Resident Bloggers

Chef Justin Franco’s passion is cooking. He spends his days operating the banquette services team at the Las Vegas Tropicana and his evenings working with charitable organizations to help feed those in need. Chef Justin is always looking for ways to translate the food he prepares in the casino and its restaurants into meals that home cooks will love to prepare. In his recipes, he provides guidance on basic cooking techniques that home chefs may not know about and taking complicated dishes and turning them into easy to execute cooking options. Whether you want to learn to cook the way the professional chefs do or you just want a quick tasty meal at home, Chef Justin has you covered.

Katie started her food blog as a hobby in November of 2009. She left her corporate marketing job in 2014 after having her first child to pursue blogging full time, and hasn’t looked back since. Katie enjoys making one pot meals and uses her Instant Pot daily. She enjoys recreating classic comfort food dishes with a modern twist as well as easy healthy dinners for busy families. Katie believes everything in moderation and life should always tastes good. She lives in Orlando, Florida with her husband and two children, and loves to travel as often as possible.

April started her blog Food n’ Focus in February 2012 after a very photographic trip to Paris. The beautiful pastries caught her eye and lens at every turn so she started the blog to share the beauty of food with others. April is a busy person who is concerned about her health; her focus is on finding recipes that can be made quickly (most of the time) and are light(er) on the calories. She includes a good mix of indulgent recipes and tasty treats from time to time.

Stacie has been blogging since December 2008 after leaving her accounting job. Her blog began as a way to keep her busy while her kids were in school and turned into something she would have never imagined. She loves sharing easy and delicious recipes for busy families. One of her passions is vintage recipes that remind her of cooking with her beloved grandmother. She lives in Ontario, Canada with her family of taste testers – a spouse, two daughters, a step-daughter and step-son.

Lexi, Lizzy and Beth are bloggers at Crowded Kitchen. Lexi and her mom (Beth) started Crowded Kitchen just for fun in 2015, and after picking up some photography and recipe development skills along the way, started blogging full time in late 2017. In Spring of 2019, they brought on Lizzy (a close friend of Lexi’s from college) to grow the Crowded Kitchen team. Now, they specialize in creating mostly plant-based recipes with a focus on seasonal ingredients, sustainability and beautiful photography. Lexi and Beth live in Michigan and Lizzy lives in Boston. We’re a remote, but close-knit team and love all things cooking, and of course, eating!

From humble beginnings to bright lights in a big city, Jordon Dunewood has paved his own way to achieving executive chef status. Chef Jordon is self taught and not only prides himself on pulling inspiration from his southern mother’s kitchen but also has been diligent about studying every manager, service team and chef that he has ever worked with.

Taking those bits and pieces of expertise and incorporating his own creative passions, Jordon has originated dishes that are sought after by people from cities big and small and has managed to engender hope and drive into other young professionals that he works alongside of or trains.

While most of his career as a chef has been in fast paced environments such as casinos, Chef Jordon believes in slowing things down to fully engage in his first love, which is experimenting with foods and his pallet. He enjoys consulting with other companies in the food service industry and catering for small events.