"Cooking with Friends," the latest offering from Fox News Books, allows Carley Shimkus to step out of the studio and into your kitchen – and she's bringing her friends.
"’Cooking with Friends’ is a compilation of recipes from everybody on Fox News, all your favorite people that you see on TV," Shimkus told Fox News Digital.
"The title ‘Cooking with Friends’ comes from one of the most iconic, one of the most special and traditional ‘FOX & Friends segments’ where somebody would come on Fox News, whether it's a guest or host or reporter, and they kind of let their hair down and cook their favorite family meal, their most special meal to them," Shimkus continued. "So, this book is a compilation of all the ‘Cooking with Friends’ segments from over the years, plus a few extra special recipes of my very own."
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Shimkus, who is the host of "FOX & Friends First" and a newsreader on "FOX & Friends," said the book is a full-circle moment for her.
"When FOX Books came to me and said, ‘Hey, we have an idea for a book, would you be interested in helping with it, helping collect the recipes, adding some of your own?’ I was like, ‘I can't believe that you're coming to me and asking me this because when I was in high school, I would watch ‘FOX & Friends’ in the morning when I was eating breakfast myself, and my favorite segments were always the food segments and 'Cooking with Friends,’" she said.
Shimkus was up for the challenge and aimed to offer the most memorable dishes from the Fox News family in one place. The finished product of "Cooking with Friends" features recipes from Fox News personalities including Steve Doocy, Rachel Campos-Duffy, Pete Hegseth, Brian Kilmeade, Ainsley Earhardt, and Janice Dean.
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Abby Hornacek, Jason Chaffetz, Griff Jenkins, Steve Hilton, Gerri Willis, Sara Carter, Brian Brenberg, Jeanine Pirro, Martha MacCallum, Dr. Nicole Saphier, Guy Benson, Bret Baier, Shannon Bream, Dr. Marc Siegel, Johnny Joey Jones and Jessica Tarlov are among the other familiar faces to provide recipes.
Carley’s parents, Ed and Zulma Shimkus, both love to cook and their favorite recipes are also included.
"Growing up there was a major emphasis placed on home cooked meals," she said.
"My mom's parents were born in Puerto Rico and her first language is Spanish. So, my mom's recipe is… something that I grew up eating a lot is in the book, and it's rice and beans with a side of corned beef, which is my favorite thing to eat growing up, a very traditional Puerto Rican dish," Shimkus explained. "My dad loves to cook, too. He's Lithuanian, but the recipe that he decided to share is linguine and clam sauce. It’s one of my favorite recipes of all time."
Shimkus, who admits she’s an amateur in the kitchen, believes the book features easy and affordable meals that anyone can make, but also has recipes to challenge more experienced cooks. When it comes to her favorite clam sauce, she challenged readers to outdo her father.
"Cutting up the garlic is probably the most tedious part, but aside from that, it's easy to make," she said. "Nobody makes it better than my dad. But you can certainly try."
Shimkus said she’s always loved to eat, but said actually preparing her food is a newer passion that began when New York City restaurants were shut down during the 2020 COVID pandemic.
"I got in the kitchen, like a lot of people out there, and I really, really enjoyed it. And then there were also other influences at the time, like Steve Doocy’s cookbook, I loved and it's, you know, stained and I used it so much in the kitchen. So he's been a big cooking influence on me as well," she said.
The pandemic might be in the rearview, but Shimkus has a new reason to stay at home and cook.
"I'm a new mom. So when you have a baby, you're not going to restaurants as much anymore," she said. "When I put him to bed, the most fun thing that I do on the weekends now is cook. Sometimes my husband joins in. We put on some music and it's a really nice evening. So, eating has always been the highlight of my life and cooking is now definitely becoming something that I'm very, very passionate about."
Shimkus feels "Cooking with Friends" is the perfect gift for anyone who loves Fox News, or simply loves to cook.
"Not only does it have great recipes in it from some of your favorite people that you see on Fox News, there's also a lot of great pictures in it. We had so much fun during the photo shoot," she said. "A cute behind-the-scenes look at a lot of families that of people that you see on Fox News."
"Cooking with Friends" is available for preorder now on FoxNewsBooks.com.
Fox News’ Gabriel Hays contributed to this report.
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