Even though I can’t have wheat / gluten (insert crying emoji here), I absolutely love food – especially cookbooks. Even though I typically only actually make two or three recipes from any given cookbook I own, I still enjoy flipping through them and imagining myself making the rest of them. You know, when I have those magical things called time and energy.

Since I consider myself a bit of a cookbook connoisseur, I’m rather particular about which cookbooks I actually purchase and recommend. I find that many nowadays tend to either have the same old recipes that many others already have, are overcomplicated and include a lot of specialty ingredients that I rarely use and don’t want to invest in, or are clearly just vanity projects for celebrities that want to “expand their brand footprint” because they just “love” cooking! *cue massive eyeroll*

Despite my pickiness, there are three cookbooks that either have just been released or will be soon that I am actually legit excited to thumb through. I’ll probably even make a few recipes from these once I get my hands on them!

Without further ado…here are my Spring 2025 new release cookbook picks that I’m most giddy about!

Sweet Farm! by Molly Yeh

From looking at her blog, other cookbooks, and her Food Network show Girl Meets Farm, you can tell that she has a deep appreciation for food and keeping her cultural culinary customs alive. Plus, she loves sprinkles, which automatically endears me to her because I also love them and insisted they be on my wedding cake (and I guess as part of the title of this blog) – true story. (fun fact: my kid’s piano teacher actually studied clarinet with Molly’s dad! small world!)

I love how creative Molly gets with baking – this is the gal who gifted the world tahini chocolate fudge cake (which is amazing, by the way – try it, you won’t regret it) and pretzeled challah. I can’t wait to see what goodies are in store in her latest cookbook, Sweet Farm, which comprises basically of sweet baking recipes inspired by her life on the farm!

Dinner by Meera Sodha

I checked out her first cookbook, Made in India, from the library many years ago and was struck by how doable yet delicious the recipes were. Unlike other Indian cookbooks, this one was approachable and made me feel like even little old me could make a lamb biryani (which I have – multiple times). Sure, I learned some recipes while I was growing up and helping out in the kitchen, but as is the case with most immigrant cooking measuring was done in estimations / by feel, which made it difficult for me to remember / emulate the recipes I grew up with in my own home as an adult.

I eventually purchased Made in India and have cooked many recipes from it – and all of them have been top notch. I also have used Meera’s other excellent cookbook, East, which features vegetarian Asian recipes, and those recipes were likewise phenomenal (especially the laksa recipe…omg, soooo good, highly recommend).

So when I heard that she’s coming out with another cookbook celebrating my favorite meal of the day (Dinner), I’ve been pretty giddy with excitement since I’m confident it will live up to the quality of the others she’s done so far. Dinner has just launched recently in the U.S., and I can’t wait to get my hands on it!

What Can I Bring? by Casey Elsass

What Can I Bring helps solve this common conundrum, with 75 recipes that can be made for every type of event – from brunches to late night parties and beyond. What’s more, his recipes are approachable, so I don’t have to worry about putting a ton of effort into something to bring in order for people to enjoy it. Or, rather, to avoid me having to go through a lot of work and showing up to an event stressed with my dish.

When What Can I Bring debuts on May 20, you can bet that I’ll be checking it out shortly thereafter – especially with Memorial Day right around the corner! Because you know that I’ll probably need to make something for some backyard BBQ I’ll attend. And so will you!