. While he was shooting on set, I spent my time eating, cooking, walking, and eating again. I brought my well worn and many times read copy of My Life in France, Julia’s memoir about her time in France with Paul where she first fell in love with French food, attended Le Cordon Bleu and began writing her classic cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I soaked in her words, as I basically did a Julia pilgrimage around the city. Taking pastry classes at Le Cordon Bleu (highly recommended! I can make macarons now!), shopping at E. DEHILLERIN, strolling past Julia + Paul’s apartment 81 “Roo de Loo”, and having the most delicious three hour lunch of French Onion Soup, Sole Meunière and Profiteroles at Au Pied de Cochon. It was delightful in every way, and yet again, I have Julia to thank for it.

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The French Chef Cookbook is by Julia Child

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You can find more about Julia Child on The Julia Child Foundation website, through her memoir and by enjoying shows including The French Chef.

CLUB CHAT

• Do you have a favorite Julia Child recipe or memory?

• What did you learn while watching, reading or cooking from The French Chef?

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*Reminder: Cookbook Club is a place for celebrating cookbooks, their authors and the wider creative teams that make them! There are plenty of places on the internet for snark, let’s stay in our joy here!

5 things I’m enjoying about Cooking in Real Life

Ina Garten for Millennials*

If you love Ina Garten - and honestly, how can anyone not - you will love this cookbook. Lidey Heuck’s Cooking in Real Life feels very similar to many of the Ina cookbooks I have on my shelf. This is not a surprise as Lidey spent seven years working with and learning from Ina. (Can you even imagine?!) You can feel the influence in the approachable tone of the recipes. You also get a bit of deja vu just flipping through the pages. The flow of the book and the design - by designer Laura Palese - all put you in a comfortable hanging-with-Ina sort of headspace. But while being grounded in that space, Lidey has her own voice and style.

*Let me just make it extremely clear: this is a silly joke. Ina is a queen and she’s for everyone.

Familiar Recipes with a Twist

One of my favorite things about Lidey’s voice is the unexpected that she brings to her recipes. The recipes in this book feel familiar and yet each has an element that feels fresh or inspiring. What at first looks like a hummus plate is instead Golden Beet Dip with Yogurt + Tahini. Rather than long cooked pulled pork, the Spicy Barbecue Pulled Chicken Sandwiches can be made “in just under an hour”. When you flip to what looks like chocolate sheet cake, it’s actually Banana Cake with Dark Chocolate Frosting + Sea Salt. Yum.

“Delicious + Doable” Recipes

All the recipes do indeed seem to meet Lidey’s goal of finding a “golden middle ground where joy and practicality meet.” The included range of recipes gives a nice balance of clear guidance as well as tips for getting ahead, using swaps, or repurposing leftovers. In addition to the main recipes, sections in the back of “Easy Add Ons”, as well as dressings and sauces give you a great foundation to quickly turn the recipes into staple meals.

Pleasing Photography

The photography in this book - by Dane Tashima - has an ease that flows naturally with the tone of the book. There are both delicious textured food images and glowy lifestyle photos. The imagery is brought to life with incredible food styling by and prop styling by Pam Morris. The team did a wonderful job making the images look lived in and enticing. I want to eat all of it. The delightful lifestyle images peppered throughout the book - of outdoor dinner parties with friends, homey brunches, cocktail hour on the porch - give an additional peek into Lidey’s world, and make you wish you got the invite!

Welcoming Tone

This would be a great book for beginners and those intimidated by the kitchen. Lidey is warm and encouraging, and makes the cooking feel accessible and fun. There is a lighthearted tone throughout the book that I think makes the reader feel relaxed and comfortable, even when presented with something more challenging. Cooking in Real Life would make it a great gift for a newlywed or someone graduating college.

