I was thrilled that Todd Wilbur, creator of Top Secret Recipes, took time out of his secret cooking schedule to talk with me. Her personality is bigger than her best-selling Top Secret Recipes books. At the end of the interview I wanted to be a Top Secret Recipes apprentice!
Grab your favorite Top Secret Recipes drink and ask, and enjoy the second part of my interview with Todd Wilbur, the exquisite feeling behind Top Secret Recipes.
Maria: What was your worst disaster?
Todd Wilbur: I had a lot of leftovers that prevented me from making Kozy Shack® Rice Pudding. I went through batches and batches of rice trying to get it right. I didn’t know that when you put rice in the sink, the pipes tend to swell and slow down. I had some serious problems because of that plumbing. So I got industrial waste management. It’s a two-horsepower garbage disposal that melts chicken bones. No one is stopping you from sinking more!
Maria: I wish I hadn’t hoped, or you would take the money!
Todd Wilbur: Yeah! The thing sounds cool too. Sometimes I just turn to hear the hum!
Maria: When you create Top Secret Recipes, there is a certain atmosphere that inspires you – rock and roll or silence?
Todd Wilbur: Music plays sometimes. The silence sucks, it’s too boring. What I do is trial and error over and over again to see what I need to do. A lot of time it’s music, a lot of time it’s rock radio – Howard Stern.
In my latest book, Top Secrets of SuccessRecipes 2, the first line of the introduction says , “Cloning these famous recipes requires a thousand hours of work locked in the kitchen alone with a dishwasher and Howard 101 to keep me company.” He read it on his radio show in December and gave me a little plug because I mentioned him in the book.
Being able to hear something is great. You can’t watch TV because you have to look down. You don’t want to cut off your finger. Hearing stuff is great. When you start, it is done.
Maria: Is there a food that you could not overcome?
Todd Wilbur: No real estate, actually. It’s hard to make the machines, candy bars, like Butterfinger®. It has a scaly, white colored peanut butter center. I just couldn’t duplicate it inside. Fig Newtons® were tough. Pan pizza Pizza Hut®, the crust is also tough. Once the pizza dough is made, it needs to rise overnight. If it’s not right, wait another day to try again.
Mary: How has it completely hindered your happiness?
Todd Wilbur: People on the internet don’t respect the law. We also had to sue someone, and ended up out of court. He would describe our recipes, put them in a book, and sell his Top Secret Recipes, taking his name from it. We didn’t make any money there. In fact, we lost money. The legal fees cost us more than what we got in the settlement. It was a matter of making a man stop. This still happens a lot.
Maria: Fans can buy each recipe on the Top Secret Recipes website. Do you want an annual subscription?
Todd Wilbur: No, he probably won’t. We look to offer recipes for on-demand entertainment, similar to what iTunes® does with songs. iTunes® never offers an annual subscription to get as many songs as you want, and you don’t have to do it with a smartphone either. It makes more sense to look at it as an iTunes® model where you pay per recipe.
Maria: Will you offer the Top Secret Recipes e-book?
Todd Wilbur: It is possible. as we can do something in the future. This would be like buying a music album on iTunes®.
Maria: Besides Top Secret Recipes, what else do you like to do?
Todd Wilbur: I would love to create and produce a TV show.
Maria: You were at QVC for a while. You are accessing a Food Network or any other television show about creating Top Secret Recipes ?
Todd Wilbur: You will be psychic! That is happening now. It happens, and it happens quickly. I’m sure you’ll see Top Secret Recipes show up soon. It’s too early to mention how to network, but it’s going to be great! We’re going to have fun and make it unlike any other show out there.
Maria: Your fans are thrilled! Besides this exciting adventure, what will be your next Top Secret Recipes book project?
Todd Wilbur: The Top Secret Restaurant Recipes books are popular books. Twinkie people will do it once. But we prepare entrees, appetizers, desserts, these things from the line. I think you will see more like these.
So there you have it! Never before has anyone coded so many popular foods as Todd Wilbur. From his first Top Secret Recipes book to this best-seller, Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2, Todd Wilbur has changed America’s cuisine. You can get your own, autographed copies of the book Top Secret Recipes on his website, www.topsecretrecipes.com, or at various e-tailers and retailers.
Todd offered to talk to me again. Thank you, Todd, and thank you, Pamela. (Hmmm, I wonder if the decoder will earn a secret ring next time).
