A contributor to all the major food magazines and the winner of six "cookbook Oscars," Jean Anderson is a member of the James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame. After many years in New York, she now lives in Chapel Hill, NC.

Cheryl Brown was an editor at Gourmet Magazine for nearly a decade, fielding assignments on everything from kitchen equipment to food politics. She then joined the creative team at Wondertime, a parenting/lifestyle magazine, as managing editor.

T. Susan Chang is a New England-based food writer and the Boston Globe's regular cookbook reviewer.  Her commentaries on food and cooking can be heard from time to time on NPR, where she is also a frequent contributor to NPR's Kitchen Window series.  At the cookbook-indexing website eatyourbooks.com, she is the resident cookbook reviewer and hosts the site's Community page. She is the proud mom of two school-age children who have to try everything she makes, and is also, at least for now, the household's chief dishwasher.

Ruth Cousineau, former test kitchen director of Gourmet Magazine, has also worked as a food stylist, a chef, and a cookbook author. She has developed recipes for many magazines, cookbooks and online videos as well as consulting on bakery and café projects.

Sean Elder’s writing has appeared in Gourmet, Food & Wine, The New York Times Magazine, National Geographic and many other publications. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and daughter. Visit him at seanelder.com.

Sandy Gluck has worn many hats in the culinary field; from restaurant chef, to recipe developer, to food editor of Everyday Food magazine. She is currently the host of Everyday Food Radio on Martha Stewart Living Radio, Sirius112/XM157, where she talks food, answers questions, and just has a great time sharing her knowledge and expertise.

Jane Lear is a freelance writer, editor, and cookbook author based in New York City. As the former senior articles editor at Gourmet, she helped expand the magazine's literary and reportorial coverage and developed the concept of an annual produce issue that connected field and fork, the first time a food/lifestyle magazine had ever tackled the subject of food politics. Lear developed and wrote regular features about culinary techniques as well as the long-running "Kitchen Notebook" section, which shared the experiences and discoveries of the magazine's test cooks and gave readers confidence along with mini cooking lessons. A contributor to The Gourmet Cookbook: More than 1,000 Recipes, Gourmet Today: More than 1,000 All New Recipes for the Contemporary Kitchen, and the forthcoming Martha Stewart's American Food, she is also the co-author, with New York City chef Floyd Cardoz, of One Spice, Two Spice: American Food, Indian Flavors. An expat southerner, she eats pot greens, sweet potatoes, and bacon at least once a week.

Laura Hazard Owen is the editor of Publishing Trends, a book publishing newsletter and website. She blogs with her mom, Ann Hodgman, about food, animals, and domestic life at That Looks Cozy That Looks Cozy. She lives in New York City.

Nanette Maxim is a New York-based writer on food, health, and the arts, and a former senior features editor for Gourmet magazine, where she contributed profiles and travel features, and helped shape the monthly in the arena of food politics.

Kemp Minifie, most recently, was the executive food editor of Gourmet Magazine when it closed in October 2009. Minifie's long career in the food department at Gourmet, beginning as an associate food editor , then senior food editor, and, later, the executive food editor, spanned the explosion of awareness and passion for food and cooking in America. Minifie is a committed home cook herself, eager to turn her family on to her latest discoveries at New York's Greenmarkets.

Years back I quit my day job to follow my heart and went to culinary school. Best decision I ever made. Then a while back, my day job quit me (Gourmet Magazine.) Now I make my living primarily as a food stylist (visit me at maggieruggiero.com). Although I have restaurant roots, I'm a realist. I have a tiny kitchen and my favorite cooking is low-madness, beautiful, memorable food for my friends in reward for walking up the 6 flights to my dishwasherless apartment.

Kate Slate is a New York-based food writer, cookbook editor, and recipe developer who has been in the food publishing business for more decades than she cares to admit. Check out her food blog Signature Dish.

Adeena Sussman is a food writer, recipe developer and cooking instructor based in New York City. Her work has appeared in Gourmet, Martha Stewart Living, Cooking Light, SELF, Health, Sunset and more. She is the Tip of the Day blogger for AOL/Slashfood, and the restaurant critic for Manhattan Magazine. Find out more about her at adeenasussman.com

Trisha Thompson is co-owner of Small Batch Books, Private Publishing of Personal Histories. She also blogs on teen issues for The Faster Times. Formerly, she was executive editor of Wondertime, editor-in-chief of Time, Inc.'s BabyTalk, health and psychology editor at SELF, and a writer and editor for BabyCenter, Parenting, Harvard Medical School, Harper's Bazaar, Redbook, Esquire, and other publications and websites.

Alexis Touchet, Senior Food Editor of Gourmet Magazine up until its closing, worked at the magazine for 27 years. Her experience ranged from developing, testing, and styling recipes for the magazine and Gourmet Books to managing food editors deadlines for recipes and photography, conducting galley meetings to monitor recipe style, and managing special projects. She has traveled extensively studying the world’s cuisines from Kuantan, Malaysia to Pula, Croatia. She is a native of Abbeville, Louisiana and resides with her husband and four dogs near Woodstock, New York.