Laura Kurella

About Laura

Laura Kurella is an award-winning, light-hearted food columnist who is motivated by the stunning and tragic loss of her father to discover sound and practical ways to cook. Her first recipe book, Fabulous! Volume I: Desserts, offers desserts that rise to the top in healthy alternatives— while being disguised as decadent desserts! Volume II: Tiny Bites...and Beverages carries on the tradition of fun and easy recipes with smaller servings of her favorite foods with perfect wine pairings from St. Julian's Winery.

Kurella’s search for common “food” sense - wisdom that could be applied to every day eating habits without leaving one feeling deprived - led to the penning of her weekly food column, Vitality Cuisine, (which recently earned a 1st Place Award from the Hoosier State Press Association for Best Feature), as well as a local TV show by the same name; and a local Radio Recipes show, which broadcasts live at 7:15 am on Tuesday mornings on True Oldies 99.3 FM, out of Sturgis, MI.

Her Fabulous! cookbook series is designed to be an extension of this column, offering grouped collections of recipes along with nuggets of knowledge and humor to help readers find their own path to cooking and eating to feel good.
Kurella’s approach is unique in that it offers no strict disciplines or diets or complicated recipes of any kind. Rather, she asks readers to shift their focus and, as she puts it, "Enjoy food the way God intended- as a simple source of fuel and a spectacular source of pleasure!"
From the moment you open the Fabulous! Series you are struck by the author's own vivid, color
photography.Fabulous! is also sprinkled with interesting tidbits ranging from tried-and-true cooking tips, to fun food facts, to the author’s own funny and oftentimes heartfelt anecdotes.

How it all began...

When my father died unexpectedly at the age of 57, I was devastated by his loss, but even more so when I learned he died because of food!
 Stress and poor eating habits led to a thick, solid wall of plaque to be build in his arteries – a coronary occlusion - which was the condition that ultimately crept in quietly and silently stole him away one sunny Sunday afternoon.

The thought that food could kill just stunned me so I read everything I could lay my hands on to teach myself about it then enrolled in a distance learning course that focused on Natural Health.

I graduated from the course with honors. However, the school lost its accreditation so, while I gained the knowledge I'd lost the right to claim my degree.

My personal life changed course and caused me to move from the Chicago area to Toledo, Ohio to care for an elderly relative. Colon Michigan became my respite during this time. The idleness of smaller town life caused me to query a small town paper about writing a light-hearted Folk Medicine column that, in view of my degree status, would be written for entertainment purposes only.

My offer was accepted and on - of all days – September 11, 2001, the Colon Express began running my first Folk Medicine column.

By December of that same year, the column caught the attention of a nearby paper - The Sturgis Journal, who picked it up, taking me from approximately 1200 to 12,000 readers every week.

In April of 2002, reader enthusiasm caused the Journal to give me additional space for a food column, one I named “Vitality Cuisine™,” because I wanted the focus to be food that makes you feel good - its tag line.

All of this work is what led to the penning of my first cookbook, "Fabulous!" and to my producing my own live cooking workshops and speaking engagements, which caught the interest of others and led to my own weekly local Radio show and my own weekly local cable TV show. All this work then led to the special appearances I occasionally do on major television networks.

My mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of others.

Syndication

Pure Michigan (State of Michigan) www.michigan.org

Shoreline Magazine (Southern Michigan) www.sturgisjournal.com

Shore Magazine (Chicago Area)

The Times (Chicago Area) www.nwi.com

The South Bend Tribune (Northern Indiana)www.southbendtribune.com

The Sturgis Journal (Southwest Michigan)www.sturgisjournal.com

The Rensselar Republican (Mid Indiana) rensselar_republican

The Monticello Herald (Southern Indiana) monticello_herald_journal

The Watseka Times Republic watseka_times_republic

The Down River Review (Detroit) www.downriverreview.com

My writing has also led to public appearances, cooking workshops and speaking engagements, which includes opening for an annual cooking show at the Sturgis Young Auditorium, a venue that draws nearly 1000 guests every fall.