Jessica Seinfeld - Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food Review

Jessica Seinfeld scored with her cookbook,  Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food. Great idea. You blend up various veggie based concoctions and mix them in with favorite kid dishes. Your kids eat better. Hard to argue with that.

The problem here is that Missy Chase Lapine came up with the idea first. To be honest, it's not a totally unique idea to hide good stuff in the food. Moms have been doing that for ages.

The problem here is that Jessica Seinfeld is the wife of Jerry Seinfeld. And, she nailed the cookbook deal based on her celebrity. Well, it's not hers. It is her husband's. Not to worry. Jerry can sell the heck out of Jessica's cookbooks, and he has. He even got her a spot on Oprah which spelled instant success for Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook.

Recipes aren't really covered under copyright. Ingredients can't be locked in. Otherwise, we'd never have any new recipes. That makes sense.

On the other hand, the ideas and the directions can be copyrighted. And, that's where Lapine has an issue with Seinfeld. And, rightly so.

If you look at the cookbooks by Lapine and by Seinfeld, you will see that things look suspicious. Experts note that 15 recipes appear to be cribbed by Seinfeld. This could be happenstance, but Lapine pitched her cookbook to the same book pubisher the year prior. They saw this cookbook. They rounded up Seinfeld and put out a near identical cookbook. Many recipes are super close. Even the cover idea is really the same idea with a different artist.

It is true that often similar ideas and books come out at the same time. In this case, Lapine's book came out earlier (after sitting on the desks at the same publisher). And, the Seinfeld's were given notice. They ignored those notices.

Lapine was suggesting plagiarism and with some cause to be sure. Probably hard to prove. But pretty darn suspicious.

Then Jerry Seinfeld had to jump in. He not only denied that his wife picked up Lapine's idea and her recipes, he also joked that Missy used three names as do famous murderers. Come on Jerry. That is low. You do not suggest that a cookbook writer is on par with the murdurer of John Lennon or Martin Luther King, Jr. That's just sick man.

I proudly keep Lapine's cookbook on my shelf - but not Seinfeld's. I seriously doubt this wife of a famous person sat home making up veggie goo pastes and mixed them in her family dinners. Even if she did, it's very odd that her mixes are so similar to Lapine's and that she mixed them in the same kind of foods. I doubt she knew that the company was selling her out on an idea pitched and turned down in favor of a bigger name. But Seinfeld's wife ought to be more involved in her own personal projects - and Jerry Seinfeld ought to butt out.

In addition to the charges of plagiarism, the Seinfelds (mostly Jerry Seinfeld) has now been charged with defamation of character. His lawyer says he has right to his own opinion. Well, fine. But he should not have the right to trash a cookbook writer who makes a very good point. It does look odd. So, Jerry Seinfeld says that this woman who is not in the spotlight is a nut case. I'm sure he doesn't know her. I'm sure he does not eat foods with mashed up veggies. I think he is way over the line. His status has gone to his head.

You can buy Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook, but I'd suggest going with Lapine's. Lapine had the idea first. Many of the recipes are similar. And, Lapine is not going to court for plagiarism and defamation. Well, she is. But, she is charging the Seinfeld's who are playing dirty pool.