Summer Bloggin' Blog Tour: Pam McElroy, editor of The Green Teen Cookbook

I'm so excited to be involved in Zest Books' Summer Bloggin' Blog Tour! I was fortunate enough to snag interviews with Sophie Maletsky (of Sophie's World fame), and Pam McElroy, who are respectively behind the two featured books. Make sure you check out both posts!

It's time for an interview with Pam McElroy, editor of The Green Teen Cookbook: Recipes for All Seasons - Written by Teens, for Teens.


     1.   The Green Teen Cookbook sounds like a great resource for college students - I remember graham cracker nights in the dorms! What was the impetus for putting this book together?

Because of a similar experience! One night I dumped 1/2 a bottle of cheap Italian dressing on a piece of dry chicken breast, and I knew there had to be something better! There are so many things I could have been eating instead, for about the same cost...even less! Mostly, I was under the assumption that I needed fancy cooking tools and utensils, lots of money, and a culinary degree in order to prepare a quality dinner, and was I ever wrong! I hope The Green Teen Cookbook will give young and new adults confidence when it comes to cooking for themselves and their friends. A great meal is just a few dollars and a few ingredients away.

     2.   I think eating seasonally is something that not a lot of people consider - would you mind quickly explaining what it is and how it makes a difference?

Choosing to eat seasonally is one of the easiest and most effective ways to preparing a delicious meal. Fruits and vegetables are their tastiest and juiciest at the peak of their season - think tomatoes and corn in the summer, Brussels sprouts and pumpkin in the fall. Besides fresh ingredients, not much else is needed in preparing a dish. Also, seasonal ingredients are also way less expensive - how much do you think it costs to ship those peaches to your big-chain supermarket in the middle of December?

     3.   If you had to choose a favorite recipe from the book, which on would it be and why?

I am a big fan of recipes that can be enjoyed all year-long by adjusting a few ingredients depending on the time of year. For example, soups that swap out spring peas for green beans from spring to summer, or grapefruit to apricots from winter to spring. Throughout the book there are suggestions and tools to help readers do this themselves. The tomato sauce, for example, should be made with fresh tomatoes in the summer, and high-quality canned and jarred tomatoes in the winter. There are many variations of pesto throughout the book as well - pesto with arugula, basil, etc. Pesto can be made all year long: simply switch out the flavorful leaves, herbs, or greens for whatever is in the height of the season. Happy cooking!

Summer Bloggin' Blog Tour: Sophie Maletsky, author of Sticky Fingers

I'm so excited to be involved in Zest Books' Summer Bloggin' Blog Tour! I was fortunate enough to snag interviews with Sophie Maletsky (of Sophie's World fame), and Pam McElroy, who are respectively behind the two featured books. Make sure you check out both posts!

First up, Sophie Maletsky, author of Sticky Fingers: DIY Duct Tape Projects.

1. Thanks so much for doing this interview! This book is a ton of fun. Okay, I have to ask: have you actually done all of these duct tape projects yourself?

LOL! Absolutely. My sister Freda, who took all the pictures for my book, Sticky Fingers: DIY Duct Tape Projects, developed a few of my favorites though - she came up with the watermelon and cupcake purses. All of the projects were either developed through my crafting workshops, for my YouTube channel, or for the book itself. Part of the fun is that viewers are always requesting more about things made out of duct tape, so I keep a list. When I need inspiration for a video I go through the list, choose one, and then take about a day to create it. On average a project usually takes me about three tries to get it right, then another five or six times through to be able to teach it. I go through a lot of tape!

     2.  You have a very eclectic, artsy background that includes theater, puppetry, and playing the guitar, among countless other pursuits. When and how did you know that crafting and party planning was the right path for you?

Well, I literally fell into party planning, and that led to the crafting. I was a displaced actress (my husband and I moved from New York City to San Francisco for his job) who went from about 30 auditions a month to three...I needed to do something or I would have gone crazy. So I got a job babysitting. Eight to ten hours is a long time to hang out with a kid - so I treated it like a movie - every day was an adventure! We'd turn the stuff in the recycling bins into theatrical set pieces and props and create fantasy play all day. I became very well known as the "Nanny on the Nanny's day off." Now, one thing that kids have every year is a birthday, so within a year of being a Nanny I was planning all my charges' parties. Soon, the moms who came to the parties were asking me to plan their kids' parties and the business was born.

     3.   I may have accidentally invented a new project - our couch ripped and I patched it up with argyle duct tape. Can I submit this project to a forthcoming sequel to Sticky Fingers? Are there other books in the works from you?

Hey, hold onto that argyle tape - it's hard to find nowadays! You do realize that Duct Tape brand "retires" its tape...like beanie babies! After a set amount of time you can't get certain patterns anymore.

But more to the point, I certainly hope so. I've got tons of ideas for more books. My sister and I want to do another duct tape book featuring doll clothes and accessories. I'm also way into making carnival games for my parties, so I'd love to do a "backyard carnival" book, and one on turning your garage into a haunted house. I'm also obsessed with everything little, so I'd be way into making a book about turning recycled objects into doll houses and furnishings.