I eat passionately, I cook compulsively, I travel deeply, and I write about all of the above.

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. Today I am an award-winning cookbook author, television personality, freelance writer, recipe developer, culinary guide, and mom to two rambunctious half-Italians.

Working closely as a team with my Italian husband, photographer Emilo Scoti, we have published four cookbooks in Italian about traditional American cuisine. Together we created our award-winning, bilingual blog Un’americana in Cucina (an American in the Kitchen). I have appeared regularly on the most popular television cooking shows in Italy and starred as the host of the program “Street Food Heroes,” which sent me on an adventure across Italy in search of the best street foods the country had to offer.

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