Not a Cookbook (Marguerite Imbert)

Not a Cookbook is an inspiring 8-week journey through your kitchen. Daily cooking challenges encourage creativity, reflection, independence and exploration. Kid and family friendly. Draw, write, move, breathe, and—mostly, learn to cook (and bake) without recipes.

Written and designed by Marguerite Imbert—an Internet personality who became a Michelin Guide food writer and a professional chef without culinary school or formal training. These are her tips and tricks.

NOT A COOKBOOK offers:

A NEW WAY TO COOK: Most cookbooks ask you to buy specific ingredients. Instead, this has you cook with what you have. It doesn’t give you instructions. Instead, it builds your confidence through your own discoveries and experimentation.

DAILY CHALLENGES: 8 weeks (7 days/wk.) of unique daily challenges guide you to reflecting on your identity as a chef and foodie and developing as a chef, whether you’re brand new or seasoned.

FAMILY AND KID FRIENDLY: Designed for the pandemic. Enough said.

SPACE FOR YOU TO JOURNAL: Printed on paper you can write, color and draw on, perfectly sized at 5.5" x 8.5" for you carry in your bag, curl up with on the couch, or rest on the kitchen countertop.

THOUGHT-PROVOKING QUESTIONS: What are your earliest food memories? What’s your favorite way to cook eggs? What foods make you feel best? Explore your identity as a chef and foodie through reflection and writing.A RECORD OF YOUR RECIPES: This book does not contain a single recipe. Instead, it has you write your own. With gentle guidance, it allows you to formulate your own recipes (and menus) here in the book.

MOTIVATIONAL AFFIRMATIONS: Mantras throughout the book support confidence, creative openness, gratitude, hopefulness and mindful awareness. As a yoga and meditation teacher, Imbert offers guidance taken directly from her years leading groups.

SPACE TO COLOR AND DRAW: Doodles throughout the book encourage you to draw, and color! Not a Cookbook is intentionally designed in a black and white format, so you can get your crayons and markers out and benefit from the therapy of color booking.

WOMEN-MADE CONTENT: Created, written and illustrated by Marguerite Imbert with a stunning cover illustration by renowned winemaker and artist Alice Sutro of Sutro Wines. Dynamic graphic design by Jena Richer. Edited by American-in-Paris and long-time writer Sara Lieberman