A Cake, A Pie and a Pudding . . .

Hello peeps and welcome to another news(y) letter. It’s been an exciting and busy time pour moi now that pre-orders of Salty Cheesy Herby Crispy Snackable Bakes are available. And, I am hopeful that you, too, have been busy pre-ordering up a storm (or at the very least a single copy). If you have not, or are thinking of ordering two, but haven’t done so yet, OR, are looking for the absolutely PERFECT Mother’s day gift, might I suggest you pre-order a signed copy? You can do so here or here.

Moreover, if you’re feeling REALLY excited for the new book, a) I really love you for that; and, b) please consider subscribing to my paid newsletter in which I share photos and recipes from the new book and loads o’ salty cheesy BTS stories, insider scoops, etc.

Alrighty, with my pre-order spiel complete, I want to tell you about this past week’s guest on my baking pod, She’s My Cherry Pie. The guest was Ali Stafford. Ali is a cookbook writer and blogger and her latest (NYT bestselling!!!) cookbook, Pizza Night is out now. We talked all about her Neapolitan(ish) dough and her margherita pie and I highly suggest giving it a listen.

After listening to me and Ali, if you’re feeling like, “God, podcasts are great, but I also really love reading books,” might I suggest Sally Rooney’s latest, Beautiful World Where Are You? It’s actually been out for a while now and it did take me a beat  to get into it, which can be a bummer. Often, you may just want to stop reading and pick a new book when the one you’re a few pages into has a slow burn beginning. BUT I am one of those people who once I have started a book, I cannot stop reading it until I have finished it - some kind of weird OCD thing, maybe? Not sure. Anyway, I am glad I did. The NYT said “Beautiful World, Where Are You” is Rooney’s best novel yet. Funny and smart, full of sex and love and people doing their best to connect.” And I agree (though I did love Normal People, too . . . ) and wonder if you will, too?

I also wonder if you have given Mr and Mrs Smith a watch on TV? I really loved it (and I love TV, which I know you know). I thought the acting was beyond excellent and I adored the two main characters - it’s a remake (which you are likely aware of) and a truly awesome one at that. It’s basically a story about relationships and commitment and intimacy but between spies and I was there for all of it.

Okay, that’s enough culture for one letter. How about some recipes? So, back in the day, I developed some dessert and breakfast recipes for Snoop Dogg’s cookbook, and I shared a few of the recipes on Instagram, recently, in honor of the holiday 4/20. Working on cookbooks other than my own used to be something I did a lot of. And in this instance it was basically the same as any recipe development job I might do for a magazine or online site, except it was for a book. The difference is that often when you develop recipes, you pitch ideas usually based on items you think might work for the outlet in question due to holes you see in their recipe library. Here, the editors of the book just told me what to develop (which totally worked for me, since I love being told what to do).

Up first is a no-bake chocolate cheesecake that is super dense and not too sweet. It is easy to assemble as no-bake cheesecakes usually are. The chocolate flavor comes from melted chocolate and a chocolate cookie crumb crust and the filling calls for a little sour cream, which gives the cake a little tang.

Next up is an easy banana pudding. I adore banana pudding and I give the vanilla pudding in this recipe extra banana flavor by adding chopped banana pieces to the warm pudding (you’re welcome). I am also very generous with the whipped cream topping because, well, whipped cream . . .

Finally, there is a mile-high s’mores pie recipe in Snoop’s book that is just to die for. An easy press-in graham cracker cookie crumb crust is filled with an easy stove-top chocolate pudding and topped with an easy meringue /marshmallow’y topping (yes, “easy” is a theme). My friend Andrea Buckett came over to make the pie with me (hence the pic).

Before I say goodbye, I wanted to mention that I’ll be in Napa at a fab cookbook fest from June 21st to June 23rd and I’d love to see you there! Loads of fab cookbook writers and food personalities will be there and I would love it if YOU were there, too.

Alrighty, peeps: that’s it for this early May letter - see you in two weeks,