Bonus: Styling Sources

Im listing this as a bonus because I’m not sure anyone will care this much about it but me, but.. I am huge sucker for all things dish wear, and literally have what I call a “styling cabinet” in my office full of dishes just to photograph. In fact my partner teases me constantly about my “bowl problem” whenever I bring home 1 or 2 new dishes - that don’t match anything else we own - because “Babe! Think of the styling!” Annnyways, one of the last sections of this book that I personally loved was titled “Sources” and its a lovely endless feeling list of every plate, plater, bowl, napkin, candlestick, you-name-it photographed in the book, along with where its from. Looks like I’ll be adding to the cabinet…

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Cooking in Real Life: Delicious & Doable Recipes for Every Day is by Lidey Heuck

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You can find more about Lidey Heuck on her website and her instagram.

CLUB CHAT

• Do you have a favorite recipe from Cooking in Real Life?

• What did you learn while reading or cooking from Cooking in Real Life?

• Whats a dinner recipe you go back to regularly because it fits into your real life?

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*Reminder: Cookbook Club is a place for celebrating cookbooks, their authors and the wider creative teams that make them! There are plenty of places on the internet for snark, let’s stay in our joy here!

5 things I’m swooning over in The Farm Table

Dreamy Look at Farm Life

I’m surely not the only one who has daydreamed about running off to go live on a farm, in sync with nature and eating what I’ve grown. But realistically I’m lucky to keep my dog alive and grow a tomato plant each summer. And that’s enough because now I can live vicariously through Julius Roberts’ The Farm Table. Reading the stories of how he traded in life as a chef in London for an ever growing farm, transports you alongside him to the English countryside. I fell for the first charming pigs he got and the hilarious kid goats he raises and loved hearing about how he and his brothers work together to grow the families food and livelihood. In fairness to Julius he also does a great job at describing just how much hard work and dedication goes into this life. And yet even in that honesty I still felt the pull due to his alluring prose.

Celebrates the Seasons

In an impressive feat, the book is written and captured over the course of a whole year, giving you a look at each season. Each section opens with a beautifully written story of what farm life is like at that time of year, and then flows seamlessly into a collection of recipes that celebrate the available ingredients of that season. Following the experiences and the food of each change throughout the year gives you an even deeper sense of being carried away to the farm.

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Stunning Film Photography

Not only was the book written over a year, but it was also photographed over a year. This blows me away as cookbooks are often shot entirely over just a couple weeks. Doing the photos this way, you can feel the light changing throughout the seasons, giving each section of the book its own energy. In another contrast from typical cookbook images, these were shot on film and on medium format cameras (you can see the behind the scenes in the instagram posts below). The light captured in these film images gives an ethereal feeling that adds to the dreamy quality of the book. This work from photographer Elena Heatherwick, with help from Marco Kesseler and styling and production from Florence Blair, had me awed. Beautifully done.

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Breathtaking Prose

“Sharp heavy frosts blanket the land in a quiet fog broken only by the bones of trees. Unrelenting rain and impenetrable clouds steal the sun for weeks. We work outside, battling penetrating wind with rosy cheeks, dragon breath and fingers so stiff with cold they hurt. Dorset mizzle refuses to rain but leaves you soaked, and the long quiet nights come with iron skies and haunting moons. It is a time for self-reflection, crackling fires and hearty cooking.”

“Clouds of flowers surround the farm and we pick cow parsley, sweet peas and buttercups by the armful, pouring them into pitchers and vases to fill the house with their dizzying scent. Light dances in windows thrown open to release the cloying heat within, and sheets billow on the washing line like the lonely sails of a ship at sea… The kitchen is filled with baskets of zucchinis, among patches of basil and mint, as we shuck peas and fava beans at the table.”

It took all my restraint not to pull quote the whole book, but I feel like these few sentences describing winter and summer speak for themselves.

Recipes I Can’t Wait to Try

Julius’ approach to cooking inspires me. He believes in seasonal eating, cooking intuitively, and literally exclaims “You should never feel bound by a recipe!” Beyond feeling encouraged and inspired by his style, the recipes themselves sound delicious! I love that this is a book I will be picking up year round so I can cook seasonally alongside him. I just made the Orange Vodka with my blood oranges and I am already anticipating the drinks I’ll make this summer after they rest for 3 months. There are also recipes from Summer - like Scallops Grilled in their Shells with ‘Nduja Butter - and Autumn - hello Chicken & Ricotta Meatballs in Broth with Orzo, Creme Fraiche & Dill - that I can’t wait to come back around and try. The seasonality feels inspiring and exciting. As does the invitation to keep coming back vicariously to Julius’ farm.

