I am a Milan-based food lover, award-winning cookbook author, television host, recipe developer, culinary guide, and mom to two rambunctious half-Italians. A seventh-generation Texan, raised on a historic family ranch in the Hill Country, my wanderlust began early. Falling in love with an Italian photographer brought me to Milan in 2004, where my food obsession fully manifested.

Working closely as a team with my Italian now-husband, photographer Emilio Scoti, we have published four cookbooks in Italian about traditional American cuisine and created our award-winning, bilingual blog Un’americana in Cucina (an American in the Kitchen). More recently, we have shifted our focus to recounting regional Italian cuisine to an English-speaking audience, for instance with Liguria, The Cookbook. I also develop recipes and write articles for publications such as Food52, Vogue Italia, Food&Wine Italia and Italy Segreta.