Author Interview with Alyssa Gangeri

Author Interviews

December 5, 2015

Author Interview with Alyssa Gangeri

I’m interviewing Alyssa Gangeri today, author of children’s book “Mimi’s Adventures in Baking Gingerbread Men” today. Please welcome Alyssa to my blog.

When did you know you wanted to be an author?

I have always wanted to be an author ever since I became a chef. It just took me 10 years to figure out what to write!

What inspired you to write Mimi’s Adventures in Baking Gingerbread Men?

With two books already published and my publisher pushing me to try and write a holiday edition I felt that gingerbread men were the best choice. I have made gingerbread men since I was a kid with my mom, and I have always loved them and their aromatic flavors along with the fact that you get to decorate them with pure sugar! For me it was a no brainer that gingerbread men would be my first holiday edition.

What is your editing process like?

Writing for children is very different from writing a regular adult cookbook. This is a story that needs to relate to children, and that being said as an author you need to learn and adjust your writing so a child can understand and relate to it. That was a difficult process for me because as a chef and now author you don’t realize you need to change the way you write. For me I write a story and then leave it, and then come back to it, and then leave it and then come back to it… This can be a long process or a short process depending on the recipe and what I am trying to teach. Once I have what I feel is a great “start” I submit it to my editor at Mascot Books and she tweaks it and eliminates A LOT. Its difficult as an author and educator to eliminate because you think everything is valuable information. That’s where having a professional editor comes in and shows you that you do not need certain things. Its really nice and I have a great relationship with my editor. We are a team and I would never be where I am now without her.

Who is your favorite character from your book?

I love the dog. He is omnipresent all the time and he is constantly just looking to get into things or just be included. He is illustrated after my Jack Russell Terrier that has been with me my whole career.

Do you have any more books planned in this series?

Yes there are more adventures to come! There are two definitely coming next year and hopefully more after that!

Are you working on something right now? If so, can you tell us a little about it?

Currently I am working on a pie book where Mimi learns how to make pie dough, a filling and different ways to top a pie. I love to do recipes that can be adjusted to become your own. Almost every book has a variation guide in the back that allows the reader to tweak the recipe and make it their own. Cooking and baking is about exploring your creative side, and I want nothing more than for this series to promote that. Creativity is contagious… I am just trying to pass it along!

About the Book

Title: Mimi’s Adventures in Baking Gingerbread Men

Author: Alyssa Gangeri

Genre: Children’s Book

Embark on a baking adventure with Mimi where she will measure, mix, and bake her way to the perfect batch of gingerbread men. If Mimi can do it, so can you!

Mimi’s Adventures in Baking Gingerbread Men is the third book in the Mimi’s Adventures in Baking series.

Author Bio

Chef Alyssa has been baking since she was a little girl in her grandmother’s kitchen. Since graduating from the Culinary Institute of America she has worked for famous chefs and elite companies such as the Ritz Carlton, Tom Colicchio, Norman Van Aken and Gray Kunz. She currently is the Executive Chef at Riverwalk Bar and Grill on the Historic nook of New York City, Roosevelt Island. She also has a boutique custom cake company called AllyCakesNYC where she creates cakes to appease the imagination. Through her journey of baking she developed Mimi, her very own miniature version of herself.

As a child she loved baking and everything that came with it. As an adult and food lover she realized there was something missing when she frequented bookstores. A interactive children’s cookbook. And we are not talking about a boring old cookbook for kids with lots and lots of recipes, and some pictures. Children these days have just as much interest in the kitchen as there parents do, but the ordinary cookbook is just not going to cut it. She created Mimi’s Adventures in Baking to give children and adults a way to get into the kitchen and allow the child to become the chef and the adult the assistant. Each book has one recipe and an interactive storyline the child can read, and at the end go into the kitchen and do what Mimi did! And for the “non-baking” parent, these elite pastry chef recipes are tested and ready for even the most inexperienced baker! Impress other moms with Mimi’s creations!

Mimi’s Adventures in Baking will also teach children how to measure, mix and bake their way through the kitchen while also giving safety tips along the way. No more boring cookbooks! Now there is a fun, exciting and educational way to learn how to bake!

Majanka Verstraete