5 Questions With Maria Menounos

You can add cook book author and chef to Maria Menounos’ diverse resume. The Medford native and E! News co-anchor was in town over the weekend to promote her new book, “The EveryGirl’s Guide to Cooking.”

InsideMedford.com caught up with the 37-year-old MHS graduate, who recently got engaged to long-time boyfriend and fellow Medford native Keven Undergaro.

What inspired you to write this new book?

“People always ask me what I eat. They want to know the secret to staying fit. Partly its taking control of your diet and you can do that through cooking as I did. Its how I lost my 40 pounds.”

What are some of your favorite recipes and why?

“It’s so hard to choose, but Spanikopita and Tiropita – spinach pie and cheese pie. They are traditional Greek foods that are so comforting and we always make them for special occasion.  I also love Cousin Tashi’s Halibut, a family favorite!”

Any plans for future books?

“Yes! I feel like I have so much more to share with EveryGirls everywhere though it’s hard to narrow it down. Since Keven just proposed to me on Howard Stern, I guess I’ll have to write “The EveryGirl’s Guide to Getting Married” next! For my next book though I’d like to write about success. I know so many successful women and they have so much to share. I feel we can all benefit from that.”

What other future projects would you like to work on?

“My fiancé Keven – so weird to say that after 19 years LOL – just launched “The Tomorrow Show” on thetomorrowshow.com. I’m excited to join him on the show when I can (I have to find time to sleep too!) but its going to be so much fun (everyone is in Star Trek costumes!) I don’t want to miss out. Our company has TV shows in development, constantly, and I have my Sirius Show and I host E News and the pre-show for NCM First Look seen in 70% of the theaters. Our own network AfterBuzz TV is up to 30 million weekly but always keeps us busy. I honestly don’t know how much more I can handle but I love it all.”

When you’re back in the Boston/Medford area, what are your must-do activities (places you have to visit, food you have to eat, etc)?

“Bob’s, Al’s, Pizzaria Regina”

– InsideMedford.com. Photo courtesy Dirty Water Media.