Erstwhile vegetarian JOY MANNING is the restaurant critic for Philadelphia magazine, where she also writes for their Daily Taste blog. She was previously senior editor at Philadelphia Style. She lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. THE AUTHOR SCOOP What was your inspiration for writing Almost Meatless? My inspiration came from my own experiences loving to cook and making the journey from vegetarian to responsible meat eater. Do you eat your vegetables? Yes–I love all vegetables, even lima beans. Name the most horrifying dish that your mother used to make. Hotdogs wrapped in canned crescent rolls and baked served with instant potatoes au gratin from a box. What do you like to make by… hand? Mayonnaise. It's a lost art. But it's very easy and I don't understand why everyone doesn't do it. How did you learn to cook? About seven years ago, my sister was dating a chef. Hanging out with them, I became interested in cooking and he taught me a lot of basic techniques. I was inspired to start experimenting on my own. I just started cooking a lot, reading a lot of cook books, and watching endless hours of food TV. When I met my husband, he had the same interest so it was something we got more and more into together. Then I started writing about restaurants for work, which keeps you out of the kitchen to some extent but really exposes you to interesting ideas about food. My most recent round of education has come from working with Tara on Almost Meatless–as a culinary school graduate, she knows everything. TARA MATARAZA DESMOND is a food writer and recipe developer. She has contributed to television productions for the Food Network and to several cookbooks, including those for Philadelphia restaurants Fork and Vetri. Her writing and original recipes have appeared in Philadelphia Style magazine and Philadelphia Inquirer. THE AUTHOR SCOOP Who would you cast as yourself in a movie of your life? Tina Fey or Gilda Radner, if we were lucky enough to still have her here making us laugh. When did you know you were a writer? At a Walden Books at the Poughkeepsie Galleria in 1985 where I begged my mother for my first diary: a sky blue journal with a rainbow, a poem on the front, and a lock on the side. She made me promise that if she bought it, that I'd write in it. Twenty-three years later, I have filled the pages of 13 journals. How do you cheer yourself up when you're feeling down? Listen to music (I listen to song lyrics the way some people read poetry), cook (and eat, of course), and run (currently training for my 2nd marathon). Favorite foods? Cheese, popcorn, bread, chocolate, milk, tomatoes (in no particular order) What did you want to be when you grew up? As a teenager, I wanted to work with girls struggling with eating disorders. After watching a close friend and her family suffer through her anorexia, the disease and its frustrating repercussions became too close for comfort, and I opted against pursuing the career. Ironically, years later, my work is focused on food and its impact on our lives.