Stephen Colbert and Wife Evie McGee Colbert's Cookbook Is a 'Little Peek' Into Their 'Very Private' Family (Exclusive)

Stephen Colbert and his wife Evie McGee Colbert have mostly kept their kids out of the spotlight — until now.

The Colberts, who have three grown children, Madeleine, 28, Peter, 26, and John, 22, teamed up on the new cookbook, Is this funny? (out now). In it, they offer a “little peek” into their quiet family life.

“It’s an interesting step for us,” says Evie, 61, who, along with Stephen, is guest food editor for this week’s issue of PEOPLE. “We’re very private and we’ve kind of kept our family and kids and everything away from what you might call fame. But now they’re adults and they’ve all willingly participated.”

“It’s a small glimpse into our family,” she adds. “It’s not like we’re going to be a reality TV show, but it’s just a little bit of hanging out with us in the kitchen.”

Is this funny? celebrates lowcountry cuisine, which is classic, coastal South Carolina cuisine heavily influenced by West African cuisine. (Stephen and Evie are both from Charleston, SC) Red rice, crab cakes, okra and other delicacies form an integral part of their cookbook.

“We are not professional chefs. We are people who enjoy cooking and eating,” says ‘Late Show’ host Stephen Colbert.

Eric Wolfinger

Stephen Colbert and wife Evelyn McGee-Colbert announce a new cookbook Is this funny? Full of family favorites

The hilarious couple, who have been married for 30 years, haven’t always been so in sync in the kitchen. Early in their marriage, they stopped cooking together after an argument over a metal spoon.

“We didn’t cook together at first,” Stephen, 60, tells PEOPLE.

“When we first got married in 1993, they sent us Calphalon non-stick pots and pans,” adds Evie. “We lived in Chicago and [the kitchen] it was like a closet. I’m not exaggerating! It was the tiniest little kitchen.”

“And we are married and I say, ‘I cook. This is great.’ And Stephen looked down and said, ‘You’re using a metal spoon in that non-stick pan?’ And I thought, ‘Is that bad?’ And he almost said, ‘I’m not sure we can get married anymore,'” she recalls.

Stephen cuts him off, “That’s why I don’t want you to tell the spoon story because it didn’t happen!”

In his version of the story of the couple’s early relationship, Stephen says his wife used a metal spoon to “scrape stuff off” the bottom of the pot while they were cooking the sauce. She says he handed her a wooden spoon and just said, “It’s damaging the pan.” He grew up using non-stick pans and “as kids we were made to not use a metal spoon,” he says.

Regardless of the truth, the infamous spoon story taught them a valuable lesson. “You have to compromise and be patient with each other,” says Evie, “even in the kitchen.”

“And then wait 30 years before you write a cookbook together,” jokes Stephen.

Stephen Colbert and his daughter Madeleine.

Eric Wolfinger

True to their real-life relationship, their cookbook is full of witty stories with main notes on recipes in the form of dialogue.

“It’s meant to hang out with us while we cook,” says Stephen. “The best podcast is like just hanging out with people; we want him to feel that way.”

After “resisting” professional work for most of his marriage, Stephen admits the pandemic has changed that. While quarantined in South Carolina, Evie was her husband’s “only crew and only audience” on the Late show how they filmed at home. After passing that test, they knew it was time to start cooking together again.

Does This Taste Funny Cookbook by Stephen Colbert and Evie McGee Colbert.

Eric Wolfinger

“After we found out that we worked well together, we thought, ‘Well then we should do something together.’ And then this fell into our laps,” says Stephen.

At home in Charleston for five months, Evie said it was a “wonderful moment” because they “rediscovered a lot of the recipes we grew up with.”

And it was certainly healing after the bridal spoon debacle. “I think we were both surprised by how well we worked together in the kitchen,” she admits of the process.

Madeline Colbert, Peter Colbert, Stephen Colbert and John Colbert in 2008.

Stan Seymour/Shutterstock

Each of their children is included in the recipes that mean the most to them. John has as many as five pages dedicated to his sourdough expertise.

“I don’t think we said we were going to write a family cookbook, but it turned into a family cookbook,” says Evie. “Because we have such a big family — Stephen is one of 11, I have one sister — but we kind of said to everybody, ‘Hey, we’re writing a cookbook, what do you think?’ And then of course everybody said, ‘Well, you have to put my this or that.'”

For more from the Colberts, including recipes from their cookbook, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE magazine, on newsstands Friday.

Stephen Colbert.

Eric Wolfinger

The book is dedicated to Evie’s mother, Patti McGee, who died in November 2022 after a long illness. “We spent all this time together with her just looking for old recipe boxes,” says Stephen. “That’s one of the most wonderful aspects to me.”

Evie adds, “It really was a collaborative effort.”

Does This Taste Funny?: Recipes Our Family Loves from Celadon Books is available now, wherever books are sold.

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Source: HIS Education