Howdy cookbook fans!

Can you believe it? Stained Page News has been officially official for a full three years now. Of course, old school pals know SPN has been around in various forms since 2017. But November 2019 marks this newsletter’s Substack debut, and I’ve been bringing you weekly cookbook news ever since. That means there have been three epic fall previews, dozens of contributed articles from writers across the cookbook universe, several quasi-serious investigations of whether or not Rihanna is writing a cookbook, one investigation about what a soup-of-the-day cookbook can tell you about your personality, and many, many, many, many, (too) many bread bro books.

I am so thrilled, surprised, and honored that you all voluntarily signed up to read my cookbook ramblings once a week. And in your honor, I am offering paid subscriptions to the newsletter at 20% off!! This deal will expire a week from today, November 28, so NO DILLY-DALLYING.

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And if you’re already a paid subscriber? How about giving a gift subscription to a pal?

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In honor of this anniversary, I wanted to share a few of my favorite SPN posts of all time. I like to think this newsletter is a mix of fun and serious, goofy and nerdy, navel-gazey and comprehensive. Here’s some of the best of all of it:

• Is Rihanna Writing a Cookbook? (Probably Not, But I Am Willing to Be Wrong About That)

• The Stained Page News Guide to Canadian Cookbooks

  1
  , by Simon Thibault

• Q&A: Gabrielle Davenport and Danielle Davenport of New York’s BEM Books & More, a culinary bookstore focused on Black-authored books.

• Q&A: Julia Turshen (

  Keep Calm & Cook On
  ) , on the publication of her book Simply Julia.

• A Brief History of Japanese American Community Cookbooks, by Lola Milholland (

  Group Living
  )

• The Soup Zodiac: 365 Soups for Every Day of the Year

• 9 Cookbooks for When You Just Want Tasty Vegetables for Dinner

• 3 Books That Changed My Life

  2

• One of the World’s First Photobooks Focused on Bread, by Andrew Janjigian (

  Wordloaf
  )

• What Recipes Have in Common with Clean Code, by Alaina Kafkes

• Other Kitchens, Other Cooks: Generosity in Restaurant Writing, by Cynthia Nims (

  Seafood Savvy
  )

• Sticklers, Improvisors, and “Following” Recipes

• A Cookbook for Prisoners, by Prisoners, by John McCracken (

  The NEWcomer
  )

• I Just Like How These 5 Cookbooks Look, Okay

• Why Chef Gavin Kaysen Self-Published His New Cookbook

• Inside a Legendary Designer's Recipe Sketchbook, by Frances Baca

And finally, an idea for you: the holidays are coming up, and you know what everyone likes? Recipes for queso. I know, because my recipe for queso is the 6th-most popular post this newsletter has ever run. And you know what are two fabulous books with amazing recipes for queso in them? Why, these two books I had the great pleasure to work on! They are both great, promise. Check ‘em out.

• The Austin Cookbook by Paula Forbes (Abrams, 2018)

• The Big Texas Cookbook by the Editors of Texas Monthly (HarperWave, 2022)

Okay loves, that’s all for today. I hope my US readers have a lovely, lovely holiday weekend filled with family or chosen family and lots of tasty things to eat. Take care, keep cozy, talk soon.