If anyone had told me that at 76 I would be about to launch my second cookbook, I wouldn’t have believed them. I always thought of myself as a simple home cook. But if I have learned anything, it’s that life is full of surprises.
After writing Celebrate With Babs, I didn’t have plans to write another cookbook right away. But when I began to share the everyday dinners I make on TikTok and Instagram in a series I called “The Weekly Rotation” the feedback was overwhelming. People wanted ideas for no-fuss meals—super-simple things like my broccoli pasta and sheet pan dinners. “This might be a book,” I thought to myself, and I started filing away my favorite streamlined recipes.
I really rolled my sleeves up and began to work on the book in earnest in the fall of 2022. Those early days were all about recipe development and figuring out the structure for the book. When I was writing my first cookbook, I was learning as I was going, but for the second book, the process flowed more smoothly.
Working with my new publisher Clarkson Potter, I also had the chance to be more deeply involved in the creative process. For my first book, my previous publisher chose the photographer and stylists, and shot most of the recipes without me. This time I got to select my creative team, including photographer Dane Tashima. I also got to be there while they photographed every single one of the 101 recipes in just two and a half weeks—this was both a sprint and a marathon!
Shooting a cookbook is so much more complicated than you could possibly imagine! For each photo you have to select a surface or textile, a dish or pan, flatware, servingware, and more. Then you have to figure out things like where the napkin goes or if you need a little whisper of parsley for color. Thank goodness for the talented creative team that helped us think through every little decision. We also wanted each chapter to have a distinct look and feel. So, just as the cooking method changes with each chapter, the visual feel changes too: For example, Thrifty Thursdays looks a little retro and in Sunday Suppers the styling is elevated. It will be interesting to see if you notice these styling differences when you get the book!
I wanted Every Day with Babs to be like a warm hug from Babs! I wanted my readers to feel like they were in my kitchen cooking with me (even when we were shooting in a photo studio). I wanted it to look like real-life cooking and not overly filtered. One day into our two-week photoshoot in New York City that warm Babs hug was not coming through (you know that hug, the special one from your mom or grandma). The rented props were beautiful, but they just didn’t feel like me. So my daughter Elizabeth and I drove back to my house to raid the cabinets, pack up all my favorite dishes, flatware, and linens, and bring them to the photo studio. Yes, I know that sounds a little bit crazy, but it instantly made every photo feel more like mine. You’ll see my beloved Portmeirion dishes appear in at least one photo every chapter of the book. In the Sunday chapter, we used a lace tablecloth that was a wedding gift I received from a relative in Italy. Can you spot them?
We rounded out the photography with three days of shooting in my daughter Elizabeth’s home with all nine of my grandchildren. (It was no easy feat to get them all in one place at one time–especially with two grandchildren already in college!) It was a very special memory for all of us. A favorite little detail is my granddaughter Mary wearing a t-shirt from Italian Cousins, the restaurant that I owned with my sister, mother, and aunt years ago. You can spot it in the Fri-Yay! and the Low and Slow Saturdays chapter. We also got to enjoy a lot of delicious food together.
This book was a team effort in so many ways. I believe the results are a book that reflects the warmth of my own kitchen. I can’t wait to share it with you soon.
A funny story about aprons
When we were shooting Every Day With Babs, I wanted to have a bunch of different aprons to give the photos life and coordinate with our color themes for each chapter. To my surprise, it was hard to find a good apron! There are dozens of workaday aprons and lots of corny joke aprons (think: the David torso), but finding sensible ones in pretty prints–without a bunch of ruffles!—was a challenge. When I joked on set that I wished we could make our own aprons out of the tablecloths we had, one of our prop stylists, Victoria, volunteered to sew up a half a dozen aprons from them! Custom aprons: I couldn’t believe it. What do you think, should I start my own apron line?
Since I can’t link the aprons in the book, here are a few of my favorites online. Clockwise from top left: Pottery Barn, Pomegranate, Birch Lane, Williams-Sonoma, Mark & Graham, and Sur La Table.
Q: I'd love a list of your favorite kitchen tools, especially ones that you used for your cookbook. Possible Amazon Storefront? —Alisha
A: This is a question I get asked a lot, so I actually included a section about my favorite kitchen tools, called Babs’ Toolbox at the end of Every Day With Babs. I’ll share three favorites with you: They’re nothing fancy, just practical workhorses. I love a half sheet pan or a 15x11 jelly roll pan (a size in between a half and quarter-sheet pan) for sheet pan dinners, and Nordic Ware’s baking sheets are high-quality ones that are made right here in the U.S. My most-used spatula is actually a fish turner. I love the one from de Buyer because it has a beautiful beechwood handle. Last, a top-notch wooden spoon. I like a long-handled and substantial wooden spoon: Mauviel’s 14-inch one is close to perfect.
🎁 A gift for you 🎁
Thank you so much for your pre-orders of Every Day With Babs. Your support and enthusiasm means the world to me. To say thank you, I’ll be announcing a few fun giveaways open to anyone who has pre-ordered the book (one of them is BIG!). So, save your order or confirmation number and stay tuned to enter next week.
The countdown is on! Every Day With Babs is out in just sixteen days–pinch me! My daughter Elizabeth (@elizabethariola), who has four kids between 2 and 8, and I are both cooking and sharing a recipe from the book every night on Instagram until launch day. If you want a sneak peak of some of the recipes, please follow along!
XO, Babs
Got a burning question for me about food, entertaining, or life in general? Just type “Buzzing Babs” along with your question in the comments section for next week.
Just ordered! Also where is your long denim top from in the pic with your grand kids?
I can’t wait to start looking through the book once it launches!! So excited!