A Huge Announcement (I Never Thought I’d Make)
UPDATE: Pre-orders are finally live!! Order your cookbook here. 🎉
You guys, I swore I would never, ever publish a cookbook. But it’s happening.
EEEK! It’s happening!
And I am so, so excited to tell you more about it.
The Quick Back Story
As you know, I’ve been food blogging for over 15 years. Many, many, many of my fellow food bloggers published cookbooks by the droves years (even decades) ago. Many are still publishing them.
Even though having my own cookbook has been a filed away bucket list item, I always said I would never write or publish a cookbook. Because a) lack of time and b) lack of time.
Over the years, I’ve declined offers from small publishers and fielded hundreds of questions from readers asking if I’ll ever do a cookbook. It never felt like the right time – especially with the sheer amount of work that goes into writing and publishing a cookbook.
Fast forward to earlier this year.
Brian’s position at work was eliminated and we found ourselves facing an unemployment situation we didn’t see coming. Around this time, we also had several other pretty overwhelming issues on our plate.
I was surprised in the midst of all this chaos to get a feeling that I should write a cookbook (this feeling came after talking to a dear blogging friend, Si from A Bountiful Kitchen). As I sat on that thought for a while, I realized that maybe for the first time in 15 years, despite the current stress I was feeling, it really WAS the right time.
Brian has always worked a traditional corporate job with long hours at the office, but with him unexpectedly being home more, we decided to capitalize on the extra help and time he had available to assist with kid/family life so I could take the plunge on the cookbook front, which would a) fulfill a dream of mine and b) have the cookbook sales hopefully help a bit with the loss of income (giving Brian some breathing room to figure out his next steps career-wise).
And here we are!! Seven months later, the cookbook is *almost* ready to go to print, and it is hard to believe it has actually become a reality.
It has been so much more work than I anticipated. Like, if I had known how much writing and editing and recipe testing and dirty dishes (!!) would be involved, I would have shoved that little random cookbook thought to the side and gone on my merry, stressy way.
But…it is going to be incredible. And so worth it! I know I’m biased, but it is one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever beheld. Cover-to-cover, every detail is intentional and meticulously placed.
Do you want to see a sneak peek of the cover?? I just got the cover samples mailed to me this week! (It’s hard to see it in the photo, but the cover and spine have this amazing debossed effect – it in the photo – it gives the book such a unique look and feel 😍)
I promise to give a lot more details in the next few weeks and months about what the process has been like and information on what’s to come! If you are on Instagram, I’ll be sharing a lot of info in the stories there.
I also pre-emptively answered a few questions below that might help!
Mostly, I want you to know that it’s because of you that this cookbook is happening. If it weren’t for all of your support for so.many.years, I wouldn’t even have this opportunity. And for all of you who have patiently asked and asked and asked when I’ll write a cookbook, this book is *finally* for you!
Thank you for being here and for supporting me. It means more than you know. 💗💗💗
UPDATE: I’ve updated some of the information below as I get new details on the timeline!
Pre-sale will happen in November! Make sure you are subscribed to my email list – I’ll announce all the details there first!
Books will ship April 22!
Over 140 recipes! This book is solid!
Well…it definitely has a few pictures of cute pigs and farm life! 🤣
But it is mostly loaded with tons of tried-and-true recipes. Because the book is meant to be a timeless anthem to my most-loved and most-made recipes, it includes many existing recipes. But there are also brand, new recipes in the book that I cannot wait for you to try (it’s been so hard not telling you about them already – spoiler alert: the most amazing chicken tacos you’ll ever meet and a new brownie recipe that is wow, wow, wow!).
Yes, there is a photo with every single recipe! And many of the photos are brand new, updated, and (I don’t want to toot my own horn here) really quite lovely. Additionally, there are photos of farm life, kitchen life, and maybe even one of me hiding in the pantry eating chocolate chips. 😬
Unless the book tour consists of me wearing sweatpants and a hoodie and greeting everyone in my back pasture with the cows and pigs, likely, no. I’m too much of a homebody for a book tour (also: what if no one came??), BUT, I will have some special advanced, signed copies available. More details to come on that!
