The Late Show with Stephen Colbert always has an extra special…something when Stephen’s wife, Evie McGee, comes on the show. If there’s even the world’s most obscure holiday, we tune in with fingers and toes crossed, hoping we’ll get one of their “First Drafts” segments. Because, as the Colbert Nation knows, the pair always gives us an extra laugh and a hope that, maybe — just maybe — real-life “happily-ever-after” exists. Well, the Valentine’s Day 2024 episode delivered. Big time. Sure, we got exactly what we wanted and all…but this year, cupid had a surprise in store for us. One we never knew we needed before but are now ravenous for: their upcoming cookbook, Does This Taste Funny? Recipes Our Family Loves.
As usually happens whenever the Colberts gift us with an onscreen collaboration, the big news was accompanied by a few key ingredients. First, we start with a good, strong base of Evie lightly roasting her husband. Then, sprinkle in enough of Stephen Colbert himself being utterly smitten with the love of his life. At this point, your favorite Tolkien nerd should be a nice shade of pink. Toss in some giggles and unscripted smooches for a little bit of flavor, and you’ve got yourself a recipe for success.
We’ll stop with the inelegant cooking metaphor in a second, but we do want to loop back around to the roasting part. Because, well. That’s what makes the “First Drafts” segment extra delicious. And it has tons of unique varieties, all just slightly different from each other. The Roasted Stephen base for the Does This Taste Funny? announcement calls for a message of hope that’s also a slight rib. In this case, Evie told an obsessed Stephen and a fangirling at-home audience that she thinks the book should be an example of hope for all couples. Why?
“Because! I can not even chop celery without you telling me I’m doing it wrong.”
Warning: Please be sure to only gently poke the (guy who used to feud with the) bear(s), though. If you go too hard, you might cause him to say he wrote the book all by himself. Basically, what you want is a Stephen Colbert who’s adorably faux offended. (Again, check for the delightful shade of pink.) Just don’t heat your Late Show host so much that he wishes he could use the One Ring to just disappear, ok? You’ll know you’ve gone too far if you suddenly lose your co-author credit…
Yeah, we have no idea what we’re saying here either. But we do hope Evie and Stephen go extra hella meta on it. It would be cool AF if they shared some rejected drafts on The Late Show on the big release day. Just saying! But all terrible things must come to an end, so let’s drop all our uneducated cooking talk. Time to jump into the news part. Here’s the cookbook teaser:
“Stephen and Evie Colbert invite you to pull up a chair as they share their favorite recipes from family and friends and offer a glimpse of food and fun in their South Carolina home.”
(Source: Celadon Books)
To preorder the book, use the QR code Mrs. and Mr. Evie McGee shared on the show. (See what we did there?)
Or, you can just visit your favorite online retailer to safely reserve your copy. Because, well. That guy who did that cameo in The Hobbit that one time isn’t sure where the QR takes you. “I apologize ahead of time — I hope it’s not a cult,” he told us. And we’re like, what if we can gamble on it taking us to wherever the Colberts found their secret ingredient to what they’ve got going here? In that case, risking cult indoctrination might be worth it. (This is a bad attempt at a joke. Don’t try it at home. To actually buy the book, we recommend the Bookshop.org link because it’ll help raise money for independent bookstores.)
Does This Taste Funny? Recipes Our Family Loves by Stephen Colbert and Evie McGee Colbert goes on sale on September 17, 2024. But like…don’t gift it to Chuck Grassley for his birthday. Send it to us (along with some potatoes to boil, mash, and stick in a stew) instead.
