Oprah Winfrey Postpones Memoir, Will Publish Her First Cookbook Instead

Oprah Winfrey is getting into the cookbook business. The media mogul, who’s set to launch her own book imprint, will kick off her food writing career with the book Food, Health and Happiness: ‘On Point’ Recipes for Great Meals and a Better Life. Fox News reports that the book will release just in time to kick off the New Year on January 3, 2017. Oprah Winfrey’s imprint is currently unnamed, but it is part of Flatiron Books, which is a division of MacMillan U.S.

The title of Oprah Winfrey’s cookbook is telling. The “on point” reference is clearly a nod to her recent Weight Watchers collaboration. In fact, Oprah mentions Weight Watchers in her statement about the book.

“In the past several months on Weight Watchers, I have worked with wonderful chefs to make healthier versions of my favorite meals,” Winfrey said. “When people come to my house for lunch or dinner, the number one thing they ask is, ‘How is this so delicious and still healthy?’ So I decided to answer that question with recipes everyone can enjoy.”

Oprah Winfrey was originally supposed to publish a memoir, The Life You Want, as the first release for the book imprint, but that has been postponed indefinitely. Instead, fans can get Winfrey’s personal recipe favorites in the new cookbook.

Of course, Oprah has always shared her favorite foods with fans. Back in her talk show heyday, Oprah gave fans the recipe for her go-to drink, Moscow Mule, which she made during a camping trip with pal Gayle King. Winfrey has shared her favorite macaroni and cheese recipe (although it was far from low-fat) and her all-time favorite sandwich in America, a to-die-for curried chicken salad number that she loved so much she invested in the café that sold it to save it from closing.

In an interview for O Magazine, Oprah Winfrey and her longtime love Stedman Graham dished on some of their favorite recipes, including Oprah’s “Love” sandwich, a multi-layered smoked turkey, melted cheese grilled masterpiece topped with fresh tomato, scallions and avocado. Oprah said she only makes that sandwich for the people closest to her.

Interestingly, in that interview, Oprah also said he doesn’t like using recipes.

“I’m absolutely an improvisational cook—a makeshift cook,” Winfrey said. “I don’t like looking at recipes, and even if I do use one, I will adjust it to whatever feels right to me. It’ll be based on what is here, and what is in the garden. So it’s gonna involve some kind of herb—basil is my favorite—and usually some kind of grain or pasta.”

Stedman revealed that Oprah makes great blueberry pancakes, eggs and steaks, and a killer marinated chicken. Oprah also talked about one of her easiest favorites: Rosemary rice.

“You just get fresh rosemary and clip it and stir it up in the rice. It’s as easy as that,” she said.

But let’s face it, for her new cookbook, Oprah probably won’t be rehashing recipes from the past, especially since she’s a Weight Watchers spokesperson now. (Although if she can come up with a healthy Moscow Mule or mac and cheese, that would definitely be something.)

While Food, Health and Happiness will be Oprah Winfrey’s first official cookbook, it won’t be the first time she had a hand in getting a cookbook published. In 1994, Oprah helped her then-personal chef Rosie Daley publish the book In the Kitchen With Rosie: Oprah’s Favorite Recipes. The book was an instant success, and it made Daley wealthy enough that she didn’t have to work as a personal chef anymore.

In a 1998 interview with Vogue, Oprah talked about her pal’s cookbook success, saying fame happened fast for the former chef.

“Rosie didn’t know what hit her,” Oprah said. “Made her rich. It is the fastest-selling book in the history of publishing.”

Until Oprah’s new book, that is.

Take a look at the video below for the recipe for Oprah Winfrey’s favorite breakfast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vptD0huO5ZQ

[Photo by Ben Gabbe/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival]