Westmoreland, Susan

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Westmoreland, Susan

PERSONAL:

Married; children: one son.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Brooklyn, NY. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Chef and journalist. Ladies' Home Journal, associate food editor for six years; Good Housekeeping, food features planner and producer and host of the Susan to the Rescue video Web log. On board of directors of Les Dames d'Escoffier and New York Women's Culinary Alliance.

MEMBER:

James Beard Foundation, International Association of Culinary Professionals.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Named editor of the year, James Beard Foundation, 2001.

WRITINGS:

(Editor, with Susan Deborah Goldsmith and Elizabeth Brainerd Burge) The Good Housekeeping Step-by-Step Cookbook, Hearst Books (New York, NY), 1997.

(Editor, with Susan Deborah Goldsmith and Elizabeth Brainerd Burge) Delicious Dessert Cookbook: More Than 200 Recipes for Cakes, Cookies, Pastries, Pies, and Tarts, Hearst Books (New York, NY), 1999.

(Editor, with Susan Deborah Goldsmith and Elizabeth Brainerd Burge) Good Housekeeping Step-by-Step Great Desserts, Hearst Books (New York, NY), 1999.

(Editor, with Susan Deborah Goldsmith and Elizabeth Brainerd Burge) Good Housekeeping Step-by-Step Main Dishes, Hearst Books (New York, NY), 1999.

(Editor, with Susan Deborah Goldsmith and Elizabeth Brainerd Burge) Delicious Vegetable Cooking: More Than 200 Recipes for Appetizers, Entrées, Soups, Salads, and Side Dishes, Hearst Books (New York, NY), 2000.

(Editor, with Susan Deborah Goldsmith and Elizabeth Brainerd Burge) Good Housekeeping Step-by-Step Vegetable Cookbook, Hearst Books (New York, NY), 2000.

(Editor) The All New Good Housekeeping Cookbook, Hearst Books (New York, NY), 2001.

(Editor) Good Housekeeping Great American Classics Cookbook, Hearst Books (New York, NY), 2004.

(With Janis Jibrin) The Supermarket Diet Cookbook, Hearst Books (New York, NY), 2006.

(Editor) The Good Housekeeping Cookbook: 1,039 Recipes from America's Favorite Test Kitchen, revised edition, Hearst Books (New York, NY), 2007.

Contributor to periodicals, including Seventeen, Glamour, and Cuisine.

SIDELIGHTS:

Susan Westmoreland is a chef and journalist. Westmoreland worked as a professional chef in the United States and in Greece before she entered the publishing industry to write about food and cuisine. She has worked with Good Housekeeping for several decades and serves as their food features planner and producer and host of the Susan to the Rescue video Web log.

In 2001 Westmoreland edited The All New Good Housekeeping Cookbook. The book updates the original book published in 1903 and shows how cooking in American households has changed over the course of the century. Pamela C. Patterson, writing in January Magazine, commented that the cookbook "is truly the mother of all cookbooks—beautiful, well-organized, comprehensive in its scope and its glossy page stock makes it easy to wipe up spills and spatters—a big plus for those of us who are not known for being neat and tidy while creating culinary masterpieces." A contributor to GirlPosse.com remarked that "this book is the only guide you'll need for buying, cooking, serving, and storing food. With the trusted name of Good Housekeeping behind every recipe, The All New Good Housekeeping Cookbook deserves a place in your kitchen." A contributor to Publishers Weekly noted that the book is written using "an encouraging attitude" towards making the dishes and is "chatty in tone." The same contributor concluded that The All New Good Housekeeping Cookbook "will appeal to fans of the magazine and serves as an introduction for the less experienced cook." Judith Sutton, reviewing the cookbook in Library Journal, "highly recommended" the cookbook, noting that "many of the recipes are quick and simple."

Westmoreland edited Good Housekeeping Great American Classics Cookbook in 2004. The book indicates that American households cook a wide vari- ety of international cuisines, with Mexican dishes taking a prominent section in the book. Appetizers, desserts, and all meals in between are included in this cookbook. Booklist contributor Mark Knoblauch found that the book provided "a good snapshot of the state of cooking in the" United States, adding that there are "brilliant color photos throughout."

Westmoreland published The Supermarket Diet Cookbook in 2006 with Janis Jibrin. In an interview on the Diet Detective Web site, Westmoreland personally explained the concept of the book. She stated: "Weight loss begins in the supermarket. This diet teaches you: bring home the right ingredients, and you can make slimming meals. You don't have to run around to health food or specialty stores. The ingredients are in your local grocery. And those meals don't have to take you all night. Most can be made in about 20-30 minutes. This isn't ‘diet food’. It's regular, tasty, familiar food that the entire family will love." A contributor to the Midwest Book Review remarked that "nutrition information for each serving makes it easy to diet." Christine Bulson, reviewing the account in Library Journal, "recommended" the book, but found that "the index is a disappointment, with recipes listed by title rather than food type."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, November 1, 2004, Mark Knoblauch, review of Good Housekeeping Great American Classics Cookbook, p. 453.

Good Housekeeping, May 21, 2008, author profile.

January Magazine, November, 2001, Pamela C. Patterson, review of The All New Good Housekeeping Cookbook.

Library Journal, August 1, 2001, Judith Sutton, review of The All New Good Housekeeping Cookbook, p. 151; April 1, 2007, Christine Bulson, review of The Supermarket Diet Cookbook, p. 113.

Midwest Book Review, July 1, 2007, review of The Supermarket Diet Cookbook.

Publishers Weekly, September 10, 2001, review of The All New Good Housekeeping Cookbook, p. 86.