IN THE NEWS:  Appearance on WTMJ-4's Morning Blend. (airdate:  March 2, 2009)

Award-winning writer, Jeanette Hurt, will do what it takes to get the story.

She’s crashed enough cars to win a demolition derby.  She’s tasted all of Wisconsin’s artisan cheeses and many international cheeses as well.  She’s biked across the Loire Valley in France and by the sea in Tuscany.  She’s done all that on deadline and to her editor’s desired specifications.  As a result, she is an award-winning writer and budding author.

Jeanette recently was awarded First Place for the best article written about a Midwest destination in the Midwest Travel Writers Association’s 2007 Mark Twain competition.  The article, "Play Grounds”, appeared in the May-June 2006 issue of Midwest Airline’s in-flight magazine.   Judge Susan McNeese Lynch, said in her critique of the article:

Through this writing, an age-old entertainment form becomes fresh again-great juxtaposition between the old tradition on stage and the new tradition in the audience—captivates.

Jeanette is the author of three books.  Most recently, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Tapas was published by Alpha Books in November 2008.  Earlier in 2008, The Countryman Press published The Cheeses of Wisconsin: A Culinary Travel Guide, and Alpha Books published The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Cheeses of the World, a guidebook that explores the world of international cheeses.   Her next book, The Cheeses of California: A Culinary Travel Guide will be published by The Countryman Press in Spring 2009.

 

Her books have received positive reviews, including this endorsement by James Mellgren in Gourmet Retailer, who describes The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Cheeses of the World as “a very readable and informative reference book that should be a welcome addition to any serious cheese library. A new cheese book is always a good thing, especially one that is so up-to-date and so celebratory of American artisanal cheeses.  All in all, this is perhaps the most practical cheese book, and certainly the most current, to come out in a long while. It will help take much of the mystery out of understanding, selecting and enjoying cheese for the average consumer, which, after all, will be a great boon for cheesemongers as well. “

 

Jeanette specializes in food, wine and travel writing.  She also regularly writes about design, pets and health/fitness issues, but she can never resist telling a good story, no matter what the subject matter.  Her work can be seen in: Clean Eating, , Gourmet, Saveur, Budget Travel, Parenting, Relish, Wine Enthusiast, Golf Connoisseur, Better Homes and Gardens Kitchen and Bath Ideas, United Airlines’ Hemispheres, Midwest Airlines My Midwest  and others.    She has more than 17 years of professional writing and editing experience.  Prior to 2002 when she began her freelance career she worked as a reporter for the Chicago City News Bureau, the Milwaukee Sentinel and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 

 

When she’s not writing, Jeanette swims with the Wisconsin Water Loons masters synchronized swimming team, and she also enjoys biking and taking long walks with her terrier-hound mix, Olivia, along Lake Michigan.  Jeanette loves to cook and bake and has taken several cooking classes in the United States, France and Japan.  She and her husband Kyle are actively restoring a vintage Cape Cod, and they’ve just finished an intensive kitchen remodeling project.  Jeanette is bilingual in Spanish, conversant in French, and has studied Japanese.

Check this web site for further updates on Jeanette's projects. 

For more information about Jeanette's books, visit www.artisancheesehead.com.