Time to reconnect
What I've been up to, and some exciting things coming next!
Hi everybody, it’s Babs—and I’ve so missed you all.
Thank goodness winter is almost over. The crocuses are even starting to pop! We took a little break from the newsletter because I was busy behind the scenes getting ready for the launch of my second cookbook and book tour. (At 76 years young there is only so much I can do in a day—forgive me!) But I’m back, and I’m excited to reconnect with you each week. Did you miss me too?
I want to tell you a little about why I wrote Every Day With Babs. I know that planning dinner can be stressful, especially because it just. does. not. end. You do it one night and then you have to do it all over again the next night and the next! I also remember all too well what it was like working full-time and coming home to feed my family afterwards—it was hard. As a grandmother, I’m still helping my kids get dinner on the table, and I know that life is even more complicated for families today.
I wanted to simplify meal planning and make dinner less stressful. While brainstorming how to do this, I was inspired by Taco Tuesday. Have you ever wondered why Taco Tuesday always feels like such a light lift? I suspect it’s because just knowing what kind of meal you will cook on a given day is one less decision you have to make. (I recently read we all make thousands of micro decisions each day—everything from which socks to wear to which measuring cups to use!). So I took that idea of a daily theme and applied it to every night of the week. Each theme is matched to the tempo of the week; think: lightning-fast meals for manic Mondays and fun recipes to kick off the weekend.
With Every Day With Babs as your guide, you’ll be pulling out your sheet pan every Monday for a fast, start-of-the-week meal (a chapter cheekily titled Get Your “Sheet” (Pan) Together Monday). On Tuesday, you’ll batch cook (what I call Eat Twice Twosday), and before you know it, you’ll have a freezer stocked with meals you can defrost on hectic nights and a refrigerator full of grab-and-go meals. Wednesdays? It’s one-pot meals, aka One and Only Wednesday, like Warm Hug Bacon Pasta and my Spinach-Artichoke Rice & Bean Bake (so yum!). On Thrifty Thursdays, I have you tap your pantry for ingredients you likely already have on hand. Come Friday, you know me, I love to celebrate so it’s time to kick back with Fri-Yay! meals that are fun to prepare and fun to eat. I opted for Low and Slow Saturday slow cooker recipes, so you can play all day, and Sunday Supper, slightly more elevated meals for gathering as a family. The final chapter Sweet Tooth is full of easy and nostalgic desserts. You didn’t think I’d leave out dessert, did you?
To fill each chapter, I went into my recipe box and looked for the meals that I make when I’m pressed for time. I thought about how to make family favorites even simpler and how to update oldie-but-goodies with more modern flavors and techniques. And whenever possible, I streamlined to use fewer tools and dishes–for easier clean-up. I made sure to include a wide range of flavors and ingredients in each chapter, so you won’t get bored. (I joke that when I was working full time my four kids ate chicken so often I was afraid my kids would start clucking!) Even more fun was developing brand new recipes just for this book!
It took months to narrow down our best recipes and then additional months of cooking and taste testing—with help from Mr. Babs, my own kids, and the grandkids. I also called on a neighborhood mom of three to test and troubleshoot every recipe. The 101 recipes that we photographed for the book (a multi-week process with a team of pros that I’ll tell you about in a future newsletter!) were the best of the best.
Every Day With Babs is full of easy-to-make meals that even the pickiest grandkids will enjoy. But it’s more than just a collection of recipes: I’ve shared shortcuts, meal-planning tips, and grocery shopping tricks, too. I can’t wait to help you make dinner.
Pre-Order Today! Every Day with Babs: 101 Family-Friendly Dinners for Every Day of the Week is available for pre-sale now through your local bookseller or at Amazon, Bookshop.org, and Barnes & Noble, which has signed copies available!
🎙️ Want to hear more about the new book? I joined Kerry Diamond on her wonderful podcast Radio Cherry Bombe. We talked about everything from childhood to hot dogs, and why it is never too late to follow your passion. Of course, we also talked about Every Day With Babs. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Book Tour Dates!
Mr. Babs and I are hitting the road for Everyday With Babs, and after years of connecting online I cannot wait to meet all of you in person. Please note that tickets to all these events are limited (the first event has already sold out!), so grab them now if you want to join me on the #babsbooktour
Monday, April 7, New Canaan, CT - SOLD OUT!
Tuesday, April 8, 6-8pm, New York, NY (launch day!) with Rizzoli Bookstore SOLD OUT!
Wednesday, April 9, 7pm, Madison, CT with RJ Julia Tickets here
Thursday, April 10, 6pm, Ridgewood, New Jersey with Bookends Bookstore Tickets here
Saturday, April 12, 10am-12pm Naples, FL with Birch Lane Tickets here
Saturday, April 12, 4-6pm Boca Raton, FL with Birch Lane Tickets here
Monday, April 14, 7pm Chicago, IL (my hometown!) with Anderson’s Bookshop Tickets here
Tuesday, April 15, 4pm Dallas, TX with Interabang Bookstore Tickets here
Wednesday, April 16, 6pm Houston, TX with Blue Willow Bookstore Tickets here
Tuesday, April 29, 8pm Los Angeles, CA with Live Talks LA (virtual tickets available!) Tickets here
As we countdown to the Every Day With Babs launch on April 8, I’d love to answer your questions about making a cookbook or getting dinner on the table. Let’s chat! Submit your questions in the comments section below by writing Buzzing Babs, followed by your question or you can send them directly to my inbox HERE.
Coming soon! Keep your eye on this newsletter for sneak peek recipes from the book, details about some fun giveaways surrounding the launch, Basket House updates, and more in the coming weeks. I’m so glad to be back!
XO, Babs
Can’t wait for the book release!!
It is disappointing that the newsletter, which I paid for, has not been regularly issued and it lacks substantive content such as recipes and holiday tips. It seems as if the "Babs" brand is deviating from its family and lifestyle focus and is more concerned with peddling products and cookbooks. This is an unfortunate turn of events for those of us who truly enjoy what Babs used to offer.