I am working out the details for this, but it is proving to be quite tricky to get reasonable rates for international shipping as a small business. If you are interested in international shipping, I’ll set up a way for you to contact me directly for a custom quote!
Thank you so much for your genuine kindness and support! 💗
I would like to buy a few more cookbooks
Hi Mel. I was so excited to receive your cookbook! There are so many recipes I want to try! I love the book and hate to complain, but it arrived with a damaged spine. It appears to have been crushed somehow, probably during shipping. I would like to have one that is not damaged. Will you please send me a new one and I will return this one. Thank you.
Sally Moss
Hi Sally, I’ll have my admin reach out to you via email and get this resolved asap!
Want a cookbook ! Your amazing !
I have since moved since I ordered two cookbooks. I’m afraid my cookbooks are going to be going to the wrong address. How do I correct this? I’ve been waiting so long.
Mel, I pre-ordered some cookbooks from you the very first time you announced we could pre-ordered them. I can’t remember how many either 4 or 5.
You said they would be mailed now sometimes in April. When can I expect to receive them? I am hoping well before Mother’s Day. How are you contacting people that the cookbooks are on their way?
Thanks again for your wonderful Blog. It is my go-to every time I need a good recipe.
This is incredible news, Mel! Congratulations to you and your entire family, because it surely has been a team effort. Now I have the inspiration to make room in my tiny cookbook cupboard for your cookbook because I know I’ll actually use it! This is so exciting. God bless you, sweet lady.
I’m looking to pre-order your new cookbook, I’ve a fan/following you for several years, just love, love, your simple very pleasing recipes. Will we get a notice to order, I thought it was December 1, 2023?
November is almost done and I haven’t seen the pre order for your book! Did I miss it?
That’s what I’m wondering!
Nope! Haven’t missed it! It’s taking me a bit more time to get the pre-order website finalized. Coming VERY soon! Thanks for your patience!
I am so thrilled with this news! I almost feel emotional about it, haha. Congratulations! I have been using your recipes as my go-to place to search for any needed recipe because I trust it will be good, and my family has so many favorite recipes from you. I have been following your blog from nearly the beginning (probably 14 years), so I am so very excited to have a book of your recipes now! Thank you for sharing so much goodness over the years. I feel like I have learned to cook and bake in part because of you and learning with your recipes! I started as a newlywed and now am a making delicious meals (as quickly as I can!) for our busy family of six. All that being said, I can’t wait to have this book in our home. ❤️
November is closing out fast!! Where is my email?! LOL!!! Honestly I am so happy for you and cannot wait to preorder this, even though my recipe binder is pretty much a Mel’s cookbook already.
My wife wants this cookbook. I don’t have Instagram and I don’t need more emails to delete. How do I preorder?
Love this!
Everyone would come! Congratulations, Mel. So happy for you.
I am so excited of this too! Thanks for sharing all of you.
I’m still dying over this announcement! So excited for you and very excited for me to get a copy. !
Yah!! So happy for you Mel!! Can’t wait to order for pre sale to order mine!!
SO OVER THE MOON! You are my go to blog for family friendly and marvelous tasting recipes! Thank you SO MUCH!
What a huge project! Congratulations! I’ve had crazy good success making your bread recipes, so I’ll definitely be buying your book when it’s available in Canada.
This is so awesome!! Congratulations! You basically taught me how to cook when I was 20, and a new mom. It’s almost a decade later, and I still make and remake your recipes whenever I cook anything. My mom was just asking what she should get me for Christmas, and your cookbook is absolutely a no-brainer. Thank you for putting so much time and effort into making it amazing! You’re the best!
I know I already commented when you first posted this amazing announcement (huge! Congratulations!!), but I am just so stinking excited for all of us and for you! I keep remembering it’s coming out and it makes me so happy. So fun to be looking forward to this along with the other Mel fans. I’m sure most of us have a Mel cookbook of sorts—printed off recipes in too-full binders that are stained and well-loved. I can’t wait to see old and new favorites in your gorgeous book! Congrats again, and thank you for doing this!
YESSSSS.. finally!!! Have been waiting for this for years! Can’t wait to get my hands on this book!
Hi!
