A week before Thanksgiving a mysterious package arrived for me at work. A festive green card was taped to the top and little foodie oil spots dotted the cardboard sides. One thing was certain: the box was heavy with something yummy inside. Harvey, the messenger who brought it up to me, watched eagerly as I opened the box on the spot (He wanted see if his guess of chocolate cake was right — apparently, the messenger center had a bet going). Lo and behold, a beautiful batch of two dozen chocolate chip cookies to celebrate my first acquisition: Cara & Phoebe’s Quarter-Life Kitchen. 

Cara Eisenpress and Phoebe Lapine are the creators of Big Girls, Small Kitchen, the food blog that had our mouths watering for months before the pair came in to pitch their book. We were inspired by their sophisticated take on childhood classics like Pesto Mac ‘n Cheese and Pancakes with Pomegranates. Cara and Phoebe’s book will tell the story of their friendship (they’ve been cooking together since a middle school bake-off) complete with recipes and a foreword by Ina Garten. 

We’re super excited about this book — and so are our stomachs. What else can I say? It was love at first bite. 

p.s. Check out the recipes for Cara and Phoebe’s scrumptious book deal cookies. We chomped through those babies in less than two days and I don’t think the janitor was too happy about all the crumbs we left behind…