Everything Cookbooks

Latest Episodes:

128: Memoir Writing with Sutanya Dacres of Dinner for One May 14, 2025

Show notes

Kate and Molly speak with podcast host Sutanya Dacres about her debut memoir, Dinner for One, which was inspired by her podcast of the same name. Sutanya shares how her 'anti-fairytale' led to a show and a book, how she developed her writer's voice and her thoughts on what makes a memoir and why her book is unique to the 'American in Paris' lexicon. She describes how finding the arc of the story lies in choosing the right focal points before sharing the challenges inherent in writing about real events and people and how living in Paris has shifted her approach to life. Finally, she shares some advice for aspiring memoirists and discusses her supper club, restaurant pop-ups and tells us what she has planned for the future.

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Sign up for our LIVE! Pitch Slam Session with Sally Ekus on May 21st!

Mentions

Sutanya Dacres

In Writing with Hattie Crisell podcast

Leigh Eisenman

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Dinner for One by Sutanya Dacres
Eat Pray Love with Elizabeth Gilbert

127: The Mid-Career Pivot with Betsy Andrews May 07, 2025

Show notes

Molly and Andrea speak with food journalist, poet and new cookbook author, Betsy Andrews, about her recent career pivot. She shares the story behind the book Coastal as it went from idea to article to cookbook and why a bidding war ensued after the proposal. She talks about how her hustle mentality and editorial background helped to craft the aspirational travelogue, the process to 'ventriloquize' another voice and why it was important to include metric measurements, time estimates and ingredient substitutions in the project. Finally she shares a few words of advice for others embarking on collaborative work.

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions

Betsy Andrews

Cheyenne Ellis photography

Dad's Luncheonette

Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

Coastal, by Scott Clarke and Betsy Andrews
New Jersey, by Betsy Andrews
Crowded, by Betsy Andrews

126: Open Sesame with Rachel Belle Apr 30, 2025

Show notes

Molly and Kate speak with Rachel Belle, a journalist and Seattle media personality who was hired to write Open Sesame, a cookbook all about tahini. She talks about her background in food media, the unique way she joined the project (leave the house!), and how she learned the aspects of cookbook creation on the job. She takes us through the recipe creation and testing process, shares why it was important to inject her signature humor throughout the book and discusses what the most challenging aspect was. Finally she shares the questions she'd advise others in her position to ask and the new project she's got on her mind.

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions

Rachel Belle

Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

Open Sesame by Rachel Belle
Tahini Baby by Eden Grinshpan
Sesame by Rachel Simons

125: Alternative Publishing Paths with Barkha Cardoz Apr 23, 2025

Show notes

Kate and Kristin speak with Barkha Cardoz about the motivations and intentions behind expanding on her late husband Floyd Cardoz's legacy. She speaks about working with masala spice blends and why a collection of recipes was the next best step to demystify and empower home cooks, even though she has seen first hand the demanding nature of the cookbook creation process. She shares what the collaborative relationship was like with Burlap and Barrel, the experience of crowd sourcing recipe testing and why self producing the book allowed for the freedom and malleability of making exactly what they wanted. Finally she talks about Flavorwalla's second life, how Floyd's legacy still shows up in their community and what her plans are for the future.

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions

Barkha Cardoz

With Love and Masalas

Burlap and Barrel

Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

Flavorwalla, by Floyd Cardoz

124: Should You Start a Food Podcast? with Maggie Hoffman Apr 16, 2025

Show notes

Kate, Kristin, and Molly speak with Maggie Hoffman, host of The Dinner Plan Podcast, about her varied career in food media and what led to her starting her show. Maggie reminiscences about blogging, editing and working at Serious Eats and Epicurious as well as the ever changing landscape of food media. She shares why she began her podcast, the concept behind it and the intimacy allowed by the audio medium. She discusses her hopes and goals for the show, how it relates to her newsletter and the upcoming books and guests she is excited to see featured.

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions

Maggie Hoffman

Podcast: The Dinner Plan Podcast
Newsletter : The Dinner Plan
Newsletter: What to Drink
Instagram: Maggiejhoffman

Maggie's newsletter about starting a podcast

How to Battle Kitchen Burnout (And Still Get Dinner on the Table)

5 Spices, 50 Dishes, by Ruta Kahate

Staples + 5, by Tanorria Askew

Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

The One-Bottle Cocktail, by Maggie Hoffman
Batch Cocktails, by Maggie Hoffman
Dinner, by Meera Sodha
The Secret of Cooking, by Bee Wilson
Perfectly Good Food, by Margaret Li and Irene Li
Staples + 5, by Tanorria Askew
Salt Sugar MSG, by Calvin Eng
What Goes with What, by Julia Turshen
Ambitious Kitchen, by Monique Volz

123: The Revolution Will Be Well Fed with Corrie Locke-Hardy Apr 09, 2025

Show notes

Molly and Kristin speak with Corrie Locke-Hardy about their debut cookbook, which pairs their passion for social justice activism and food. Corrie talks about their atypical path towards publication, the unique approaches of their publisher and how the 'figure it out as you go' method worked during the book's creation. Corrie shares how they balanced the various tones of the book, why they focused on the recipes they did, how they worked with the team on its production, distribution, and promotion, and the project they hope to work on in the future.

