A little while back, I wrote about David Chilton, author of The Wealthy Barber and The Wealthy Barber Returns. (And did you hear the news that he’s going to be one of the “dragons” in the next season of the Dragons’ Den? I think he’ll be fantastic!) In the most recent book, he details how he came to publish massively popular Looneyspoons cookbook with sisters Janet and Greta Podleski.
Published in 1996, Looneyspoons broke publishing records.
Actually, he devotes a whole chapter to tell the story of how the three of them came to be working together. I found the whole thing fascinating. Greta and Janet approached him out of the blue and just bowled him over with their enthusiasm and energy. They had given up everything — including financial stability — to create their cookbook. He writes:
At this point, I really wasn’t sure what to make of the dynamic duo. On the upside, they had an infectious attitude and loads of personality. On the downside, they were nuts, possibly certifiable. (p. 63)
When I heard Chilton talk in person, he told this same story. In the same fashion. And Janet and Greta Podleski were sitting two rows behind me! The sisters were laughing — clearly, they shared his sense of humour!
Janet (left) and Greta (right) Podleski.
He concludes the chapter about the Podleski sisters like this:
They also serve as outstanding examples of one of the most underestimated, yet key, ingredients to success: Be nice! They treat people with kindness and respect at all times. No matter how busy they are, they still find the time to return all of their calls and emails personally. (p. 66)
I thought that was a sweet thing to say. Considering that the sisters, in addition to the cookbooks, now have their own food line available in Costco and television show on The Food Network, I thought it was likely a sweet exaggeration as well.
One of Janet and Greta’s food products.
And then I get an email that starts with:
Hi Julie! My name is Greta Podleski …
Holy cow! It’s true — the sisters do their own outreach and personally email little ol’ bloggers like me?! I love it. I usually get emails from PR companies on behalf of their clients, not the actual clients. I replied right away. The woman is a celebrity in my world, and I don’t even cook!
Long story short, the sisters have just released a new cookbook called The Looneyspoons Collection, which they like to refer to as “TLC.” Greta asked if I would like a copy to review and one to giveaway to my readers and I said “yes, please!” as well as asked her if I could do a Q&A with her.
My review copy of TLC, with hand-written note from Greta.
JULIE: I am terrible in the kitchen. (Long-time readers might remember my 4 Ingredientsseries.) I am somehow both anxious and uninspired at the same time. But I really want my children to love cooking since it is so important to a long-term healthy lifestyle. Do you have any tips? Perhaps what sparked your love of cooking?
GRETA: My love of cooking was sparked by my mother, who made a home-cooked meal every night for her 6 daughters, despite working full-time in tough physical labour jobs. She was a GREAT cook and she encouraged me to participate from a very young age, even if it was just holding the electric mixer while she added eggs to the cake batter. Eating the fruits of your labour is fun! When kids join mom in the kitchen and feel that they’re helping prepare dinner, they’re more likely to eat it. Even if they make a mess, it’s important to get kids in the kitchen!
JULIE: Okay, the truth is that I am not only anxious and uninspired, I am a disaster. I’ve literally burned boiled eggs before. Do you have an easy recipe or two that you could suggest for me?
My special talent: Burning hard-boiled eggs!
GRETA: Many of our chicken recipes are simple and family-approved! In particular, a chicken thigh recipe called “Sticky Chicky” is delicious and hard to mess up. For a treat, our warm banana bread pudding with chocolate chips is pretty much foolproof and a hit with kids.
A photo of TLC’s Bananaberry Bombs.
JULIE: Of all the recipes, which three are your personal favourites?
GRETA: I love our Moroccan quinoa salad, roasted sweet potato soup with orange and ginger, and our pork tenderloin recipe called “Marla’s Maple Pork” which is a fan favourite. It’s simple enough for every day and delicious enough for company! Janet, on the other hand, has a sweet tooth and loves my new gluten-free brownie recipe and chocolate peanut butter fudge.
TLC’s Easy Peasy Orzo Salad.
JULIE: Your TLC include full nutritional values and calorie counts, but all of your cookbooks have been really popular with women I know who are looking to shed a few pounds. Have you always cooked with “lightness” in mind?
GRETA: We’ve both been very physically active our whole lives and have always cared about what eat, with the exception of our childhood, of course, when we gulped jugs of sugary Kool Aid while scarfing back entire bags of chips! Janet is a registered holistic nutritionist and truly believes that “you are what you eat.” But we aren’t fanatics. We follow the “80/20” rule: 80% choose whole, natural, unprocessed foods, home-cooked meals, foods with lots of fibre, lean protein, good carbs, low sugar, etc. 20% of the time, eat what you want. You’ll find that as time goes on, you’ll crave the healthy stuff, not the junk. We promise! Healthy, nutritious foods make you feel better, look better, have more energy, and keep your weight down. Who doesn’t want that?
Win your own copy of TLC!
A Giveaway for Coffee with Julie readers!
Greta and Janet will send on Coffee with Julie reader a copy of their new cookbook The Looneyspoons Collection (TLC)! This cookbook is by far my favourite of all of their cookbooks because it’s full-colour, with lots of photos throughout, which makes it more fun for me when I’m picking out recipes for Hubby to cook ;). Don’t despair though, it’s still full of their corny jokes! It retails for $34.95.
To enter: Leave me a comment below and tell me why you’d like to win this cookbook.
Logistics and fine print: To enter this contest, you have to follow the entry instructions (which are easy, so come on!) and leave a valid email address when you enter your comment (it will not be published, it’s just for me to reach you if you are the winner). I will randomly pick a winner on Thursday, April 5th around noon (when I take my lunch at the office).
TLC’s Yammin’ soup (roasted sweet potato).
p.s. I am having trouble getting the line spacing on this post correct. It’s kind of driving me ba-zurk but I can’t figure out how to fix it, and I’m not going to re-type the whole thing from scratch. So, you’ll pretend you didn’t notice, okay? Thanks!
Edited on Thursday April 5th to add: We have a winner and her name is Heather! (Heather wrote: “Please let me win the Looneyspoons Collection! We have 2 full time jobs and twins that just went from tweens to teens so suppertime is always busy. I have a repertoire of 3 suppers and need to take the pressure off my husband making dinner. Help me please! (P.S. I saw David Chilton speak in London, ON about 20 years ago and love the entrepreneurial story of the Podleski sisters.”) Congrats for being the randomly selected winner of this awesome collection of recipes! I’ve been really enjoying my copy and I’m sure you will too! For those that did not win, my mom emailed me to let me know that the TLC collection is available at Costco for the great price of $19.99! Go grab one!
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