The Recipe Thief?

October 20, 2007 in Books, Celebrity Moms with 5 Comments

Does this woman look like a recipe thief?

If you have watched any daytime television lately, you have seen Jessica Seinfeld, wife of Jerry, promoting her new cookbook.  It features recipes for children, but with a twist.  Faves such as grilled cheese or tacos look normal, but have healthy ingredients snuck into them to fool the kids into thinking they are eating the same old unhealthy versions they know and love.

Recent allegations have cropped up that Mrs. Seinfeld has plagiarized some of the recipes from a similar book written by someone not married to a famous comedian. In reading about the recipes that are alleged to have been plagiarized, they do indeed sound alike. But it seems to me that there are only so many foods that can be put into a particular dish and not be recognized, so it might just be coincidence that the recipes are similar. Then again, who knows?

But do they not know that stealing from one another is a time-honored tradition among moms?  Whether it be ways to soothe a fussy infant or the number of that great babysitter, moms always have an ear out for getting the 411 on the latest.   Why, some of the best tips I’ve ever gotten were from some women whom I was eavesdropping on at the park.   

And really, masking healthy food is not a new concept.  I mean, ever heard of a smoothie?  You can dump all kinds of stuff in there.  The idea for which, I need to give props to the lady with the big brown purse and unruly toddler!  Thanks nameless lady, for helping me introduce wheat germ into my son’s diet with him being none the wiser! 

Sometimes we have to be sneaky about getting the info, but we get it.  If we can put pureed spinach in brownies, we are pretty much capable of just about anything, don’t you think?

I just hope the lady with the big brown purse doesn’t come after me, looking for royalties.

About Glinda: Playing against type, Glinda lives in the West with her husband, eight year old son and year old daughter. She is in a constant state of worry that her wand is going to break at any moment.

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5 Responses to “The Recipe Thief?”

  1. dgm October 20, 2007 at 9:26 pm #

    Shhhhhh! I’m thinking of writing a book about how to sneak butter, sugar, and lard into healthy foods.

  2. Captain Corky October 21, 2007 at 4:14 am #

    Not a bad looking broad… ;)

  3. Martha October 21, 2007 at 1:09 pm #

    That’s a forced smile if I’ve ever seen one.

    She lives around the corner from me. Not attractive in the least.

  4. Ortizzle October 21, 2007 at 5:19 pm #

    I can’t stand people who hide their favorite recipes and won’t share them with anybody (like the new neighbor in the latest episode of Desperate Housewives.) Plagiarizing, however, is another thing altogether. When there are published books at stake, that’s money, pure and simple.

    As you say, however, how many different (healthy) ingredients can you put into certain dishes? Apparently, from reading part of her interview blurb on Amazon, one of the tricks she uses is to puree healthy food the same color as the less-than-healthy food and mix ‘em together. Like, uh, have a little pureed cauliflower with your mac and cheese. I think this might be successful with adults who have poor eating habits, LOL.

  5. Merry October 22, 2007 at 9:11 am #

    I tried the sneaky chef brownies, they were terrible. I haven’t tried Jessica’s, but the recipe is definitely different, in fact they are not even close. You can find them both on the web, Jessica’s at amazon and sneaky chef here:http://www.thesneakychef.com/recipes7.php