“Rosh Hashanah is the least hungover I’ve ever been on New Year's Day.” 

—re:books

“Cooking is one of the things that connects my mom and me best, and I get to witness daily the impact that connecting with you has on her too. I hope you love this book as much as I loved helping to write it.” 

— Bonnie Stern’s daughter Anna Rupert in their new cookbook, Don't Worry, Just Cook

Everyone knows that "stressed" is just "desserts" spelled backward. Right now, most Jewish people are stressed the fuck out because of the high holidays—organizing who is going where and cooking and baking for Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) Sunday evening. And then as soon as Rosh Hashanah is over, they start all over again leading up to Yom Kippur. (May you be inscribed in the book Kindle of life!)

As I write this, it’s a Monday night at 10:30pm. My stomach is rumbling, and not because I have the munchies. (Did you know there is Kosher Kannabis Cannabis? Read my next article that puts the HIGH in the “high holidays!”) 

I’m hungry because I'm flipping through the gorgeous pages of Don’t Worry, Just Cook: Delicious, Timeless Recipes for Comfort & Connection, the latest cookbook by Canada’s Cookbook Queen, Bonnie Stern. It’s the first of her cookbooks to be co-authored by her daughter Anna Rupert, who literally “dishes” on her famous chef mother below. (Do you wonder what Bonnie Stern's favourite junk food is? And if she ever Uber Eats? Keep reading! Also, five lucky readers have the chance to win a free copy of this delicious cookbook!)

But right now, I’m salivating and thinking, “Maybe my last name should be ‘Hungry’ and my first name should be ‘Always.’ Because I AM “always hungry,” and now even more so, as I flip through this beautiful cookbook!

If you’re Jewish, and especially if you live in Toronto, you’ve definitely heard the name Bonnie Stern. You probably own at least one, if not many, of her cookbooks, made or eaten one of her recipes, or have participated in the cooking school she ran for 37 years. 

When she closed it a decade ago, it was a heart-breaking “immensely difficult” decision for her. 

“…I didn't expect to feel like I had lost such a big part of myself—in fact, this is the first cookbook I've written since then,” Bonnie shares in the introduction to Don't Worry, Just Cook. 

Don't Worry, Just Cook is already an Amazon bestseller, ranking #1 in Kosher cookbooks, #2 in Canadian cookbooks, and #3 in Main Courses & Side Dishes. 

We should actually thank her daughter and co-author, Anna for encouraging her mother to write another cookbook. “I didn't know if I had the confidence to write another cookbook until my daughter, Anna, offered to work on it with me,” she shares in the intro. 

“Writing this book together was an emotional experience. It’s a special gift to meet your child as an adult, see her excel in her field, to see her as a trusted and compassionate friend,” writes Stern of her daughter.

If you don't know about my aversion ambivalence to cooking, I can sum it up like this: We basically call Thursdays ‘Uber Eats Thursdays’ because I don't want to cook. NOT to be confused with Uber Eats Monday and Uber Eats Wednesday when I also don't know how to cook. (Well, that's not entirely true. You haven't tasted my cereal.) 

So, I’m always looking for friends with benefits. And by “benefits,” I mean people who love cooking, especially for me.

Regardless of my ambivalence to cooking, Don't Worry, Just Cook, is still such an enjoyable read, with titbits of family history and stories behind the 125 mouth-watering recipes. 

And now I'm getting hangry, something I experience on a daily basis. I need to ask for forgiveness from some of the people I've sent Hangry e-mails to, which I will plan to do on Yom Kippur, the day of atonement.

A lot of people get “Hangry" on Yom Kippur, when Jews fast from sundown the evening prior until sundown the next day, go to services, atone for our sins, and sleep because we are in a state of hanger caused by a lack of food. Translation? By 4pm, feed me or I’ll kill you.

Now, I'm angry about the fact that I'm hungry when I should be trying to fall asleep because I just flipped to a recipe on page 205 called “Royal Wedding Buttermilk Scones.”

