Who is the Gourmet Scribbler?

Imagine a four-year old little girl voraciously flipping through old cookbooks until the pages were torn. She had disregarded the baby dolls and the playhouses in favor for her grandmother’s prized kitchen aprons and that metal whisk she could just never reach. Fast forward ten years, that same girl, not quite as little or as cute, received her first set of Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. This fueled a Francophile inspired fire for cuisine that was already coming to a full burn. As she flipped the pages and saw Coq Au Vin and other delicacies, she realized that she desired to go to Julia’s school. She signed up for Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts as soon as they would take her. She graduated, along with a love for all things Pate a Choux, with an Associates of Science in Patisserie and Baking. Yet, she wanted to know how a restaurant was run from the Manager’s perspective. This led her to earn a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Culinary Management. Then, that insatiable urge to learn, said that writing about food must be a thousand times as fun as making it. She is earning her Master’s Degree in New Media Journalism currently.

That same four-year old little girl consumed with curiosity about food and its culture was I. My name is Lauren-Olivia Wood. I am not an expert but I am a unique perspective in our ever-changing food and journalism cultures. I believe that the difference between a depressing frown and a beaming smile can happen with one bite of inspired food or with one article of skillfully woven together words. It’s the same creative spirit whether your tool is that whisk I couldn’t reach or the keystrokes I am using now. I am still as passionate as I was. I still flip through cookbooks as if I am running out of time. Albeit, some are digital now.

I believe that there are those, like me, who have passion for food in all its forms. Your passion rivals and even surpasses mine! I am so excited to meet my fellow confidantes or conspirers (depending on my mood). Your passion is the one that can change your world. You can change a bad day with a great dish or a food gift that’s just because. So, this is my invitation to you, whoever you may be. If you are a Italian guru, whose icon is Mario Batali. (His pasta blows my mind!) I invite you. If you are a person more focused in Journalism, I invite you. If you love food even a little, I invite you. I invite you to join me on my jour