Amy Sherman is the founder of Cooking with Amy.  Her website offers original recipes, reviews, commentaries, news and culinary travel information.  Her blog has been chosen one of the top five food blogs by Forbes.  It has been singled out by The Guardian as a top food blog.  Saveur has listed it as a “Site We Love”, and numerous sites like Epicurious, Good Housekeeping, and New York Times have linked to it.  Julie & Julia has featured it as a “Blog of the Day.”

Amy has written for various magazines including Cheers and Gastronomica.  She has contributed articles to various culinary websites like Epicurious and Frommers.com.  Currently, she writes for Fodor's and Recipe.com

She has authored the books Williams-Sonoma New Flavors for Appetizers and Wine Passport: Portugal.  She has also contributed to two books: Creating A Meal You'll Love and ThinkFood: Brain Healthy Recipes

1. It's really amazing how much you've accomplished with your blog.  When did you start blogging?  Did you expect this kind of success?

I started blogging in 2003. It was just for fun and I had no expectations at all. When Forbes chose my blog as one of the top 5 food blogs, I was shocked! I certainly didn’t think it would lead to a career change, book contracts, and exotic trips around the world.

2. As you said, you've studied cooking around the globe, can you tell our readers more about that?  How was it like to do what you love and travel the world?

I’ve always loved to travel and I love to cook, so taking cooking classes abroad combines two things I am passionate about. When possible I try to schedule cooking classes on vacation or on business trips. I’ve taken classes in Morocco, Vietnam, Thailand and Italy. Sometimes I learn techniques for things I make at home other times I just gain a greater appreciation for traditional recipes like making pasta from scratch or using a tagine.

3. You've written cookbooks and developed countless recipes - have you ever considered putting up your own restaurant and possibly gunning for a Michelin Star?

No. I love to cook for family or friends but have no desire to cook in a restaurant setting. I only know a few food bloggers who have transitioned to running successful restaurants, namely Pim of Kin Khao, Brett of Contigo and Allison of Homeroom in Oakland. All of them stopped blogging before their restaurants opened. Running a restaurant is all-consuming and there are too many other things I like to do.

4. You've developed recipes for other people.  Do you never run out of ideas?  Where do you draw your inspiration from?

I do run out of ideas. Creativity is tricky. Sometimes I feel inspired and other times the well runs dry. I try not to stress out over it. I am often inspired by the dishes I try in restaurants or by cookbooks. But I always try to put my own spin on a recipe.

5. Can you give us a little glimpse about your family life? What's your family's favorite dish?

I live with my husband and my parents and in-laws also live in the Bay Area. My apartment really isn’t ideal for entertaining but I enjoy canning and making jams and preserves to share. I recently threw a pintxos party for my family at my parent’s house and that was a lot of fun.

I am crazy about all kinds of noodles and my husband loves chili and Japanese beef bowl. Those are probably his two most common requests. We both really like roast chicken and I am always trying to perfect my technique.