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions

Corrie Locke

Website: The Tiny Activist
Instagram: The Tiny Activist

The Washington Women's Cookbook

Sally Ekus

Raspberry Bow Press

High-Five Books

The Revolution Will Be Well Fed, by Corrie Locke-Hardy

Episode 85: A Juneteenth Cookbook for Kids with Alliah Agostini and Taffy Elrod

Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

122: Start With Who Apr 02, 2025

Show notes

In this first episode of Season 7 Kristin, Molly, Kate and Andrea sit down to ask the question: What happens when we start with Who instead of Why? They share the readers they had in mind when they wrote their first books and why its important to identify an audience instead of writing to the market. They share a few tips to research such as demographic data, awareness level and niching down as well as the tools and actions that could be helpful when either identifying or building an audience for a project. Finally they introduce a new Everything Cookbooks offering and tease our upcoming slate of new episodes.

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly + Andrea Nguyen

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions

Subscribe to our brand new Substack here!

EVCB Community Discount on Substack

Simon Sinek TedX Talk "Start with Why"

Episode 61: Writing a Second Edition with Lukas Volger

Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

Why I Cook, by Tom Collichio
Cooking for Jeffrey by Ina Garten
Coastal, by Scott Clarke with Betsy Andrews
Start with Why, by Simon Sinek

56: Hybrid Publishing with Vasudha Viswanath [re-release] Mar 26, 2025

Show notes

Kate and Kristin discuss all things hybrid publishing with Vasudha Viswanath, the author of The Vegetarian Reset. Vasudha shares a quick rundown of the typical routes of publishing and why she chose to go down the hybrid path. She talks about the pitching process, what partnership publishers cover (and don't), the recipe development steps and how she assembled her creative and publicity team. She describes the part her book plays in her business strategy and her experience learning as she goes in the cookbook community.

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions

Vasudha Viswanath

The Collective Book Studio

Episode 40: Snackable Bakes with Jessie Sheehan

Episode 47: Self-Publishing Cookbooks with Nick Fauchald

Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing

IngramSpark

52 Shabbats by Faith Kramer

Reedsy

Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

Will Write for Food by Dianne Jacob

04: Let’s Make a Cookbook Deal [re-release] Mar 19, 2025

Show notes

Andrea leads today's chat about selling a cookbook and all the nitty gritty elements that go into it. Kristin, Molly and Kate share some of their own insights and lessons learned about advances, royalties, contract negotiation, and how to keep the right amount of tension there. They discuss how to gauge the value of your idea, morality clauses and what to look out for when looking over a contract. Finally, they answer a listener SOS and Kate gets the lowdown on the angst of butter measurement.

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Andrea Nguyen + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions:

An Agent Answers: “What Should I Expect for a Cookbook Advance?”

Would You Write a Cookbook for Next to Nothing? by Priya Krishna

The Trouble with Big Deals, by Brooke Warner

“9 Questions For When A Book Publisher Calls”

How to Make Sure Your Cookbook Deal Is Worth It, by Sonya Chopra

The Hidden Risks of Writing a Cookbook by Sierra Tishgart

Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show

03: Cookbook Proposal Writing Tips [re-release] Mar 12, 2025

Show notes

Kristin leads today's discussion all about the cookbook proposal, sharing her own first experience with the process. Molly, Kate and Andrea each describe their own firsts as well as how they format their more recent versions. They review all of the elements that go into a proposal, the three vital things to highlight, how long the process can take and how a project can morph as it leads into its first draft. Finally, a listener's salt based SOS leads to many strong opinions and some helpful tips.

Hosts: Kate Leahy + Andrea Nguyen + Molly Stevens + Kristin Donnelly

Editor: Abby Cerquitella

Mentions

Heidi Swanson’s blog post on her cookbook proposal process

Kate Leahy’s blog post on the elements of a cookbook proposal

Katie Parla’s blog post on how to write (and sell) a cookbook proposal

Diane Jacob’s website is also a great resources

"Recipe into Type" book

Visit the Everything Cookbooks Bookshop to purchase a copy of the books mentioned in the show