The Farm Table is by Julius Roberts

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You can find more about Julius Roberts on his website and his instagram.

CLUB CHAT

• Do you have a favorite recipe from The Farm Table?

• What did you learn while reading or cooking from The Farm Table?

• Do you grow or raise any of your own food? Or just daydream about it like me?

• Should we all just run away and start our own farms?

Leave a comment

*Reminder: Cookbook Club is a place for celebrating cookbooks, their authors and the wider creative teams that make them! There are plenty of places on the internet for snark, let’s stay in our joy here!

5 things I’m all about in The Weekday Vegetarians

Casual + Approachable Vegetarian Eating

The whole energy of ’s The Weekday Vegetarians is encouraging and practical. From sharing her families stories of their own transition to part time vegetarianism, to the chapter structure, the book was really designed to make this idea approachable. The chapters are mostly built around different meal planning foundations like salads, bowls, tacos, pastas, which she calls “The New Regulars”. These are familiar favorites and switching them to be vegetarian feels like a brilliant and easy way in. I don’t think it was a mistake that the very first chapter of the book is “Pizza”. The recipes themselves are also very accessible and easy to produce on a busy weeknight but still delicious to enough to win over what Jenny calls “holdouts”. I made the Spicy-Tangy-Smoky Pinto Bean Bowls last night and I can tell they are already a new rotation dinner for us.

Breaking the Dinner = Protein, Starch, Veg Mold

Beyond being encouraging, Jenny has very helpful solutions to some of the tricky problems presented by the switch to more plant based eating. She gets right to the heart of one of the hardest parts when she talks about how many of us grew up at tables that built a meal around an animal protein first and then a complimentary starch and vegetable. She does a great job of addressing this in a few ways. First, as mentioned above, starting the book with chapters about new regulars feels much more approachable than trying to reframe the protein and sides mold out the gate. Second, she shares a great “lightbulb moment” of realizing that to keep herself and her family excited each meal needed a “hook” - or a component that she knew they loved - even if the rest of the dish was new or unfamiliar. She uses these hooks throughout the book to show how something simple like a favorite homemade dressing can make a new salad exciting, or how a warm homemade bread will get anyone at the table. Finally, her section on small plates dinners was another great reframe to the idea of how dinner must be presented - why can’t we have a handful of delicious complimentary small plates to pull from?! I can’t wait to try this.

Inspiring Photos

The imagery in this book does a fantastic job at making you want to eat the food. Like right now, please. That should be an obvious for a cookbook but I think photographer Christine Han and food stylist Olivia Mack McCool really took on the challenge of elevating the vegetarian recipes and making them shine. The textures and colors really come through so you can almost taste each dish. The lived in styling and lighting approach also still feels natural and accessible, in keeping with the overall feeling of the book.

Fun Hand Lettering + Design

Throughout the book designer Laura Palese created very fun hand lettering and incorporated hand done design elements which give just the right amount of personality. The design in general has a casual and happy energy while remaining clean and easy to digest. I love all the little touches the hand lettering gives throughout each page, just enough to make you smile.

Mix + Match Meal Chart

Do you have squash on hand and you’re not sure what to do with it? Flip to the back of the cookbook and find a chart that allows you to scan across for the ingredient you have and then look down across sections of ideas for bowls, pizzas, salads, tacos and so on. So if you have squash and you are craving tacos you will find the recipe Roasted Butternut Squash & Black Bean Tacos. You’ll also see in the chart ideas labeled “How ‘bout:” that are designed to get you thinking even beyond the recipes in the book. The suggestion under squash + salads for “arugula salad with roasted butternut squash, lentils, feta & candied walnuts or pecans” has me excited for my next lunch now. Yum.

