Monica is a home cook, blogger, and food photographer. She lives in Virginia with her husband, son, and daughter. She is a former CIA counterterrorism analyst. She loved the work and only left because she craved more flexibility for her family life.
She began Nourish and Fete in 2016 as a personal blog. They were living in Belgium, she was a new mom, and she was working hard to complete an accelerated master's degree. The blog was a much-needed creative outlet. She had no ambition or idea that it would grow into her full-time job.
For years, she'd loved to bake, motivated in equal part by her own massive sweet tooth and her love of sharing treats with family and friends. As a self-taught home cook, she's fiercely committed to providing well-tested recipes and practical tips. When you see a recipe here, you can feel confident that she's tested and retested it in her own kitchen. These are the recipes she shares with her closest friends when they need to impress or just beat the daily dinner grind.