My Story

I’m a firm believer that food, security and love are entwined in the meals we cook and serve our family and friends. I grew up in a big Italian American family on my dad’s side. My mom, Rose, cooked simple, fresh food for our family of six every day, and it wasn’t until I had to do it myself that I appreciated it. My love of cooking started at that table and became a career at fifteen, as a prep cook, and from there chef, cooking teacher, caterer, food editor and author.

I’m the author of eight cookbooks, including the bestselling Mad Hungry trilogy and, most recently, Mother Sauce. For over a decade I was Executive Food Director at Martha Stewart Living, overseeing all of the company’s food content. I hosted Mad Hungry with Lucinda Scala Quinn on the Hallmark Channel, cohosted Everyday Food on PBS, and hosted the radio show EatDrink on Sirius XM. Since 2013 I’ve been on QVC with the Mad Hungry kitchenware line, which I founded to make multi-use tools for the home cook. I designed the modern silicone spurtle, and we’ve sold more than five million spurtles so far.

I still live in a cozy New York City apartment where three baby boys grew into tall men who now argue with me about the best way to cook the Thanksgiving turkey I’ve made for them for thirty years. Mad Hungry is the culmination of all of it: the headquarters for home cooks looking for proven recipes, strategies, and inspiration done affordably, easily, accessibly, and, most of all, with joy and love.