FOX host Carley Shimkus opened up about her debut recipe book and life as a new mother in an exclusive interview with Dailymail.com
The 37-year-old Fox and Friends First co-host released her cookbook of favorite recipes from her coworkers and family members
She opened up about the joys of being a parent – and the lack of sleep  

Fox host Carley Shimkus sets her alarm at 1.15am to get ready for her show.

And if you think that sounds like hard work, she’s also a busy mom to 10-month-old Brock and has written a cookbook this year to boot.

‘I drink so much coffee that sometimes I’m going to bed at night and I get excited about waking up and drinking coffee in the morning,’ she told DailyMail.com.

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The 37-year-old New Jersey native greets American households at 5am every weekday alongside her Fox and Friends First co-host Todd Piro.

Known within the network as a foodie, Shimkus has now released a recipe book just in time for holiday cooking and has been giving baby Brock his first Christmas experience.

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Shimkus has been giving baby Brock his first Christmas experience (pictured at NYC’s Rockefeller Center). ‘Christmas coming up is really fun. We just did pictures with Santa and he is such a friendly baby and he will go with anybody and smile at anybody – but he had a full meltdown on Santa’s lap. I have some pretty cute pictures,’ she laughed.

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She and her financier husband Peter Buchignani gave birth to her first child, Brock, in February and the TV star says the highlight of motherhood has been watching Brock’s development as he grows up and changes

‘Christmas coming up is really fun. We just did pictures with Santa and he is such a friendly baby and he will go with anybody and smile at anybody – but he had a full meltdown on Santa’s lap. I have some pretty cute pictures,’ she laughed.

Cooking with Friends: Eat, Drink and Be Merry features more than 75 recipes straight out of the star’s culinary repertoire. The dishes range from easy-to-make appetizers, to budget-friendly mains, to indulgent desserts.

The adored host told Dailymail.com in an exclusive interview that Cooking with Friends began as a long-running segment on Fox and Friends in which anchors along with guests and reporters cook their favorite family meal – something that is ‘meaningful and special’ to them.

‘It’s just a cool way to see somebody that you usually seen in a serious role let their hair down and cook something fun that they like to make at home,’ she said.

Shimkus described the moment that Fox News Books, which published the book in partnership with Harper Collins, approached her with the book idea as ‘full-circle’ because she was pregnant with her first child at the time, so she was cooking at home more and getting ready to prepare home-cooked meals when the baby came.

She and her financier husband Peter Buchignani gave birth to her first child, Brock, in February and the TV star says the highlight of motherhood has been watching Brock’s development as he grows up and changes.

‘Even when I look back at pictures of him from four months ago – he’s changed so much. It’s cheesy but it is true when they say it goes by so fast even though it’s only been 10 months,’ she said.

Shimkus has to balance her busy work-life with being a new mother, which is why creating a recipe book with fun, easy and affordable meals was so important to her.

Shimkus shared that food has always been an especially important part of her life.

‘My parents definitely put a big emphasis on eating dinner together. When I was in High School it was an eye-roll because you know how high schoolers are. Now that I am past that stage it’s something I’m totally gonna be doing with my children,’ she said.

‘Meals were important and in terms of food in general I will eat anything and everything and have always been that way.’

Coming from a multicultural home – Shimkus also incorporates an array of global recipes that reflect her upbringing.

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The 37-year-old New Jersey native greets American households at 5am every weekday alongside her Fox and Friends First co-host Todd Piro (pictured together)

With a Puerto Rican mother and Polish-Lithuanian father – she was raised on international dishes like her mother’s ‘Arroz con Frijoles’ and her grandmother’s Apple Cake.

Her mother grew up in a Puerto Rican neighborhood in Ohio and raised her own children eating authentic recipes.

One frequent dish being served at the family’s dinner table was rice and beans and corned beef, which Shimkus said she got bored of as a kid but it ended up being a main pregnancy craving and earned a spot in the cookbook.

Her father cooked Polish and Lithuanian-inspired dishes, like pierogis, but decided that he wanted to include Linguine with Clam Sauce as his recipe for the book.

Shimkus featured fan-favorites and iconic dishes from her Fox colleagues – including Steve Doocy, Rachel Campos-Duffy, Pete Hegseth, Brian Kilmeade, Ainsley Earhardt, and Janice Dean.

She said it was hard to pick a favorite – but one of her own dishes was a stand-out.

‘My tater tot casserole is truly so good. The base is frozen tater tots so we’re not talking Michelin Stars by any means. And then it’s just eggs, breakfast sausage, cheese – you pop it in the oven and put dollops of sour cream on top. It’s so indulgent and so yummy,’ the mom said.

Shimkus also gave a special shout-out to her barbecue devilled eggs.

As far as her guests’ contributions – the Fox news star said her fellow host Rachel Campos-Duffy provided the recipe for her lemon ricotta pancakes which they made together on Fox and Friends.

Fox’s meteorologist Janice Dean also offered up one of Shimkus’s favorites – a ‘grilled donut’. The dish consists of a Krispy Kreme donut slathered in butter and put in the toaster oven, which Shimkus said ‘just kind of fits her personality’.

‘None of the people who contributed are expert chefs,’ Shimkus said. ‘They have that one recipe that they love and is meaningful to them. If you’re a Fox viewers you watch these people on TV all day around the clock so it’s kind of cool to see them in a different light.’

The Fox and Friends host joined the network in 2009 after graduating from Quinnipiac University where she earned a degree in Broadcast Journalism.

Shimkus worked as a production assistant on Fox Business Network – she was later promoted to associate producer.

She strongly suggests that anyone still looking to buy Christmas present gives the gift of her cookbook this holiday season.