WHITING-ROBERTSDALE PIEROGI FEST!

Laura is (through the grace of GOD) a self-taught award-winning home cook, which served as the catalyst for her becoming an award-winning newspaper columnist, author, food stylist, and photographer.

A lifelong United States Great Lakes / Midwest region resident (Indiana, Illinois, Michigan) Laura's culinary, writing, and photography skills have earned her numerous awards and distinctions, which include qualifying to compete an impressive four times at the global World Food Championships (2015, 2021, 2022, and 2023).

Chronicling her kitchen adventures though newspaper columns, books, magazine features, local cable shows, and The Food Channel, Laura feels it is her mission to make a positive difference in the lives of others by developing ways to make 'Food that makes you feel good!'
"I love to make (and eat) food that loves your body back because when we make what we eat better, it makes us ALL look and feel better, too!"

A wife, mother, and grandmother, Laura loves to spend time in her Midwest kitchen experimenting and writing, but also enjoys the thrill of occasional recipe challenges and live food shows where she shares her latest tricks for improving meals without sacrificing flavors.

“I'm not a health fanatic, more middle-of-the-road," she said,  "which makes my recipes enjoyable, a little healthier, and easy to make.  Any step we take toward fresher ingredients takes us ten steps closer to better health. Small changes do make a big difference, especially in how we look and feel!"
 

Born and raised in the only Chicago suburb that (according to Jeopardy!) sports an Indiana zip code, this Calumet Region native does credit GOD for providing her the talent she uses to combine with her knowledge and experience in Herbology to cook up "Food that makes YOU feel good!"
 

Mixing her love of Eastern European comfort food with Chicago area favorites, along with Great Lakes region greats and oh-so-many marvelous Michigan farm-stand finds, Laura likes to bend old kitchen alchemy into fresher infusions that ultimately provide a more flavorful and often healthier eating experience.
 

Providing countless contributions to the world of food (and to those who love it), Laura's food catalog includes numerous live appearances and cooking demonstrations, two cookbooks: Desserts (2009), Tiny Bites and Beverages -commemorative edition (2011); one culinary memoir/cookbook: Midwest Morsels (2022) which was honored  with a MiPA Book Award; and two children's books: A Delicious Day at Mrs. K's (2014); and  A Delicious Day at Mrs. K's: Celebrating Our Shades edition (2024).

She has served as a host of two local cable television cooking shows (Your Kids Health and Vitality Cuisine); hosted a local radio show: Radio Recipes; and made national and local television appearances on behalf of Pure Michigan Tourism.

Laura has been honored with awards in  journalism from the Michigan Press Association (MPA) and the Hoosier State Press Association (HSPA). 
 

A member of the Association of Food Journalists (AFJ), the Midwest Independent Publishers Association (MIPA), Laura is also a Certified Nutrition Educator through the American Council of Holistic Medicine (ACHM).

​

“Come with me and you'll be in a world of pure imagination…”

         Willy Wonka