I am a Milan-based 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, I discovered my wanderlust 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 and my weekly newsletter, Laurel’s Kitchen. I also develop recipes and write articles for publications such as The New York Times, Food52, Vogue Italia, Food&Wine Italia and Italy Segreta.

I also had the great honor of guiding Stanley Tucci through Genoa for his “Searching for Italy” episode about Liguria.

Today, you can find me on jury panels for international cooking competitions, in my home kitchen developing recipes and dodging children, leading food tours in Liguria and Milan, hosting culinary retreats and experiences, coordinating photo shoots with my husband Emilio, consulting with restaurants on menu creation, performing cooking demos for selected brands, harvesting olives off the family land in Moneglia, or simply enjoying a Negroni at one of my many favorite aperitivo spots in Milan, the beautiful city I now call home.