Laura

Laura is a Southern Wisconsin native who defected to the San Francisco Bay Area in the fall of 2008 in search of romance and adventure. What she found (in addition to romance and adventure) was a strange new world involving year-round outdoor farmers’ markets and a constant influx of cheap, fresh, and occasionally unidentifiable produce. Re-learning to cook in this mysterious and entrancing environment has been quite a journey, and continues to entail many exciting discoveries, as well as the occasional epic failure (particularly with regard to her bête noir: Mexican Food). No matter what the result, making dinner is truly Laura’s favorite part of the day.

While she still desperately misses the Dane County Farmers’ Market on the Square and Willy Street Co-op, Laura has come to appreciate the bounty that surrounds her, and takes advantage of any food source accessible to her and the enormous, one-speed, cruiser bicycle that is her primary mode of transportation; whether it be a farmers’ market, grocery store, or her neighbor’s lemon tree.

When not cooking, Laura holds down her first grown-up job (1 year and counting!), reads on the bus, and plays with her two adorable cats. Laura considers herself a recovering theater person, and tries to put her two theater degrees to use as an appreciative audience member (and never again as a stage manager, so don’t ask!).

Laura’s upcoming food adventures include forays into Indian cooking, Urban Farming (that is to say, her kitchen window box with three struggling herbs), and trying to find a dessert about which her sugar-ambivalent fiancé will actually get excited. She swears she will produce an edible chile relleno before she dies (even if the effort ends up being the cause of death.).