How Melissa Rauch from ‘The Big Bang Theory’ Spends Her Perfect Night In

Perfect Night In is a series where we ask actors, artists, entrepreneurs, and beyond how they’d spend the ultimate luxury—a blissful evening at home.

If you’re a fan of “The Big Bang Theory,” you’ll recognize Melissa Rauch, who plays Howard’s wife Bernadette. She was introduced in the show during the third season and quickly became a regular—and 10 seasons later, this will be her last as the beloved TV sitcom comes to an end.

However, there is much more to Rauch than her quirky onscreen character. She’s also a proud mom to 2-year-old Sadie and recently stepped into the publishing world and co-created “The Tales of Tofu,” a children’s book that teaches kids all about the superfood tofu while providing recipes they can try at home. It’s something that she loves reading to her own daughter.

So naturally, Sadie is part of her ideal night in at home (and so is tofu, of course). See below for the full night’s itinerary, filled with old DVDs, chocolate pudding, and lots of love.

Describe your perfect homebody scene in five words: Sweatpants, good food, books-slash-TV, cuddles.

Are you alone or with someone else? With my family. I would do a night in every single night, I’m the biggest homebody there is. There’s nothing better.

What’s your night-in uniform? Oversized. Everything needs to be so tremendous. Elastic waist pants are a must. I love hoodies that I can wear as a gown. And scrunchies—I know scrunchies have made a resurgence. You know how they say you shouldn’t go back to a trend if it was cool because if you did it the first time around you’re too old for it? I don’t know if [it applies] if you’ve just done it the entire time. I’m not revisiting, I kept scrunchie hardcore. It’s my Jersey roots.

What two people, dead or alive, would you let crash your night? My husband and my daughter.

TV or a movie? Movie or a TV binge.

What are you watching? I still have an old school DVD player, which I love. If I could I’d be putting in a VHS tape. I got these really great old DVDs of “The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show.” Their comedy still holds up and I love it. For movies, I love black-and-white, and I’ve been on a Bette Davis kick.

Silence or music? Soft, light music. Maybe like a light jazz in the background—not elevator jazz, but an Ella Fitzgerald in the background.

E-books or the real deal? I think for kids [digital is] great in that it’s accessible for everyone. For myself, I’m sort of old school as far as curling up with a hard copy book.

What are you reading? There’s this awesome book by a woman named Jill Willard called “Intuitive Being.”

Board games: yay or nay? I do like Scrabble.

Order in or cook for yourself? If I’m in, then I would say cook for myself.

What are you eating? This mac and cheese that I’ve been obsessed with lately.

What drink are you pouring? I make a big pot of lemon ginger water, and I have a big jar of it in my fridge. I’m so boring, but it’s really good.

What’s for dessert? I’d top it off with a chocolate pudding from “The Tales of Tofu” book. I could eat an entire plate of that.

Late-night snack? The chocolate pudding. There’s been a batch in my fridge and it’s pretty great.

Do you have a self-care ritual? I tend to do food prep the night before. When everyone’s asleep, I’ll go into the kitchen and if I’m making tofu tacos for Sadie the next day, I’ll cut up the tofu and get it into jars. I’m pretty simple when taking care of myself: skincare routine, and occasionally I’ll do a facial.

What do you try to avoid at all costs? We’re so inundated with everything on our phones, so I try to avoid it with my family by putting it away and shutting down. Time is really all we have and it’s precious and I don’t want to waste a minute with loved ones when you’re constantly looking down. I almost want a drop basket at my door where you put your phones in.

Candles: yay or nay? (if yay, what’s your favorite?) Yay. Anything that doesn’t give me a headache, so nothing too strong.

Face masks: yay or nay? Yay! I sort of bop around. There’s the one that makes you look like an old person, the Hanacure mask. That one’s pretty good.

Bubble bath: yay or nay? I haven’t been able to do one recently, but I’m not opposed to a bubble bath. If someone wanted me to draw me a bubble bath right now, I would get into it. I would do the rest of the interview from a bubble bath.

Chores: yay or nay? I’m so lame but I do enjoy laundry. I feel accomplished when I get laundry folded and put away.

Ideal bedtime? If I could, I’d be in bed by 11 p.m.