Cheetos Just Launched Their First-Ever Cookbook

With a second pandemic wave either already happening or all but inevitable throughout pretty much the entire country, the holidays are about to get weird in a less than ideal way. Perhaps that makes this the perfect moment in human history for a Cheetos-themed holiday cookbook.

The good news is that this isn't a hypothetical idea, but a very real thing you can purchase right now. Starting Thursday, November 12, you can get your orange-dusted fingers on BON-APPE-CHEETOS: A Holiday Cookbook by Chester & Friends. In this case, those friends are not fellow cartoon snack mascots, but a host of celebrity chefs including Richard Blais, Anne Burrell, Casey Webb, and Ronnie Woo.

Featuring 22 creative ideas for making both food and drinks, this collection of Cheeto-themed recipes covers the entire spectrum of dishes you'll need to elevate your holiday entertaining this winter—even if you're just entertaining yourself by making a Paw-Some Bacon Ranch Cheeseball. Other recipes in the collection range from Flamin' Hot Tamales to Mashed Paw-Tatoes to Cheeto-dusted Fried Green Tomatoes, many of which integrate the taste of the signature snack without making it the focal point of the dish. Of course, you can also make your own Purrfect Popcorn Balls in case those holiday tins of Cheetos popcorn prove hard to come by.

While the concept of a Cheetos cookbook is at least a little silly no matter how you look at it, the good news is that anyone who pays for it will be supporting a great cause. In addition to an Instagram-based contest (that involves posting snacks with #BonAppeCheetos and #Entry plus tagging @Cheetos), the cookbook can be "purchased" through a donation of at least $35.00 to World Central Kitchen at Cheetos.com/cookbook. As a nonprofit, WCK's work to safely distribute fresh meals to vulnerable communities as part of its #ChefsForAmerica program will be truly vital this holiday season.

So if you bought too many Cheetos back in March and still don't know what to do with them, your time has come. For everyone else, think of it as making a worthwhile charitable donation and getting a very unique cookbook thrown in for free. With the way things are going, we'll all need some new recipes to keep us entertained soon enough.