The Culinary Bookworm, formerly of Jackson, Mississippi, now comes to you from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Raised by a long line of southern women who love food and are good at cooking it, she owes her culinary prowess to the likes of Grandmother, Nanny, her Mississippi aunts (Prissy, Jennifer, Cindy, and Emily), and Mom. More recently, her father has joined in the cooking jubilee and added more culinary inspiration to the heap. Once a magazine editor, seventh-grade teacher, floral designer, waitress, and babysitter, she feels she has found her calling in the field of higher education. By day, she studies Rhetoric and Composition and teaches freshman writing at Louisiana State University as a Ph.D. student. By night, she pursues her second passion, cooking for her husband David, who is her recipe-tester and joint caretaker of their two cats, Chester and Carmela.