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Behind The Book: Don’t Worry, Be Ha-PEA

Author and creator, Marie Saba, shares what inspired her to create the hilarious series of food puns that became her newest book Don’t Worry, Be Ha-PEA. Read along to learn how she came up with this creative medium and what inspires her to make these puns.

For the gram

My first food pun was posted on Instagram in January 2016. I remember the day. That morning, the kids and I had gone to the grocery store to look for Valentine’s Day cards. We were so disappointed with the selection that we decided to go home and make our own.

Marie’s first food pun post on Instagram @mariesaba

“I am bananas for you” was the first one. I posted it to my Instagram feed that afternoon and shortly after received an email from Bon Appetit asking if I would be making any more. If there were three or four, they said, “we’d love to write about them.”

“Yes!” I responded. “We are making more!” And we did.

For the laughs

Since then, I’ve posted hundreds of food puns to my feed, with topics ranging from celebrity names (Dwight Yolk-um) and cartoon characters (Cruller de Vil), to PSAs (butter vote) and motivational phrases (donut ever give up). These puns are now the subject of my upcoming book and are featured on my new line of kitchen mitts, spatulas, and coasters.

What I love about these puns is that they make people laugh.

Humor, the spice of life

I love laughing. It’s such a high! I grew up with three brothers; now, nearly every conversation, every text message, every holiday gathering is filled with jokes and laughter. Lots of them are inside jokes and sharing them together makes us all feel connected. My parents are the same way. When my husband asked my dad his secret to a long marriage, my dad simply responded, “Humor.” And I think he’s right. Laughter brings us together.

Finding joy

These days, with so much strife in the world, we may have to put a little more effort into finding reasons to laugh. But this little book is a reminder that we can find joy in unlikely places, like the back of the pantry or the bottom of the veggie drawer. Will Rogers said, “An onion can make people cry, but there’s never been a vegetable that can make people laugh.”

I beg to differ.

Order Don’t Worry Be Ha-PEA today!

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