Anna Francese Gass grew up in a small town on the Rhode Island shore, before moving to New York City to study at New York University. After a stint in the corporate world, she decided she was much happier in the kitchen, not an office cubicle. She quit her fast paced sales job and enrolled in Culinary Arts at the French Culinary Institute (now ICC) to follow her dream to cook professionally. Soon thereafter, she found her niche in the test kitchens of Martha Stewart Living, Whole Foods and Mad Hungry. Currently, she is a regular contributing editor and recipe tester for Food52 and contributing writer for MSN.com. She is currently celebrating the release of her first cookbook, out this April, Heirloom Kitchen - Heritage Recipes and Family Stories From The Tables of Immigrant Women. She has created a successful blog, www.annasheirloomkitchen.com and Instagram @annafgass.