In 1985 my first book, Stephanie’s Menus for Foodlovers was published and once I had found my voice there seemed to be no stopping me!

I have spent the best times of my life travelling and holidaying with friends and family. In some of my earlier books, Stephanie’s Menus for Food Lovers and Stephanie’s Feasts & Stories (1988), there are short pieces that were written while on holiday in Australia and in various parts of Asia and Europe.

My fifth book, The Cook’s Companion, in 1996, resulted from my growing belief that despite all the interest in restaurants and ‘fancy food’, we were raising children and young adults with little if any understanding of what to do with fresh food in their daily lives. The vindication of my belief has been the phenomenal success of this massive book. In November 2013 I launched the Cook’s Companion App.

A two-month sojourn in Tuscany with Maggie Beer was immortalised and remembered in both Stephanie’s Journal (1999) and Stephanie Alexander & Maggie Beer’s Tuscan Cookbook (1998). During a working holiday in a small village in the south-west of France with friends and a photographer I completed the work on Cooking & Travelling in South-West France (2002).

Later books reflect my work with children, starting with the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden project at Collingwood College. With Anna Dollard I wrote Kitchen Garden Cooking with Kids (2006, revised 2012). The Kitchen Garden Companion was published in 2009 and later revised and split into two volumes: Growing (2016) and Cooking (2017).

In 2012 I published many of the stories of my life and travels in my memoir, A Cook’s Life. My most recent book of menus, The Cook’s Table,  was released in October 2016. It is a combination storybook and recipe book that sets out 25 menus for special occasions or that have been inspired by past travels.

My latest major work, The Cook’s Apprentice, was published in October 2018 – a teaching cookbook for the younger cook who’s just starting out in the kitchen. Consistent with Stephanie’s lifelong approach, the book is intended to help new foodies become relaxed and confident in the kitchen.

Next: Kitchen Garden Foundation >>