Jessica Merchant
Jessica Merchant is the Pittsburgh recipe developer behind How Sweet Eats and the author of four cookbooks, sharing seasonal dinners, desserts and drinks with a side of everyday life.
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Latest
Jessica’s happenings, collected from public sources, plus her backstory and Starbook, where fans write.
Known for
Overview
- Based in
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Work
- Recipe developer, food writer and cookbook author
- Started
- How Sweet Eats, September 2009
- First cookbook
- Seriously Delish, 2014
- Latest cookbook
- Easy Everyday, 2025
Mini bio
How it started.
Jessica began How Sweet Eats in September 2009 while working a desk job. She loved writing and first considered a lifestyle blog, but the meals she cooked became its focus. She started on free WordPress before moving to her own domain. Her kitchen education came from cooking on her own and learning from her mother and grandmother.
From blog to bookshelf.
Her growing food blog led to Seriously Delish in 2014, her first cookbook. The Pretty Dish followed in 2018, combining recipes with party ideas, playlists and beauty projects. Everyday Dinners arrived in 2021 with quick dinners and meal prep guidance. Easy Everyday expanded that approach across the day in 2025.
What keeps fans coming back.
How Sweet Eats combines seasonal recipes with Jessica’s conversational writing, weekly menus and glimpses of daily life. She develops recipes and writes cookbooks from Pittsburgh. Her Ground Up collaboration brought one of her favorite combinations, sweet and salty pistachio cookies, into a limited-edition nut butter.
Creditschronological, newest first
Cookbooks
- 2025Easy EverydayAuthor
- 2021Everyday DinnersAuthor
- 2018The Pretty DishAuthor
- 2014Seriously DelishAuthor
Food collaborations
- 2025Salted Pistachio Cookie Butter with Ground UpCollaborator
Recipe writing
- 2009–presentHow Sweet EatsCreator, recipe developer and writer
Quotes
When I was kid, I put together magazines and delivered them to my neighbors because I loved sharing my favorite things so much.Jessica Merchant, Ground Up interview
Looking back on the urge to create and share that came before her food blog.
Trivia
- The blog’s name comes from the song “How Sweet It Is” and her love of James Taylor’s music.
- Her earliest blog lived at HowSweet.WordPress.com before she moved to HowSweetEats.com.
- She says she is more of a cook than a baker because she dislikes following instructions.
- Reading is a daily habit; she says she feels incomplete if she has not read that day.
Find Jessica
Follow Jessica for new recipes, cookbook news and everyday kitchen inspiration.
Are you Jessica Merchant?
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