But for all the traveling I get to do, I often miss getting my hands in the dirt of my tiny backyard garden in Somerville. The squirrels and rabbits get most of the bounty (one nasty guy takes just one bite out of each eggplant), so I feel pretty psyched when I get a few dozen tomatoes from the four or five vines we have. I relish those tomatoes and I can be pretty insufferable about insisting on eating them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If I’m away and I can’t get plants in the ground in time, or if I’m not home when they ripen, I get legitimately homesick and will talk to anyone who will listen to me about why New England tomatoes are so important and so good. I’m here this year and if this one mean squirrel doesn’t get them before I do, I’m already thinking about that first BLT on toasted wheat bread with Duke’s mayonnaise.
As a television producer, she made her mark with two popular public broadcasting series, Cooking with Todd English and Julia Child's Kitchen, where she was an assistant to the legendary grande dame of French cuisine. She has appeared frequently as a guest on NBC's Today Show and other TV and radio shows. She is a veteran of some of the area's most prestigious kitchens, including Olive's and Jasper's.
Most recently, she has been sailing around the world creating and leading interactive cooking classes and culinary discovery tours at a number of international food venues in addition to managing the Culinary Center aboard luxury cruise ships for Bon Appétit.