Katie Stewart was born in Scotland. After taking a domestic science course in Aberdeen, she moved to London to study for a diploma in catering and home management. She took a job with a family in France to perfect her French and then went to the Cordon Bleu school in Paris to take the Cordon Bleu diploma. Back in England she worked as a test supervisor for Nestlé and soon had the opportunity of going to New York, where she learnt about food photography and American foods and methods of cooking, later touring the United States to study regional cookery. On her return to England, Katie Stewart began a career in journalism. She became cookery editor of Woman’s Mirror, then joined Woman’s Journal, and for several years now has been food correspondent of The Times. Her writing and her television programmes – practical, funny and refreshingly free of gimmickry – provide her with a very busy working life. She lives in Sussex and has a son.