Wherever in the world she travels, Cynthia Nicholson loves seeking out individual food artisans, farmers, and chefs -- people who care about food, how it was made or raised and the story behind it. She admires the history and tradition of peasant food, dishes and ingredients that have been prepared the same way for centuries, and the food that springs directly from regional cultures and cuisine. She grew up on the Gulf coast of Alabama in a coastal farming region and was raised in a tradition of fresh, seasonal cooking. Her love of food has taken her on many adventures including cooking on yachts in the Caribbean and Mediterranean, serving as Food Editor of Country Living and Real Simple magazines, and teaching cooking classes around the country.

Elizabeth Zoria grew up in an apricot orchard in Northern California, the daughter of a fruit farmer in a family of Sicilian heritage, where life seemed to happen around the kitchen table.  She fell in love with Sicily sixteen years ago when she visited family in Palermo and was excited to find that life happened around the table there, too.  After years of owning a bar in the Mission District of San Francisco, she realized it was time to follow her dream. While searching for a new place to call home, Elizabeth met Cynthia in a cooking class in a farmhouse in the Madonie Mountains. Today, she enjoys life in the sweet seaside town of San Gregorio, where her days are filled with cooking, laughing, and life around the kitchen table.