“I have always been somewhat neutral when it comes to the royal family, but when William and Kate got married, for some reason, I was up at 5:30am baking scones,” writes Bonnie Stern in an example titbit from Don't Worry, Just Cook. 

 The Royal Wedding Buttermilk Scones recipe caught my eye because I love making eating scones. “Everyone who makes scones has their own secrets,” Bonnie Stern writes above the recipe, which is something I did not know. How many people are walking around keeping scone secrets?

“The biggest secret, for me, is to make them fresh. Even a few hours can turn them dry and hard, so be sure to warm them when serving it making ahead,” says Bonnie. 

My secret is finding someone to give Don't Worry, Just Cook to, so they can make the scones for me. Although, I may have to fix this problem after flipping through the cookbook because now I kinda want to make a homemade meal. Or at least try. (Although the smoke alarm would probably be the only one cheering me on.)

Don't even get me started on reading about her Creamy Rice Pudding with Caramelized Bananas Recipe on page 237.  Someone once told Bonnie, “Your rice pudding saved my marriage!” So, forget couples therapy. Don't Worry, Just Cook is much cheaper and more enjoyable!

“We're always trying to dream up new ways to serve rice pudding, and Anna wondered about adding bananas to the caramel sauce. It’s become one of our favourites,” the mother-daughter duo share in Don't Worry, Just Cook. (For the creamiest rice pudding, use whole milk, whipping cream, and Italian short-grain rice.

And Bonnie's Brisket with Homemade Barbecue Sauce on page 154?  Bonnie exclaims that brisket is the epitome of family dinner. “I always buy a whole brisket," she shares, "Because it includes the single end, which is quite lean, and also the double end (the part I like) which has more fat and is juicier. This way, everyone can have the part they want.” 

I have had the honour of being an invited guest at Bonnie Stern’s house three times I think, for Friday night Shabbat dinner. But it's been a while. (Hint! Hint!) 

Aside from her close-knit family, you never knew who else would be at the table. I’d always leave feeling incredibly full, like I just ate one of my kids. I met and connected with everyone at the table, which is Bonnie’s most remarkable trait. (Her son Mark would drive me home too!)

She says that the idea for Don't Worry, Just Cook came from “understanding that food has the ability to connect us.” 

“I have always felt like a social worker in the kitchen,” Bonnie shares. "Although I trained as a chef, it was teaching people about cooking and supporting them in their everyday lives that resonated with me.” Nothing makes her happier than helping someone cook and "feeling like I am right there in the kitchen with them.”

Meanwhile, Anna, her daughter, had dreamt since she was just six years old, that one day, she and her mother would star in a cooking show called BonANNA’s in the Kitchen. Although the show never came to fruition, Anna Banana says she has been working on a collaboration with her mother for almost her entire life. 

“And at my mom's end, I suspect that the book may have started out as a ploy to spend more time with me, so we’re both guilty of wanting this to happen.”

Unlike me who considers peeling a banana as “following a recipe,” Anna Banana has been meal planning and assisting her mother in developing recipes “forever.” 

Cooking with her famous chef mother is “one of my favourite things to do,” Anna writes. “At some point mid-week, the two of us discuss and plan the menu for Friday night dinner and any other special meal that is coming up.” Like Rosh Hashanah!

“I kinda just get her,” Anna writes about her mother in the introduction to Don't Worry, Just Cook. But how did they "cook up" — sorry, the pun wrote itself — the title for Don't Worry, Just Cook? 

“As Anna and I were writing together, she often wondered out loud what the title of the book should be," Bonnie shares. “One day she asked me if we had any family sayings or what advice I always give. And I answered, 'I guess I tell people, 'Don't worry, just cook! It will be fine!’”

And, you know what? Maybe she’s right. Maybe I have to stop thinking, “There isn't any food!” And replace with “There is just a bunch of ingredients to make food" every time I open my fridge. 

Maybe this Jewish New Year, I will make a resolution to “cook through this book” instead of what I have done in the past with her bestselling cookbook Friday Night Dinners: Menus to welcome the weekend with ease, warmth, and flair  —which, mind you, like Don't Worry, Just Cook, has proven a wonderful gift to so many. (I must have given out at least 17 copies as gifts over the years!) 