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The Weekday Vegetarians: 100 Recipes and a Real-Life Plan for Eating Less Meat is by

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You can find more about Jenny on Dinner: A Love Story and on her instagram.

Jenny also recently announced the follow up to Weekday Vegetarians launching later this year - can’t wait! >

Dinner: A Love Story

The Weekday Vegetarians GET SIMPLE

Greetings eaters and readers! I have someone I’d like you to meet: This gorgeous thing, The Weekday Vegetarians: Get Simple, which will be published in August, and is available for pre-order as of TODAY. How badly do you want to eat the cover? Here is a brief list of the kind of people who might enjoy…

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2 years ago · 121 likes · 30 comments · Jenny Rosenstrach

CLUB CHAT

• Do you eat vegetarian meals occasionally? Or do you aspire to?

• What was your favorite recipe in The Weekday Vegetarians?

• What did you learn while reading or cooking from The Weekday Vegetarians?

• Do you often build your meals around the protein, starch, veggie mold? What do you think about the idea of mixing that up?

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*Reminder: Cookbook Club is a place for celebrating cookbooks, their authors and the wider creative teams that make them! There are plenty of places on the internet for snark, let’s stay in our joy here!

7 things I’m loving in Home is Where the Eggs Are

Feels like a Hardcover Novel

The initial feeling you get when picking up your copy of Molly Yeh’s Home is Where the Eggs Are is that you are about to dig into a great novel. The size and scale of the book fits more into a classic novel category than a coffee table cookbook. Even once you break into it, it has a flow to the layout that feels cozy to read through page by page - which is exactly what I did upon receiving it. Hats off to book designer Renata De Oliveira for breaking the traditional cookbook layout of full bleed images side by side recipes. The page flow she created breaks with these norms while still seamlessly incorporating imagery, illustrations and recipes in a way that invites you to read - rather than flip - through.

Food Memoir-esque Headnotes

If the design choices in the book weren’t enough to give this a novel feel, then Molly’s headnotes before each recipe seal the deal. I found myself reading through the entire book, hooked on her stories, before I even cooked a single recipe. There is not a single headnote shorter than a paragraph and most are multiple paragraphs, if not pages, long. They cover her inspirations, experiences, and the funny or charming stories from her life that led her to create each recipe.

Very Personal Voice

“Molly Yeh’s work has always felt like it couldn’t come from anyone else - it’s specifically her, full of heart and personality.”

’s blurb for this book is so spot on. In many ways it felt more like Molly’s journal that she keeps in her kitchen cataloging the things her family loves to eat. From the humorous voice in her personal stories to her signature sprinkles showing up in everything from in Jam-Filled Sprinkle Cookies to Seedy Halva Fairy Toast, this book just feels like its author. Even for someone like me who was new to Molly when I opened this book, I felt like I knew her by the time I had finished it.

Beautiful Blend of Influences

Molly is of Jewish and Chinese heritage and spent years living in New York. She married into a family of Scandinavian heritage with deep multigenerational roots in the upper Midwest. These influences are her “biggest sources of inspiration” and you can see that reflected throughout the stories and recipes shared in this book.

Homey Accessible Photography

All the images in this book transport you into Molly’s kitchen and her family’s real life. Scenes depicted in the early morning with the whole family still in jammies making smoothies, or seated around the table laughing over dinner give the book an authentic feel. It makes sense that the images come from lifestyle editorial photographers Chantell + Brett Quernemoen. Seeing Molly with her daughter Bernie on her hip while she makes lunch with one hand sums up the theme of the book perfectly. The food photography they captured also feels very homey and true to life, with images showing the cooking process, or eating the final result standing at the kitchen counter. Food stylists Barrett Washburne and Lauren Radel did a phenomenal job as well making the food feel seamlessly un-styled and accessible, while looking mouth-watering and beautiful.

