it's out! it's out! molly on the range is officially--after 2 1/2 years of thinking about it and doing things about it--out. and i'm so happy it is because it's allowed me to do all these fun things this past weekend, like babble on the radio and hug all of my new york friendsies and eat hummus every single day. i've had such a swell time here, and it's only just beginning because tonight is a party and tomorrow is another one and the next day i have a flight later in the day so guess who's gonna do a tequila shot on wednesday night, me. it's me.

how does it feel to have a book out, molly?? is a question i've gotten a few times and the answer is usually "like i need a red bull habit" or "grrrrrreat!" and then i'm like, huh, that's kinda dumb. let's analyze this further. so here's how it feels:

1. it feels like a million bucks! i get to schmooze with all you people and also have a conversation topic that is more fun than the weather, less scary than the election, and fulfills one requirement to pass the bechdel test. and i have tattoos to hand out! my five-year-old cousin put them all over her belly, it was the cutest gosh darn thing.

2. it feels like i kinda want to do it again? like i've forgotten all of the pain and insanity and wouldn't really mind another large project to think about now that i know that i can actually complete a large project. i mean, maybe it'll be a book project, maybe it'll be raising a goat or a pig, but a book sounds less muddy. and i feel like even in the time since i submitted my manuscript, my tastes have changed and i've discovered so many new ingredients that i want to play with. like preserved lemons, i could never imagine writing a book these days without plastering it with preserved lemons. and yet there are none in molly on the range.

3. cool and good and great and all of the positive feelings. i've had so many scrapbooks and moleskine diaries throughout my life, and this is just like that but bound nicely and illustrated and, as the kids say, legit. i am so happy with it and so excited to share stories that go deeper and weirder than my everyday banter on this here blog.

so i made a cake about it. i was going to make one layer of every cake from the book and stack them on top of each other, but then i counted them and that would have been 13 (thirteen!) layers, and structurally i'm just not confident in that. so this is a "greatest hits" cake. speculoos, vanilla cardamom, chocolate tahini, sprinkle, and pistachio. it was good, we ate it at the little pizza party that i threw for my grand forks and fargo friends who helped with the book. eggpop dug out the whole chocolate layer and futureeggbrother (did i mention eggsister got engaged??!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) dug out the whole pistachio layer. i love watching people getting physical all up in my cakes.

all of these cake recipes are in the book! but, if you're looking for some recipes today, here are some that my very good blogger friends have made from the book in the past week or so!!

lily made coconut malabi with persimmons (!!!), a genius seasonal variation since the one in the book has roasted rhubarb. and also she made me nostalgic for our "camp" days.

dani made mac and cheese and took this insanely stunning ingredient shot that i'm obsessed with. i love how real it is, how all of the ingredients look like they were pulled straight from the fridge and *just woke up that way*.

matt and beau made mandel bread and answer the question "what even is mandel bread!?" perfectly. and made me even more excited about going on a trip to boise next week, because i just found out they're coming!!!! what should we do in boise, friends??

stephanie made burger slider cakes and added cake fries and a shake!!!!! i had such a cute attack. i screamed.

sonja and alex made fried rice and have me pretty much convinced that i should road trip out to indianapolis right after my third chicago event. right?? right.

alexandra made mandel bread for dorie greenspan's #cookiesforkindness project, which is so sweet!!!! (sidenote: i met dorie yesterday and she is such a gem!!) <3 <3 alexandra's family miiight have eaten them all before she could share, hehe, it's ok i would have too.

shelly made mac and cheese and made a reference to amelia's notebook that hit the nail on the head!! amelia's notebook was such an inspiration for me and i am so happy that molly on the range shows it.

cynthia made fried rice and i just loved seeing this dish through her amazing styling eyes. it's such a simple dish that i had to reshoot a couple of times for the book because rice is hard to photograph! but cynthia made it look soo beautiful.

alana made a scone loaf and added sprinkles! because she knows me better than i know myself. and then she and her man took that loaf to europe! knowing that i am playing a part in the plane snacks of my close friends makes me feel so warm and fuzzy inside.

have a great week, everybody!!!!

-yeh!!