On a Sunday morning, going out for a nice brunch with friends is a go-to following a night of a little too much alcohol and not enough sleep. Being a college student in New Orleans can turn this practice into a kind of routine, but one that can become very costly over the course of a semester. 

We want the yummy hangover food without the cost of going out or ordering in. Thanks to Lauren Shockey and her new hangover remedy cookbook “Hangover Helper,” which you can preorder here, it is possible to make those foods all from the comfort of your own home. 

The cookbook begins with a healthy disclaimer that there are other proven and effective ways to avoid or treat a hangover. Shockey offers tips and tricks on everything from what to eat as a “drunk food” to “Global Drinking Stats and Figures.” She even provides readers with translations for “I’m hungover” in nine languages. 

Shockey herself has learned to cook in kitchens all over the world, and an overarching focus in “Hangover Helper” is the global perspective on hangover foods. International origins of each of the dishes are all labeled neatly under their titles followed by a short description of the food and more background information. 

Shockey’s book is split into five chapters: “Boozy and Virgin Drinks” (a little hair of the dog), “All About Eggs,” “Main Dish Carbs,” “Savory Soups and Stews” and “Snacks and Sandwiches.” There are also levels of difficulty assigned to each dish based on how easy Shockey anticipates each would be to make while experiencing a hangover. 

Readers can choose the meals based on the severity of the hangover or their individual cooking skills. Aside from offering up options for an easy and lazy hangover meal, Shockey provides recipes for other, more complex dishes for those looking to improve their culinary chops.

Having used the book to make one of the easier meals, I can personally say that the food was very delicious and effective. 

For the purpose of this review, I made the Pepperoni Pizza Bagels recipe found on in the “Main Dish Carbs” section. Like most of the foods in the book, it covers the main elements of sufficient hangover food: “carbs, salt, meat, [and] fat.” The pizza bagels took only about 15 minutes to make, including prep time. This recipe makes preparing pizza bagels on a lazy Sunday feel a little more engaging than zapping frozen food in the microwave. 

Other, more dynamic recipes featured in “Hangover Helper” include Thai Drunken Noodles, Japanese Green Tea and Rice Soup, and an Irish Crisp Sandwich, which is essentially a potato chip and butter sandwich. 

This cookbook covers many bases when it comes to textures and flavors, but it maintains an emphasis on hearty foods that can help bring that brain back to life. I look forward to attempting many more of these recipes in the future, but hopefully not out of necessity.