Hannah Hart’s My Drunk Kitchen cookbook appeared in my life at just the right moment. Lots of crazy things have been going on in my life lately, and I was in serious need of something to lift my spirits and distract me from the impending feeling all twenty-somethings feel, and what I call, the Young Adult Crisis.
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You know, that sudden overwhelming feeling of “Wow, I’m going to graduate in a year and a half, and I still don’t know what I want to do with my life, or even what I want from life in general” which all college students feel at least once (if not constantly).
Like most people, I turned to food to find inspiration. Unlike most people, I didn’t go to the closest Taco Bell and binge, I walked to the cookbook section of my local library and found a true gem: My Drunk Kitchen: A Guide to Eating, Drinking & Going With Your Gut.
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I’ve been wanting to buy a copy of Hannah Hart’s cookbook from the moment I heard about it. Being a huge fan of Hannah’s “My Drunk Kitchen” videos on YouTube, I was beyond excited. However, when I glanced through the book at the bookstore, I was skeptical of paying $22.99 for a cookbook that didn’t have any measurements for any of the ingredients, and recipes as simple as opening a can, putting puff pastry on top of the can, and putting it in the oven.
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When I saw the My Drunk Kitchen cookbook at my local library, I pounced on the opportunity to check it out and saw it as on opportunity to distract myself from my broke college student problems.
After approaching this book with skepticism, I was taken aback with how powerful the message of this cookbook is. This book is not necessarily about making perfect food (which I’m sure you could by following the directions in these recipes, but I will admit that I haven’t had a chance to try anything out yet). It’s about making the most out of what you have and finding inspiration to be creative.
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At face value, Hannah’s cookbook is amazing for college students. It offers many seemingly-simple ideas to inspire diverse meal options with ingredients every college student is likely to have.
Looking deeper into the pages reveals a wealth of advice that each college student could appreciate. At the end of each recipe is a “Life Lesson” section. The one that sums up one of the most important lessons taught in this book follows the recipe for “Things in a Blanket.”
“Things in a Blanket” is a twist on the well known pigs-in-a-blanket. Essentially, you wrap crescent roll dough around different stuff and bake them. Obviously, not every combination will be ideal, but that’s what Hannah points out in this “Life Lesson.” She reminds us that things don’t always work out; if we accept our failures, we can learn from our mistakes.
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All in all, this is a fun, quirky cookbook that would be a great addition to any college student’s bookshelf. This cookbook is a reminder to enjoy life, to find inspiration to make the most of what you have, and to “go with your gut.” Despite my initial caution, I would buy this book without hesitation, and when I treat myself at the end of this semester, I’m going to buy this book without hesitation to add to my cookbook collection.
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