It's hard to believe that an accomplished cook like Jill was once an extremely picky eater. So picky, in fact, that she'd ask for the kid's menu at restaurants. Today, Jill not only works at expanding her own food palate, but everybody else's. She writes cookbooks; she teaches classes. She's even formed a company that worked with the pickiest eaters in the world – kids.

Slim Pickings

Jill traces her pickiness all the way back to her hometown – Buffalo, New York. "Grandma," she says, "once tricked me into eating ground bear meat as a six-year-old. That pretty much eliminated meat from the youngster's diet.

Then there was dad, a Vietnam vet with a serious aversion to rice. Matter of fact, Jill didn't even have a chance to try it until she was 20. Jill's takeaway: keep foods familiar, keep foods simple and never try anything new. Never.

Goodbye Grilled Cheese

As an adult, Jill found herself in a corporate world with plenty of obligatory business lunches. She marveled at the variety of food out there. She couldn't believe how much people enjoyed it. Eventually, curiosity, if not her stomach, got the best of Jill. She resolved to expand her palate.

A Natural Born Teacher

Food soon excited Jill. She formed Picky Eaters, a company that taught cooking to kids in the Washington D.C. area. That went so well Jill soon found herself teaching sorts of people how to cook – even adults. Along the way, she discovered a special talent: people loved how she could make complex ideas easily understood and practiced until mastered.

Her Career Expands

Jill went on to write The Jewish Holidays Cookbook, (DK, 2008). She penned the foreword and consulted on another cookbook, Grow It, Cook It (DK, 2008). Jill designed and taught countless children's cooking classes for private cooking schools, public school districts, and major corporations. She even worked as a spokesperson and presenter, cooking on demonstration stages at large public events. And now Jill brings her enthusiasm for food and cooking to bettycrocker.com. Dig in, picky eaters or not.