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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday September 3, 2008 - 23 Artscene Oakville Beaver · WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 3, 2008 Sign up now for guitar, bass, drums, and piano OAKVILLE'S MUSIC STORE CHRIS KORNACKI / OAKVILLE BEAVER MUFFIN MANIA: Martha Prange, left, and her grandmother, Cathy Prange, held a book release party last week for Muffin Mania, complete with samples from the cookbook. Grandmother and granddaughter unite for cookbook relaunch By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF After a 25-year hiatus, Muffin Mania is back. The muffin-oriented cookbook that brought you recipes for everything from honey bran muffins to zucchini muffins is in print once again thanks to the efforts of Oakville resident Martha Prange, 21. The fourth-year commerce student at Dalhousie University decided to revamp the Canadian bestseller as part of an entrepreneurial project that saw her set up her own publishing company, Binding Brilliance, in the process. Muffin Mania, written by Martha's grandmother Cathy Prange and grandaunt Joan Pauli, was originally published in 1982, when it flew off the shelves, selling hundreds of thousands of copies. "It's so funny, it's just this little muffin cookbook, but it really made its way across the country and into the states," said Martha as she flipped through a scrapbook of letters and newspaper clippings that marked the book's success. "Here's a cheque from New Zealand, they got letters from Germany, they got letters from Saudi Arabia. It really did make its way around the world." The book eventually went out of print in 1999, but even then the interest in Muffin Mania refused to die, with Martha's grandmother still receiving periodic requests for new copies. Those requests can now be answered. "It's always been special to us," said Martha. "I liked the idea of redoing it, making it look current and selling it again to all those people who have written to us. Also, my sister and I and my cousins all wanted to see it back out there." The revamped version of Muffin Mania contains all 60 of the sisters' original recipes, with suggestions added for how some muffins can be made with less fat. The new version of the book also includes interesting tidbits of information about the sisters' experiences after writing the book. One reads, `A newspaper article from an 1984 interview with Cathy and Joan said that somebody had told the sisters that they were responsible for the muffin craze that was sweeping Canada. Muffin Mania was even translated into French -- La Manie des Muffins.' Martha's family and friends celebrated the launch of the revamped Muffin Mania on Thursday, with a small party at Martha's Ash Tree Way home. On hand were samples of many of the amazing muffins listed in the cookbook, including chocolate cheesecake muffins, banana oatmeal muffins, maple walnut muffins and more. Also present at the launch party was the book's one surviving author, Cathy Prange, who was nearly brought to tears her by granddaughter's accomplishment. "I just can't believe it," she said. "We never thought we'd sell the first 2,000." In fact, it took only a month for Cathy and Joan to sell those books, a task that now falls to Martha. She is confident the demand for the book still exists to do more of the same. "People that know of it really want it again," she said. "The Cookbook Store, in Toronto, they've been listing it as their favorite cookbook since they opened and they have a binder filled with people's names who have come asking for the book. So, they're going to call them all up. I think it's going to do really well." For information or to order a copy, priced at $16.95, call 905-209-3275, e-mail martha@muffinmania.ca or visit www.muffinmania.ca. THIS WEEKS GREAT FLOORING SPECIALS! www.searsfloor.ca CARPET LAMINATE Imperial Treasures · 65 oz. Stainmaster · 10 year wear warranty · 6o designer colours Revolutions Plank by Manington · Premium Bevelled Edge · 25 year warranty $ 49 Reg. $699 sqft. QEW 3rd Line 4th Line 3 Now $ 99 Reg. $499 sqft. 1027 Speers Road, Oakville 3 OUR PROMISE TO YOU: · Quality of service · Knowledgeable sales people · Courteous staff · Reasonable prices · Sears guarantee of satisfaction* * Details in store CARPET · CERAMIC · HARDWOOD · LAMINATE · VINYL · AREA RUGS FREE SHOP AT HOME AVAILABLE Speers Rd. OAKVILLE 905-901-2036 Designer and host of "Home to Stay" on HGTV.