Culinary Contributing Editor
Recipe Creator and Photographer
Monica studied journalism, photography and book arts in college, telling stories with words, images and prints. She became a full-time magazine writer and editor in the 1980s, writing for national food magazines. That broadened to freelance writing and photography as she raised four children and was curious to explore a broad range of topics. At one point Monica was writing cover stories and columns for six different sections of the Chicago Tribune where she doubled as a photographer. She also wrote and photographed for many lifestyle magazines.
Her research into the revival of vintage recipes for the Chicago Tribune was so compelling that it became her blog, lostrecipesfound.com. Her work has appeared in Food & Wine, Bon Appetit and Risotto & Beyond published by Rizzoli March 13, 2018, a cookbook collaboration with Chef John Coletta. Monica wrote the book based on interviews with John, and rice experts while in Italy where she did some photography for the book. It won 1st place in the Italian category and 2nd place in the rice category at the 2019 Gourmand International Cookbook Awards.
A Northwestern University artist-in-residence participant, Monica taught seminars in using the camera as a creative problem-solving tool, Kellogg Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative (KIEI) @ Kellogg School of Management. Her texture art photography, The Alley Project is a recent adventure.
