I was born, raised, and still live in San Francisco — one of the greatest eating cities on the planet — and I’ve been writing about food and teaching cooking for over 20 years. I trained at Tante Marie's Cooking School, completing the 9-month professional course and apprenticing at Chez Panisse Cafe, but I'm proud to call myself a cook and not a chef. In my view, chefs work in restaurant kitchens and cooks work in home kitchens and there is a big difference between the two.

For the past decade, I've been cooking on TV and hosting food and lifestyle shows on TV and the web. Most recently, I hosted a 9-person cooking challenge called In the Kitchen with Tori Ritchie. Great people; great fun; great food. Before that I did an ongoing series on The CBS Early Show called the 5-Minute Cooking School with Hannah Storm. And for many years, I hosted Ultimate Kitchens on Food Network. I also write cookbooks and my latest is the Pressure Cooker Cookbook and you can find it for sale at Williams-Sonoma. My past books include Braises & Stews; Party Appetizers; and Cabin Cooking.

When I’m not filming, I'm usually writing articles for magazines, including Bon Appetit, teaching at Tante Marie’s Cooking School in San Francisco, or volunteering for Food Runners, a nonprofit that delivers food to the needy of San Francisco. The joy I get from handing hungry people something good to eat is one of the best parts of my day.

Other than that, I’m probably in my kitchen testing recipes for this website and my next cookbook. Or I’m in the yoga studio. Or hiking my beloved Bay Area hills. If it’s a really good year, I spend part of it in Rome. Cooking is a wonderful life.