Anyway, here is my Q&A with Anna Rupert.

Bonnie's Baby: Anna Rupert Spills 18 (Tasty) TidBits You Didn't Know About her mother, Canadian Culinary Cookbook Queen Bonnie Stern

RE:BOOKS: Who brought up the idea to co-author a cookbook first? And how did that conversation go? 

ANNA RUPERT: I did, but with no intention or thought whatsoever that I would be co-authoring it. I offered to help if she was thinking of writing another book, which I think in her mind equated to ‘more time with Anna!’ She pondered it (she likes to sit with things), and then it naturally progressed from there. I became the co-author later when it was clear I was heavily involved. 

RE:BOOKS: Were there any worries about working together? Families often get divided when they work together. Were there rules you two discussed and set out from the start to avoid issues? 

ANNA RUPERT: There weren't worries about working together, at least not big ones. On her end, I imagine she worried a bit about me being impatient (airing my least desirable qualities here I guess). Initially thinking I’d just be helping a bit helped me not to worry at the outset. We didn't have any rules at the start, but I have [since] developed rules, lol.

RE:BOOKS: There are 125 recipes in this gorgeous cookbook. What do you think your mom’s top three favs are in Don't Worry, Just Cook? 

ANNA RUPERT: I know my mom would say, “I love them all! How could I choose!?” But I can choose for her. I think her challah recipe would be in her favourites for sure. It is so meaningful to her both in challah’s connection to Jewish traditions and her family traditions because its origins are in her grandmother’s recipe. I think she would include the chicken schnitzel recipe. I know she loves that it’s delicious, juicy, and easy to make. It’s also not fried and inspired by Giuliano Bugialli who has always been an inspiration to her. And let’s also say the rice pudding. It launched her career, keeps evolving, and is SO GOOD.    

RE:BOOKS: What was the best part of working with your mother? I can feel the “connection/bonding” aspect, just reading some of the stories behind the recipes, but can you share if and how your relationship changed after doing this project together?

ANNA RUPERT: It may be annoying to say, but we’re closer. (I know how lucky that makes us.) I think one of the reasons why it was so easy to work together is that the project allowed each of us to bring together our strengths and very different things that we both do well, so there wasn't any competing or butting heads, and I'm not sure there would be anyway because all we want is the best for each other. It was also hilarious. I think she's hilarious, although it's not always on purpose/by choice.  

RE:BOOKS: What is one thing you learned about your mother while working together that you never knew about her before? 

ANNA RUPERT: Well, she's written 12 cookbooks and I had no idea how much work goes into a cookbook. Growing up, I was at her cooking school all the time, so I saw some of the inner workings of that, but I can't believe how she's done this as many times as she has, while running a business, raising kids, etc.  

RE:BOOKS: What was the most stressful part of working together? Can you share a funny story of some sort of disagreement that now seems ridiculous while working on Don't Worry, Just Cook? Any generational issues arise? 

ANNA RUPERT: Technology. I can't think of any funny disagreements, but if anything was challenging, it was her experience/comfort with technology and my patience for her experience/comfort with technology. Certainly generational. 

RE:BOOKS: I know you started “cooking” with your mom as soon as you could sit and hold your head up, but what was the REAL first adult/meal/dish you made, entirely on your own, for your mom, and at what age? 

ANNA RUPERT: I think the first big thing I made for my mom was dinner for her birthday. I was 22 or 23, and my friend came over for the ENTIRE DAY because that's how much time it took to put it together. I made a baked pasta dish. I made the meatballs, the tomato sauce, a cheese sauce, put it all together, baked it, and it really was delicious and made me feel so confident I could cook well! She was touched and I think proud. I may have also made Mitchell Davis's chocolate cake, but I might be melding two memories because I think just the pasta took the whole day.  

RE:BOOKS: What is your mother’s favourite junk food//midnight snack? Also, does she ever UberEats? 