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Adorable Illustrations

Throughout the book are lovely illustrations by Lisel Jane Ashlock. From the front and back end papers, all the way through to helpful illustrations detailing the steps or ingredients of a dish, each illustration is finely detailed, beautifully colored and retains just enough playfulness to suit the whole books aesthetic. I particularly love the kitchen tools illustration in the intro.

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Very Cookable Recipes

Some cookbooks are inspiring for their storytelling or imagery, but they don’t necessarily get you to pick them up and cook. Not this cookbook. Nearly every recipe feels extremely cookable and makes you want to try new things. Chicken and Stars Soup inspired me to try shapes in my own chicken soup recipes. Pretzel Chicken Salad has entered our regular dinner rotation. Hand-Pulled Noodles with Potsticker Filling Sauce was a revelation. I’d never had a Hotdish before, but now I have an entire chapter of them to try including Chickpea Tot Hotdish. I also have a lingering urge to put sprinkles on just about everything.

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Home is Where the Eggs Are: Farmhouse Food for the People You Love is by Molly Yeh

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You can find more about Molly on her blog my name is yeh, her Instagram, and on her Food Network show Girl Meets Farm.

CLUB CHAT

• Do you have a favorite recipe from Home is Where the Eggs Are?

• What did you learn while reading or cooking from Home is Where the Eggs Are?

• What various personal influences inspire your own home cooking?

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*Reminder: Cookbook Club is a place for celebrating cookbooks, their authors and the wider creative teams that make them! There are plenty of places on the internet for snark, let’s stay in our joy here!

6 things I’m here for in Pasta Every Day

Mix + Match Recipes

This cookbook is not just a list of recipes but is broken down into sections including: dough, shapes, fillings + sauces. The brilliant idea, from author Meryl Feinstein, is you can select any dough, any shape, any sauce and make a combination that is inspiring to you. It’s a true choose your own pasta adventure experience! I love this so much because it makes the book feel like a companion you can have for literally years to come and still find something new in it.

Stunning Photography

The creative team - including photographer Nico Schinco, food stylist Judy Kim + prop stylist Maeve Sheridan - absolutely crushed the photography for this book. The images are graphic (my personal favorite kind), textural (you can almost feel the pasta), meticulously balanced and mouthwateringly beautiful.

Detailed Photo Tutorials

Just skimming this book I already feel less intimidated by the steps in making pasta. As someone who has made fresh pasta before, I remember how nervous I was the first time, and how long it took me! The way Meryl breaks down everything from dough making, to shape creating (there are step by steps for each shape!) you can tell she is an educator. Now I feel inspired (and supported!) to push my pasta making to the next level and try some new shapes + techniques.

Useful Graphic Design

The graphic design of this book is simple and thoughtful, with many small considered details that may go unnoticed (because they are so seamless) but are key to the use of this book as it was intended. Decisions like having the section labeled horizontally on the right margin - which makes it super easy to thumb quickly and find the sauce or shape you were looking for - feel intentional and smart. It’s no wonder that the designer is Laura Palese, the talented creator behind many of books I love.

Color Story

This entire book - from the design to photography to props to food itself - fit into a cohesive color story. Bright yellows that mimic yolky pastas, deep greens like a fresh basil leaf, warm dusty reds and creams reminiscent of the sauces and all grounded by rich woods. I know and appreciate the planning this took and the experience of it makes the book that much more cohesive and immersive.

Pasta History + Storytelling

Beside each pasta shape is a section labeled “What they are” that includes a short paragraph describing the origin of that particular pasta. Depending on the shape, you learn about where it came from, when it was believed to be created, how to pronounce the name, and even myths or legends including Roman gods. I was delighted by these write ups, both enchanted by the history and even more inspired to create them since I knew their story.

Pasta Every Day: Make It, Shape It, Sauce It, Eat It is by of

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pasta social club

meet my first cookbook, pasta every day

Here goes nothing: I wrote a cookbook! Okay, most of you probably know this by now. I wasn’t exactly secretive about the process—if you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen a sneak peek of the photoshoot back in June, not to mention it’s all over my Substack About page. I even snuck it into…

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3 years ago · 50 likes · 17 comments · Meryl Feinstein