Jess is an award-winning freelance food writer and recipe developer, and the author of 12 books, many co-written with Seattle-area restaurateurs, plus her New York Times-reviewed memoir, A Year Right Here: Adventures with Food and Family in the Great Nearby. Her work has appeared in Food & Wine, Cooking Light, Seattle, Sunset, and Edible Seattle magazines, and in multiple issues of the yearly Best Food Writing book collection. Since 2018, she has been a regular recipe tester for The New York Times. She lives in Seattle with her husband and 13-year-old son.