I’ve always sensed a rightness to the French approach to food and its place in daily life—the sense of joy and connection it brings, to nature, and to one another. It’s part of my heritage, as I said in first grade: I’m a quarter-cup French, quarter-cup German, and a half-cup American.

Since childhood, the kitchen has been my happy place but a crash diet in puberty set off a 25-year battle with my body. I enjoyed a rewarding career in software development but it was never my passion. My body sounded alarms with IBS, acne, and tears but I was too busy to pay attention.

Everything changed when I became a mother—a strange time of love and complete surrender. And to think, in anticipation, I saw maternity leave as a time to catch up on my photo albums!

My culinary training is a mix of professional pursuits in California and Provence, and a lifetime of playing in the kitchen. I’m a certified wine professional from the Culinary Institute of America, St. Helena. My food writing, pen and ink illustrations, and recipes appear quarterly in Edible Bozeman, a publication I help create along with the publisher and a small team. Ripe Food & Wine continues to be a joyful pursuit as well as a practical cooking reference here at home.

Start your week off right!

Get your food mindset in a positive place with About Love & Cookies, a melange of seasonal cooking ideas and practical advice on eating—the how, where things get tricky. My perspective is informed by a lifetime of culinary pursuits, my faith, and the principles of Intuitive Eating (I’m a lay facilitator certified by the co-founders, Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch).