Stephanie Dean, Test Kitchen Manager, Sunset Magazine  

Born and raised in San Jose, California, Stephanie Dean developed a passion for cooking early on. In high school, she extended this passion into small-time catering for friends and family. Along with her interest in cooking, she also developed an interest in health and wellness and decided to pursue a bachelor’s in nutrition at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. There, she worked at a gourmet olive oil company and managed Cal Poly’s student-run chocolate business. On trips back to San Jose, she catered for Restaurant O in Campbell.

After an internship at Mattson and Company, one of the foremost food product development companies in the country, Dean landed at Sunset. Here, she manages the test kitchen, answers reader questions, and writes recipes. She lives in San Jose and spends her free time cooking, singing, and playing the guitar. Dean has her master’s in nutrition from San Jose State University and is currently teaching food culture and hunger and environmental nutrition classes there.