Our Test Kitchen team includes professional chefs, pastry specialists and other culinary experts who work to perfect every single recipe at Taste of Home.
Taste of Home recipes begin with home cooks, and our team of culinary experts tests and fine-tunes each one before publication to ensure only the best recipes make it to your dinner table.
From our recipe testers who make every recipe at least twice to the culinary producers who make sure everything looks as good as it tastes, our culinary team works hard behind the scenes to ensure only the very best dishes make it on our site and in our magazine.
Here’s a look at the people who bring Taste of Home recipes to life.
Our Test Kitchen Team
Sarah Farmer
Executive Culinary Director
Sarah Farmer is the heart of the Taste of Home Test Kitchen. On top of leading the culinary team, she develops, tests and food styles recipes, balances budgets, connects with vendors and oversees the product testing process for pantry foods and cooking gear. You might spot her in our videos on social media and TV, gushing about the latest food trends or must-have kitchen gadgets.
Sarah joined Taste of Home in 2004 as a food stylist. She’s still head over heels for her job, and loves spending every day surrounded by people who share her enthusiasm for food, cooking and the Taste of Home community. Sarah and her husband live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Areas of Expertise: Cake and cookie decorating, air fryers, small appliances and cooking gadgets, food and cooking trends
Favorite Recipe: The Best Ever Chili and Chocolate Chip Cookies. “My beloved, low-tech, three-ring binder holds more than 17 years’ worth of my favorite Taste of Home recipes. It’s stained, wrinkled and worn, but deeply cherished,” Sarah says.
Catherine Ward
Prep Kitchen Manager
A lifelong foodie, Catherine Ward heads up the Taste of Home prep kitchen. She also lends her expertise for articles about cooking and baking techniques, as well as kitchen tools. Catherine has worked in the hospitality industry for most of her career, catering and teaching cooking classes. She is happiest when she’s cooking for a table full of friends and family.
Areas of Expertise: Grilling and smoking, bread baking, pie pastry, canning
Favorite Recipe: That Good Salad
Margaret Knoebel
Recipe Editor/Tester
Maggie Knoebel develops, edits, tests and prepares recipes for Taste of Home’s photo and video studios. She’s an alumna of the Culinary Institute of America, where she earned two degrees in baking and pastry arts. When she’s not making new recipes, you can find Maggie reading or hanging out with her goldendoodle, Annie.
Areas of Expertise: Yeast dough, bread baking, cake and cookie decorating
Favorite Recipe: Best Vanilla Buttercream
Allison Cebulla
Culinary Producer
With over 20 years of experience in the food industry, Allison Cebulla is excited to bring her baking expertise to the Taste of Home team. Having owned her own bakery for 7 years, she is well-versed in recipe development, styling, and diverse needs in the kitchen. When not photographing new recipes in the Taste of Home kitchens, Allison enjoys playing dinos and trucks with her two boys, Bowie and Ollie, and cycling with her husband, Craig.
Expertise: Pie pastry and filling, cookies and cakes, sourdough and yeast doughs, gluten-free and dairy-free baking
Awards: Best Pie, Wisconsin Bakers Association
Favorite Recipe: Cherry Hand Pies from my bakery days!
Ellie Crowley
Culinary Producer
Ellie Crowley styles and photographs our high-performing recipes. With more than 11 years of experience as a high school Culinary Arts instructor, Ellie brings her expertise in cooking, recipe development and organization to her fellow foodies on the team. When she’s not cooking new recipes, you can find Ellie hiking with her dog, Hank, or exploring vintage stores and new restaurants with her husband, Blake and son Gus.
Areas of Expertise: Knife skills, regional and international cuisine, soups, stocks and sauces, yeast doughs, bread baking, cocktails
Favorite Recipes: Slow-Cooker Carnitas washed down with Fresh Lime Margaritas
Josh Rink
Culinary Producer
Josh Rink spends his workdays food styling, shooting recipes and starring in cooking videos. While pursuing an education in fine arts, he worked as a barista, baker and caterer. When he’s not in the kitchen at work, Josh is in the kitchen at home, cooking (and eating!) with friends and family.
Areas of Expertise: Bread baking, pie pastry, cake and cookie decorating, turkey cookery and styling, cocktails
Favorite Recipe: The Best Pizza Dough
Monica Ganos
Culinary Assistant
Monica preps and styles recipes to be photographed for the Taste of Home website and magazine, in addition to appearing in recipe videos and managing the Test Kitchen’s grocery list. Before joining the team, Monica honed her cooking skills working a restaurants while earning her degree in design and visual communications at UW-Milwaukee.
A passionate home cook and baker, Monica is the go-to for anything food-related for her friends and family. When she isn’t in the kitchen, Monica enjoys spending all her time outside, going on walks and trying out new restaurants.
Areas of Expertise: Cocktails, cookies, teaching cooking skills, savory cooking
Favorite Recipe: Hummingbird Cupcakes or Pina Colada Zucchini Bread
Danielle Kasprzak
Culinary Assistant
Danielle has over 20 years of experience in the restaurant industry, doing everything from catering and event coordinating to opening and managing new restaurants in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At Taste of Home, Danielle makes and styles recipes, films videos and assists with managing the studio’s massive grocery orders.
Outside of work, Danielle loves doing anything outside, especially camping with her partner, Nicholas, and their dogs, Groot and Lucy. When it comes to home cooking, Danielle has a “just wing it” mentality and enjoys making things up as she goes and trying out many variations.
Areas of Expertise: Italian cuisine, cocktails
Favorite Recipe: Zucchini Carrot Cake