Could you give us more info on the advanced signed copies? I really want to get my parents one but I don’t know how to get one. Thank you so much! The cover is beautiful! Thank you for making a cookbook!
As a longtime fan of your blog, recipes AND lovely, sweet, kind, humble YOU, I am sitting here reading this with tears in my eyes. Tears of joy, that is – for you & for me. Congratulations, I know no one who deserves this better! And this is great news for me, because I can’t wait to see all your amazing recipes in one book. The only drawback is the waiting. And oh, the fact that I am in the UK ☹️ But hopefully I’ll be able to lay my hands on a copy when I visit Philly at the end of January, fingers crossed. Congratulations once again and much love! Xx
Hallelujah! Can’t wait to ditch my own falling-apart copy of my homemade Mel’s Kitchen Cafe cookbook that I have in an overflowing binder in my pantry that holds recipes printed out through the ages. It was definitely time for an upgrade!
Congratulations! It’s beautiful and so are you!
Congratulations!!
This is so exciting!! I’ll await the opening of pre-sale, ‘cause no question I’m ordering at least one!
I’m so, so excited to get your book! I’m so grateful you took the time/spent the money to have a picture for every recipe! I’m a photo cookbook snob these days, because I simply don’t try recipes that I can’t see or haven’t tasted. So thank you, I know this will be a favorite!!!
WooHoo! My secret bestie and cooking teacher is writing a cookbook! I’m excited and proud of you! the amount of work involved has to be crazy. Also, a little excited for me too… I get to give a copy to everyone I know!
Yay!!!
We’ve never met, but I make your recipes and refer my friends to you so often that my friends refer to you as “my good friend Mel”
Woo hoo!! I’m so happy for you! I’ve made soooo many of your recipes and have been following you for years. I knew you would cave in to making a cookbook .
I will definitely be ordering a book! Can’t wait until it arrives in February. It will be a spot of brightness in our long, cold Minnesota winter! Love your recipes!
Yay! I have so many of your recipes printed in a binder anlready and now I can have them in a beautiful cookbook!! I’m glad you were able to make this happen!
We just moved into a new house and my kitchen has a lovely built in hutch that I’ve been dying to fill with gorgeous, pass down worthy, cookbooks. I am so excited to have yours be apart of the growing collection! Your recipes are not only amazing, but they’ve become apart of our family memories: pizza and a movie Fridays with your Foolproof Pizza Dough, Father’s Day/My husband’s birthday with your Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken, and entertaining with your Cashew Chicken lettuce wraps. When my six year old looks back to her childhood, many of her fondest memories will have involved a Mel recipe. I know this sounds super cheesy, but coming to your site to choose something for dinner feels like I’m chatting with a good friend. Thank you for the years of dedication and sharing your talent with us. Congratulations!
Yay!! I have been printing your recipes for years and now they’ll all be in one place! I’ve never made anything of yours my family andI haven’t loved. Can’t wait for the cookbook!
I just realized, as I looked at the cover of your book, that I never knew your last name. Up to now, you’ve been a mononymous person in my mind, akin to Beyoncé and other iconic personas. When I speak with friends about your recipes, you are simply Mel. I’m not sure if that makes you something of a demigod or a girls best friend. I think a little of both. Your recipes bring joy and health to our family. We’re so excited for your cookbook and look forward to (inevitably) getting flour and butter all over it while trying out all the recipes with our kids. Thank you!
Congratulations Mel! I’m thrilled and can’t wait for your book! I love the cover !
So so excited to read the news of your upcoming cookbook!! Can’t wait to see it! Congrats!!
hey young lady
when you make a light colored colored cake, add a small hand full of rainbow colored sprinkels just before pouring it in the baking pans. mix it just enough to incorperate them, dont over mix, they will color the cake beautifly.
Yes!!!!! I can honestly say I’ve been waiting a decade for this announcement. So excited to have the tried and trues all bound together! Thank you for taking this leap and yay you for setting boundaries about book tours and such. So proud of you, Mel!!
I will be buying it. Just have to work out how I can get it to Australia. Congratulations. The cover looks amazing.
Congratulations Mel, looking forward to your first cookbook.