I’m Laurel Miller, a freelance food, spirits, design, and travel writer, magazine editor and content creator based in Santa Cruz, California. I’m also the former editor of the award-winning Edible Aspen magazine and a “retired” cooking teacher.

I grew up on a small ranch where we raised (among other things) mules and dairy goats. My upbringing inspired me to educate people about regenerative agriculture. It’s also how I garnered the nickname “Goat Girl” in sixth grade. I blame my outdoorsy family for my travel addiction, which begat my compulsion to eat foods more widely regarded as pets, pests, or compost.

I have a Culinary Arts degree from Johnson & Wales University, and a background in PR and journalism. In 1999, after a decade of working in restaurants, I started a home-based cooking school/farm tour program in Berkeley, called The Sustainable Kitchen®.

My career as a journalist serendipitously began in 2001, and it’s taken me all over the world. I write for regional, national and international print and digital publications including: PUNCH, Imbibe, Texas Monthly, Modern Farmer, Edible Monterey Bay, Aspen Sojourner, Texas Highways, Austin Monthly, Austin HOME, and other outlets. I’m also the co-author of Cheese for Dummies.