Maria Scinto
School
University Of Denver
Expertise
Food History, Themed Cookbooks, Cooking/Food Shopping On A Budget
- In 2007, Maria ghost-wrote "The Takeout Cookbook: How to Order, Eat, and Care for Food You Didn't Cook," a 164-page "cookbook" with but a single recipe. (Spoiler: It's for sheep's feet in white sauce, yum.)
- She used to host a podcast called Quirky Cookbooks where she'd cook a selection of items from her extensive themed cookbook collection including astrology-based recipes, favorite dishes of Attitude Era WWF superstars, and recipes dictated to a ghost whisperer by spirits of the dearly departed.
- Her proudest accomplishment to date is having managed to name-drop Macho Man Randy Savage 12 times and Chris Jericho six times in articles that are actually about food.
Experience
Maria has a background as a librarian that gives her the research skills necessary to dig up obscure food facts, but she began writing on the side as a broke single mom nearly 20 years ago. She's written for print publications including two DC-area weekly newspapers, the Montgomery Journal and the Fairfax Times, as well as Northern Virginia Magazine where a piece she wrote on area child care centers was awarded a Virginia Press Association first place prize for personal service writing. She has also published numerous articles on websites including Realtor.com, Movoto, AZCentral, Livestrong, and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Maria began writing full-time for Static Media in 2019 and during her tenure with the brand has produced features for Wrestling Inc., Grunge, Tasting Table, and Mashed as well as news articles for Nicki Swift, Health Digest, List, Tasting Table, and Mashed. She considers herself a generalist, but eventually settled on Mashed as a home brand because it allows her to write about all things food.
Education
Maria has a bachelor's degree in comparative literature that exposed her to a wide variety of quality writing and gives her some historical context as well as an appreciation for her craft. She later earned a master's in library and information science and worked as a librarian for 12 years in public and school settings, giving her a thorough grounding in research techniques, which enabled her to dig up information on any topic and present it in a format that is both useful and entertaining.
Nicki Swift covers celebrity and entertainment news by way of an expert group of editorial professionals. We drive the conversation on everything from trending Hollywood news to star transformations, always striving to deliver the most compelling commentary, bolstered by quality expert opinions.
As we cover a wide breadth of pop culture, we're constantly reviewing, fact-checking, and updating stories to ensure they're accurate and current. Additional information on our editorial process available here.
Stories By Maria Scinto
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Bloomberg Billionaire's Index ranks the world's richest people depending on their estimated net worth. Using this, we've rounded up the top 12 contenders.
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For insight into Matthew McConaughey's gubernatorial aspirations, Nicki Swift reached out to psychologist and political advisor Dr. Reneé Carr for her take.
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Mahershala Ali may have made history as the first black man –- and the first Muslim –- to win two best supporting actor Oscars for his roles in Moonlight and Green Book, but he's not the only star in the family. His wife, the multi-talented Amatus Sami-Karim, could give him a run for his money.
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As if being nominated for an Academy Award isn't a gift in and of itself, every year all of the Oscar nominees in the acting and directing categories are gifted with goodie bags full of high-end products by marketing company Distinctive Assets.
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The Super Bowl LIV halftime show featured sizzling performances by Latina superstars Jennifer Lopez and Shakira, but audiences also enjoyed surprise collaborations with some lesser-known Latino artists. Here's the scoop on Bad Bunny and J. Balvin.
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Ever since sports betting went legit in 2018, oddsmakers have started dreaming up wacky prop bets that have nothing to do with any on-field action. Plenty of cash was spent wagering on Demi Lovato and her rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner." Here's how it all shook out.