Mary Jo Eustace wrote 'Cooking for Your Cub.' (Cougarlife.com)
In 2005, actress/chef Mary Jo Eustace, host of the popular Canadian cooking series “What's For Dinner?,” hit the headlines when her husband of 12 years, Dean McDermott, hooked up with co-star Tori Spelling on the set of their Lifetime movie “Mind Over Murder.”
But the devastated mother-of-two didn’t waste time crying over a tub of ice cream.
Eustace instead sought revenge of a different kind, penning multiple books including the controversial “Divorce Sucks.” And now her latest culinary venture “Cooking For Your Cub!” is ready for release – a “cougar cookbook” peppered with gourmet recipes, food aphrodisiacs and tips for “being saucy.”
“I wanted to do something really fun and an anecdote to the whole divorce saga. This is for women who are in their 30s and 40s and are starting again, making a great living and don’t necessarily need men financially,” Eustace told FOX411’s Pop Tarts column. “The whole idea of the book is to have a woman who is secure, dating a younger man, and cooking for romance and fun.”
In keeping with her own Hollywood experience, Eustace has named each of the 24 recipes after famous females who have been through a marriage break down. There’s everything from Jennifer Asparagus Soup, Courteney Coconut Lemongrass Soup and Oysters A La Madonna, to Mariah Bananas Brandy, Proscuitto Halle Basil Sandwich, Roasted Leg of Lamb (Demi Glace) and Beef Tenderloin with Sarandon Shallots Over Blue Cheese Mash.
“The concept of being a cougar is becoming a lot more mainstream, we’ve got people like Demi Moore who is beautifully preserved and at the top of her game choosing to be with a much younger man, and it is becoming really acceptable that you can have that choice,” Eustace continued. “Then there is the likes of Kim Cattrall who was on ‘Sex and the City’ and obviously with a younger man during the series so we are playing on that, and now Susan Sarandon has a young boyfriend. These women look fantastic. I think it just shows that women have more control and more choice and don’t have to be obligated to a certain type of man.”
Another concept behind the book, which was co-conceived by Claudia Opdenkelder, the CEO CougarLife.com – a niche dating website that caters to professional women seeking younger men – is for older women to help their significant other develop more “mature” tastes.
“I thought it would be funny to introduce them to adult food – introducing them to coffee lobster, maybe a liqueur, you’re trying to sophisticate their palate,” Eustace said. “I also want it to be fun and sexy but do-able. It’s got to be fun and it can’t be taxing to do.”
Eustace also hopes the marriage-rocked celebrities honored by recipes in “Cooking For Your Cub!” which includes the likes of Jennifer Aniston, Olivia Newton-John, Madonna and Halle Berry, are flattered by the inclusion and intends to send them each a copy.
"It’s a compliment – a cookbook with good recipes,” she said. “It is a testament to older women who look fantastic and are choosing how they live their life. I think that’s a good message for women.”
And no, Tori Spelling, who divorced her husband, actor/playwright Charlie Shanian in 2006 after she fell for McDermott, was not featured.
Wonder what that dish would have been called?
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