You Do You - by Serena Wolf (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

USA Today Bestseller

When it comes to creating the perfect meal, the best cooks know when it's time to go off the book.

Culinary expert Serena Wolf returns with a celebration of individualism in the kitchen, designed to boost creativity and confidence, one recipe at a time.

Nothing kills appetites--and enthusiasm--faster than following rigid rules for cooking. But changing things up can also feel risky. What if you end up ruining a meal by changing something in a recipe? Crafting a delicious meal should be an activity that, first and foremost, feels good.

You Do You features flexible, flavor-packed recipes that are incredible as written but designed to be tweaked endlessly, with tons of substitution options to help get your creative juices flowing and encourage customization. With Serena's warm guidance, you'll feel like you have a trusted friend and teacher in your kitchen, helping you fix any hiccups as you have fun making each recipe your own.

On your adventure through fluffy frittatas, crispy quesadillas, and juicy reverse-seared steak, unlock your inner culinary genius by:

• Understanding how to tailor any recipe to personal tastes and dietary restrictions
• Getting innovative with the ingredients you have on hand (instead of letting them go to waste or needing to run out to the grocery store)
• Confidently tweaking meals and reimagining dishes in countless ways
• Learning a variety of "little lessons to live by"--foundational techniques, tips, and tricks that will equip you to cook amazing meals on the fly with no recipe

With recipes from staple breakfasts and one-pan meals for busy weeknights to cocktails and fancier fare, You Do You is a cookbook for everyone, from beginners to seasoned home chefs alike. Because everyone is different--and that's a beautiful thing!

Review Quotes

"Serena has nailed it! She gives readers the confidence and encouragement they need as home cooks to give every meal a try. By simple additions or alterations or tweaks, every recipe can be a success, and every meal can be delicious and meaningful. Bravo!"
--Martha Stewart

"'You do you' is such a simple yet game-changing approach to home cooking and I am so happy that the indomitable Serena Wolf is here to show us all how to do it. Full of clever little lessons and smart ideas for substituting ingredients that will make our time in the kitchen less stressful and more fun, You Do You will make everyone a more engaged, creative, and confident cook."
--Hetty Lui McKinnon, food writer and author of Tenderheart and Linger

"You Do You solves one of the biggest pain points in home cooking: what to do when you don't have exactly what a recipe calls for. Serena's recipes are delicious as written, but even more importantly, she encourages readers to use them as a jumping-off point. They're packed with smart guidance that helps you cook with confidence and banishes kitchen anxiety."
--Caroline Chambers, New York Times bestselling author of What to Cook When You Don't Feel Like Cooking

"In You Do You, Serena Wolf empowers you to do just that: Go rogue! Go off-book! Improvise! With delicious recipes, each offering countless substitutions, You Do You will put you at ease in the kitchen, giving you the confidence to work with what you have and adapt recipes to your tastes and preferences. Filled with foundational techniques you can weave into your everyday cooking, You Do You is more than a cookbook; it is a blueprint to freedom in the kitchen, a pass to shamelessly experiment, a gateway to recipe liberation."
--Alexandra Stafford, New York Times bestselling author of Pizza Night

"Serena's recipes are adaptable, unfussy, and full of flavor. It's the kind of cooking that encourages you to trust yourself and create something beautiful without overthinking it. As someone who builds community through appetizers and hosting, I'm always looking for dishes that feel approachable and joy-filled. Serena does exactly that in You Do You!"
--Marissa Mullen, creator of That Cheese Plate and author of I'll Bring the Apps

"There's so much fear and anxiety for new cooks in the kitchen--but it doesn't have to be that way. In You Do You, Serena Wolf invites home cooks to loosen up and trust their instincts, showing that the most delicious meals often happen when you stop following the rules so closely. With decades of experience distilled into approachable, confidence-building takeaways in every recipe, this book feels like cooking alongside a savvy friend who wants you to have fun--and eat really well."
--Alexis deBoschnek, author of To the Last Bite and Nights and Weekends

"You Do You gives any busy, harried cook the foolproof formulas they need to produce delicious, unfussy dinners and have more fun in the process. If there are Beef Bourguignon Meatballs with a side of Party Peas and Carrots on the menu, you're pretty much guaranteed to enjoy yourself."
--Phoebe Lapine, author of Carbivore

About the Author

After graduating from Harvard, Serena Wolf cultivated her passion for food at Le Cordon Bleu Paris, receiving her cuisine diploma in 2011. Since then, she has put her culinary skills (and sense of humor) to work as a private chef, culinary instructor, recipe developer, and blogger at Domesticate-Me.com. She is also the bestselling author of The Dude Diet cookbook series and the cohost of Spiraling, "the optimistic anxiety podcast." Serena's work has been featured by The TODAY Show, The Huffington Post, SELF, Woman's Day, and The New York Post, as well as many other well-known publications and media outlets. She lives in New York City with her husband, Logan, and very fluffy dog, Taco.