Jennifer Egan‘s year keeps getting better and better. First, there was the news back in March that she had won the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. Wednesday the Pulitzers decided to follow the NBCC’s lead and gave her their yearly award for fiction. A couple of days ago HBO announced they’re adapting A Visit From the Goon Squad as an original series. And then, yesterday, Egan was included in the Time 100 Most Influential People list for 2011. All this for a novel Egan has said she never really thought would be a novel in the first place.

Which is what makes the following interview seem appropriate. Emily Gould has been doing this interview series for The Awl called “Cooking The Books.” In it she brings authors into what appears to be her kitchen for interviews about their books, and then they cook. I’ve often thought the series a bit awkward and, at times, a little ill-conceived. But yesterday, I stumbled upon this interview Gould did with Egan back in September. In the video, she and Egan talk, make macaroons, and eat them. And it works.

What’s refreshing about the format in this instance (and something I suspect Gould hoped for when she started the series) is the candor she gets from her guest when they’re occupied by cooking. Witness Egan sharing a shame memory that inspired a central character in Good Squad. Or, conversely, the fact that she has a hard time writing about writing about herself. You can also learn how to make macaroons.