Summer 2017 family snapshot… while on vacation in Gloucester, MA.

After the birth of my first son, my friends suddenly started calling me “Mother Linda,” a moniker I quickly grew to love because it somehow, however symbolically, tied me to Mother Earth and her wisdom. So, when I started writing cookbooks, I adopted that moniker as my publishing persona, created the logo you see above, and I have decided to keep both the name and logo for my online identity.

I now have three sons and divide my time between taking care of my family’s health by foraging for nutrient-dense food and researching and writing about food, travel and tourism trends. I have thoroughly enjoyed the process of becoming an online entrepreneur–which allows me to hear from and communicate with people around the world.

As a food and travel professional, over the years I have had the chance to broaden my culinary and cultural interests. In April 2003, I earned the designation of Certified Culinary Professional (CCP) and in May 2004, I graduated from George Washington University School of Business with a master’s in tourism administration (MTA), which was sadly, the week that the magazine I had worked at for almost two decades, laid off 90% of it staff. I decided to pursue my PhD at Purdue University in tourism and hospitality and graduated in 2009. I’ve been a professor since graduation.

In these pages, you will find that I have a special affinity for Eastern Europe–especially Bulgaria and Croatia–and nourishing back-to-the-basics food. The goal of this Web site is to share some of my interests with you.

Me at the age of 11-12 (center) with my sister Deb and brother John in front of a massive snow bank on our parent’s corn, bean and pig farm in Iowa.

Me in a Pennsylvania organic strawberry patch, June 2002. Those were some of the best strawberries I have ever eaten.

Me in an Iowan cornfield, Summer 2006. The shorter corn just behind me is sweet corn and the taller behind it field corn.