Jill Silverman Hough is a Napa-based food writer, recipe developer, and culinary instructor whose style is simple yet special.

"Cooking doesn't have to be complicated to be indulgent," she says. "Sprinkle a roast chicken with lavender, substitute dried cherries for raisins in a batch of oatmeal cookies, serve grilled salmon on a bed of arugula—all these things take almost no effort, yet they'll make your otherwise ordinary dishes taste and feel like fancy food."

With a fresh, friendly, and encouraging voice and recipes that quickly and easily deliver casual elegance, Jill makes creativity in the kitchen and delight at the table totally accessible to home chefs.

Jill's writing has appeared in several magazines, including Bon Appetit, Cooking Light, Fine Cooking, Country Home, Clean Eating, U.S. Airways' Attaché, ReadyMade, Napa Sonoma, and Safeway's Every Season. Book projects include developing the recipes for Skinny Bitch in the Kitch, which premiered on the New York Times Best Seller List, and contributing to Weight Watchers and JCPenny’s cookbooks. Jill is currently working on a food and wine pairing cookbook series of her own titled 100 Perfect Pairings.

Jill's recipes have also appeared on the packaging and promotional materials for Robert Mondavi Winery, Jekel Wines, McPherson Wines, Hollandia Produce, Mann Packing, the Cherry Marketing Institute, and the Michigan Asparagus Advisory Board.

As a culinary instructor, Jill is a regular presenter at Copia: The American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts and Ramekins Sonoma Valley Culinary School. As comfortable in the classroom as she is in the kitchen and at the keyboard, Jill consistently wows students with her energy, enthusiasm, and immediately-useful information.

The ultimate home chef, Jill relates to students and readers as peers. Maybe that's because she learned about food from her mother, father, and two grandmothers—all excellent cooks. She's supplemented that experience with formal instruction including a Food Science Certificate from the University of Guelph and a WSET Intermediate Certificate in Wines and Spirits.

A member of the San Francisco Professional Food Society, the International Association of Culinary Professionals, and Slow Food, Jill started her career as an advertising copywriter, spending twelve years at agencies in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Accounts including TWA, CBS, Huggies, Hershey's, and Maxwell House helped her hone her ability to speak to and motivate consumers. She left advertising to open the quintessential neighborhood cafe in Sausalito, California, which she owned for five years and where she made—among other things—the world's best chocolate chip cookies.