The Mixer

Kim

Betty Crocker Kitchens Manager

With 20 years under her belt in the food business, Kim has done a little of everything. She's tested package directions to ensure their reliability, developed recipes, fine-tuned products, promoted brands, and attended countless focus groups to better understand consumers. She also has experience in advertising and food styling for commercials. Kim currently manages the Betty Crocker Test Kitchens for the Pillsbury, Baking and Meals divisions.

When not working with food, Kim spends a great deal of time growing it. Her garden has included tomatoes, broccoli, corn, beans, squash, peppers, onions, garlic, lettuce, beets, potatoes, watermelon, cantaloupe, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and rhubarb.

Kim is one of the co-creators of The Mixer.

Andi

Senior Food Editor

As senior food editor, Andi works with dozens of freelance food consultants to develop hundreds of recipes each year for Betty Crocker and Pillsbury supermarket magazines and hardcover cookbooks.

Andi's wealth of food experience include positions in Pillsbury's Consumer Service group, including Senior Food Editor for Publications, manager for the Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest and manager for several Pillsbury brand groups.

Andi holds a bachelor of science degree in foods in business from the University of Minnesota. She continues to expand her food knowledge through cooking classes and has studied with several well-known cooking professionals.

Jill

Cookbook Author, bettycrocker.com blogger

Having fun, sharing knowledge, and instilling self-confidence are the reasons why Jill enjoys teaching kids to cook. A self-admitted picky eater, Jill learned to cook because she understood how important it was to expand her own food horizons beyond grilled cheese. Her books and projects, including Jewish Holidays Cookbook (DK, 2008) and Grow It, Cook It (DK, 2008), inspire children and adults to do the same.

Jill's specializes in breaking the complexities of cooking into fundamentals that can be practiced and mastered by children and adults alike. She uses these skills when teaching hands-on cooking lessons, which she has done for more than eight years.

Maggie

Betty Crocker Kitchens Director

As co-director of the Betty Crocker Kitchens, Maggie Gilbert supervises a group of cooking professionals responsible for providing consumer food expertise to General Mills products and brands. Her group is responsible for identifying consumer trends and food and kitchen practices, and applying these insights to recipe development for cookbooks, magazines, and websites.

Maggie graduated with a home economics and education degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She also studied in London at the famed Le Cordon Bleu Culinary School, and in France with Simone Beck, co-author of Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Maggie's favorite recipe to make is Spanish paella.

Jennifer

Senior Test Kitchen Expert

Jennifer started testing recipes at an early age. After watching public television food shows she would head to the kitchen and recreate the culinary techniques she'd just witnessed. This pastime became a passion, and today Jennifer leads recipe development for the Muir Glen^® and Cascadian Farm^® organic test kitchens.

As a registered dietitian with a master's degree in public health, Jennifer offers a fresh perspective on cooking with organic ingredients. She views recipes as a starting point for cooks of all abilities, and acknowledges that there are endless opportunities to personalize a recipe.

Jennifer is currently working on perfecting her grandmother's home-baked bread - for which there is no original recipe.

Heidi

Editor

With a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and mass communications Heidi is more of a "wordie" than a "foodie." She's answered reader mail at Sassy, interviewed cover models for Mademoiselle, verified the spelling of wedding dress designers for Martha Stewart Weddings and written about architecture for Midwest Home. She currently project-manages the production of Betty Crocker and Pillsbury supermarket and Most Requested Recipes^™ magazines at General Mills.

Heidi considers herself a work-in-progress as a cook and enjoys food most when it's prepared with friends and family. Her favorite meal to make with friends is steak frites (she plays the role of fry cook).

Cheri

Senior Food Editor

Cheri is a test kitchen expert in the Betty Crocker Kitchens and spends her work day developing healthy recipes for Yoplait yogurt, Big G cereals and other General Mills brands. She has a passion for health, fitness and nutrition, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in food and nutrition. As senior cookbook editor, Cheri was the driving force behind Betty Crocker's Living with Cancer which won the prestigious 2003 International Association of Cooking Professionals Cookbook of the Year Award in the health category. Cheri has also edited Betty Crocker's Eat & Lose Weight, Diabetes, Healthy Heart, Win at Weight Loss, Cookbook for Women, Whole Grains and the latest, 30-Minute Meals for Diabetes.

Kristen

Assistant Food Editor

Kristen started her food career as an intern at General Mills and, after graduating from the University of Minnesota with a bachelor of science degree in nutrition and dietetics, was hired as an assistant food editor in the Betty Crocker Kitchens. She prepares recipes for taste panels and helps perfect them for Betty Crocker and Pillsbury magazines and cookbooks.

Kristen's credits her love of cooking to her mother, whose simple, home-cooked meals, and encouragement in the kitchen gave her the confidence to experiment and be creative with food.

When not at work, Kristen enjoys baking bread, growing vegetables, and keeping bees. She's currently on a homemade marshmallows kick.

Jackie

Senior Editor

After 20 years of being magazine editor for Betty Crocker and Pillsbury supermarket magazines, Jackie has tested, tasted and edited thousands of recipes. She loves to learn the science behind why a recipe works (or doesn't), a curiosity carried over from her days in 4-H.

Jackie comes from a family of nine and was the designated baker of the group. She parlayed this love of baking to her professional life when she edited a baking cookbook that was nominated for a James Beard award.

She believes she should always have an answer to "What's for dinner?"

Ann

Senior Test Kitchen Expert

Ann Stuart has a passion for reading, preparing and collecting recipes, and the tall stack of cookbooks and magazines on her nightstand is testament to that. She enjoys planning meals and likes to rotate her favorite recipes with one or two new recipes each week. With a daughter highly active in high school sports, Ann's current area of interest is feeding and fueling athletes.

She makes good use of her bachelor's degree in food science and business from the University of Minnesota by working as a senior test kitchen expert in the Betty Crocker Kitchens where she supports the baking division.

Ann is one of the co-creators of The Mixer.

Lynn

Betty Crocker Kitchens Director

Lynn supervises a group of home economists responsible for providing consumer food expertise to the General Mills products and brands in her role as co-director of the Betty Crocker Kitchens. Her group is responsible for identifying consumer trends and food and kitchen practices, and applying these insights to recipe development for cookbooks, magazines and websites.

Lynn graduated with a food science degree from Iowa State University and continues to maintain her Family and Consumer Science certification (CFCS). She is active in many professional organizations including Home Economists in Business, Consumer Trends Forum International, and International Microwave Power Institute.