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 Emilio 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 develop recipes and write articles and features for publications such as Food52, Food Beast, Vogue Italia, Food&Wine Italia and Italy Segreta. 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.

Il fotografo: Emilio Scoti

Unless otherwise noted all the photos from this site and our books are by Emilio Scoti, my favorite personal fotographer (and husband).

For more information about his photography, see his website.