Peggy Barnes' latest cookbook can best be described as a
gourmet's guide to healthy eating. The travel influence in her work comes from
years of writing articles about restaurants she and her husband have visited
during their many travels by sea, land, and air.
One of the most remarkable experiences in their travels was a
tour of the Caribbean. They accumulated more than 20,000 miles under the keel of
Anemone.
"We sold our house, bought a 53-foot sailboat, and
made plans to sail around the world. We started in the Caribbean islands and
finding it a remarkably divergent area, we never left. We kept two logs—one
nautical, one gastronomic. We charted restaurants, from sophisticated bistros
to seaside fish shacks, as the hull pointed down the archipelago of cuisines,
from the Bahamas to South America. My journal entries read like a food and
wine lover's travel guide."
—Peggy Barnes
After returning home, she began freelance writing for
national magazines and newspapers. Her food and travel articles have since
appeared in Caribbean Travel and Life, American Business Woman, Chile
Pepper, and Endless Vacations, to name a few. Currently she is the
food editor and restaurant critic for Dayton Monthly Magazine.
Her professional cooking affiliations have also earned her
significant credits as well. She has recently been inducted into the prestigious
International Association of Culinary Professionals. In addition, she is a
member of the American Institute of Wine and Food and the Wine Taster's Guild.
She continues to write from her home in Dayton, Ohio. She and
her husband still travel often. However, she says their destinations are less
exotic these days, as they prefer to visit children and grandchildren instead of
island getaways.