ANNA RUPERT: It’s a tie between popcorn and candy - the soft chewy covered in sugar-type candies. And yes, she UberEats except - technology - so my brother or I UberEats for her. It was really important to her in the pandemic especially to support small neighbourhood restaurants, so she could spread the love around. 

RE:BOOKS: Does your mother prefer her potato latkes hard or soft? And plain or with apple sauce/sour cream? 

ANNA RUPERT: They need to be thin and crispy! And her favourite topping is sour cream with smoked salmon.

RE: BOOKS: What is the one food your mother can’t stand? 

ANNA RUPERT: She doesn't really hate anything, but she doesn't love zucchini. It's more of a "What does it even add?" feeling than anything else.  

RE:BOOKS: What are the pros of having an expert chef as a mother? What did she serve when you had friends come over, or waking up from a sleepover, for example, growing up? 

ANNA RUPERT: It’s always been nice to be able to show her off because she'd be more than happy to make me and my friends and anyone, anything. There were always cookies, challahs, or cinnamon buns to gift. I got to eat in fancy restaurants as a little kid and the chef would make me and my brother plain pasta with butter, which made me feel really special. And of course, now it's the best that she's taught me so much and still teaches me so much.

RE:BOOKS: If your mom was at a restaurant that offered every food and every dish in the entire world, what would her order be for an appetizer, main course, and dessert? 

ANNA RUPERT: She’d get overwhelmed by the options, say she's happy to eat anything and make me or my dad order for her.  

RE:BOOKS: What’s your mom’s favourite alcoholic beverage from the book? 

ANNA RUPERT: My dad's bourbon sours :)

RE:BOOKS:  This is not a cookbook for just people who are Jewish, and prior to this, your mom wrote Friday Night Dinners. What recipe for a Jewish food/dish would your mother suggest people try to make first? 

ANNA RUPERT: That's hard to answer! I think she might say rugelach. It's iconic and easy and delicious. Everyone will love it.  

RE:BOOKS: What foods/dish is your mother’s go-to for “comfort” food? What's YOUR go-to emotional-eating/comfort food.

ANNA RUPERT: Hers is definitely poached eggs on toast. And mine might be pancakes (we have a great pancake recipe in the book). Or just any cake (those too)   

RE:BOOKS: Was there a dish/recipe you wanted in Don't Worry, Just Cook but didn't make the cut? If so, what? 

ANNA RUPERT: This might be our funny disagreement that I couldn't recall earlier. There wasn't a recipe that I wanted that didn't make the cut, but my mom loves a recipe she has for spaghetti and meatball soup that just does not sit well with me. The concept, not the soup, because I've never tasted it. I'm sure it's delicious. So, I begrudgingly wrote it into the list of recipes to consider, and each draft would see it there until we had to cut things and she caved.  

RE:BOOKS: Your mother puts on pretty elaborate Friday Night Dinners. I know! I've been invited before! Who (dead or alive?) do you think your mother would invite for Rosh Hashanah dinner — aside from family and friends — to make her perfect “guest list?”

ANNA RUPERT: This question is impossible to answer because to make it the perfect Rosh dinner/celebration, it would have to be friends and family!  

RE:BOOKS: Is there anything that you want to ask your mother for forgiveness for starting the Jewish New Year? Something you did as a teen that she has never known about until now? Please share! 

ANNA RUPERT: I tend to be a pretty immediate confessor. So, if I had to ask her forgiveness for anything it would probably be for all the times I took things out on her. I know that's what teens do, and thankfully we have such a good relationship now, so she hopefully thinks it was all worthwhile.  

RE:BOOKS: Bonus Bonnie Question! Did your mom make scones when the Queen sadly passed? Did she think about it? 

ANNA RUPERT: She didn't. But I bet when she reads this, she'll think, "Let's make some scones in her honour!”  [UPDATE: BONNIE MADE THEM YESTERDAY!)

And to celebrate? We're giving away five Don't Worry, Just Cook cookbooks! All you need to do, is share this with a friend and enter to win by clicking here!