I’m an award-winning professional food writer, recipe developer, cooking teacher, and public speaker known for melding stories, humor, and culinary expertise.
I am also the host of The Key Ingredient, an Emmy-winning cooking show from PBS that airs and streams across the country.
I’ve authored a tall stack of cookbooks and my writing and recipes appear in a long list of publications, including my role as Contributing Editor to Southern Living and featured columnist of Our State Magazine.
In 2024, the Southern Foodways Alliance presented me with their Keeper of the Flame Award given to a foodways tradition bearer of note. The SFA also named me one of 20 Living Legends of Southern Food, calling me The Storyteller.
I grew up in Watauga County, NC in my beloved Blue Ridge Mountains and now live in Chatham County, NC where I can see trees and wildlife from my office window. I believe there’s no such thing as too many books (especially cookbooks), listen to lots of music, and cannot resist a farmers market.
