Just Simply... Cuisine changes the way America eats through informative, hands-on education about cooking and eating REAL.

Megan Lubin’s close relationship with REAL food stems primarily from her mother whose skills in the kitchen are matched only by her obsession with fresh from-the-garden herbs and produce. Megan has a stomach befitting someone triple her size but balances her passion with regular exercise—she is an avid hiker, camper, Ultimate Frisbee player, biker, dancer, skier, snowboarder, and gardener. She began her internship with us in January 2011 and focuses on coordinating Just Simply... Cuisine’s publicity and online outreach. 

Kate Joyce has loved cooking ever since college. After graduating from Colgate in 2009, she lived abroad in Sweden and traveled to Italy, France and Spain. She spent a month living with a family in Italy and quickly fell in love with the simplicity of Umbrian farm cooking. Upon returning from Europe, Kate moved to DC and began her internship with Just Simply... Cuisine’s senior project cooking classes. Since then, she has assisted in countless classes while engaging the community in the cultivation of Just Simply... Cuisine’s select partnerships.

Elise Canup, an avid foodie and cook, is currently pursuing a Masters Degree in Italian. She has lived abroad in Tuscany and Sicily and has traveled extensively in Europe. The kitchen and market are also Elise’s favorite places to explore by tasting new foods and trying out new recipes. Her love for the kitchen has led her to spend summers working as a caterer and as an assistant teacher at a children’s cooking school as well as interning at Colonial Williamsburg’s Department of Historic Foodways. Besides cooking, Elise loves to swim and do yoga.

Nada Bauer has a deep, personal knowledge of world cuisine. As a child in her native Beirut, Nada’s most cherished moments were in her grandmother’s kitchen. There, family gatherings meant rich aromas circulating and people hovering over delicious food. She then spent her adult life hopping from diplomatic postings with her husband and two children in Brazil, Bulgaria, Tunisia, Bahrain, France, and Belgium. The combination of a global exposure to culinary traditions and customs, varied food sources, and regional flavors have made Nada a natural gourmand. Her motto is everything fait maison meaning home cooking from scratch. Among her accomplishments and one that makes her most proud is her children's preference for wholesome, nutritious cooking and healthy living. Nada speaks Arabic, English, and French. When she is not cooking, she enjoys yoga, reading, and oil painting.

Natalie Goldberg, a mental health therapist and mother of two growing boys, is constantly reminded of how stressful life can be and finds cooking as a great way to connect with and nurture others. Her interest in cooking has been a recent discovery and one that she often shares with her dad, a recreational cook who enjoys learning and trying new recipes. Natalie’s diverse cultural background... her mom from the Dominican Republic and father with roots in Mexico and Italy meant growing up on family meals of authentic dishes from these countries. Natalie cooks to pass on these traditions to her children who enjoy many of the same foods as she did when she was their age.

Ambreen Ali spends her days reporting on politics and her evenings having fun and making a mess in the kitchen. She hails from California, where her South Asian mom taught her the importance of fresh, home-cooked meals. Ambreen loves to travel and explore the world through its cuisines. An avid runner, she has lived and studied in Seattle, Chicago, India, Pakistan and D.C.

Carla Sanchez has a long and growing relationship with good food going as far back as her grandmothers; both of which were cooks in El Salvador who made traditional foods to sell at the local market. Carla’s interest began when she was in college and became a vegetarian. Having to take her health into her own hands, she realized she would have to cook her own food. Over the years, her interests with home cooked food and food from scratch grew from her travels around the world, and while she was in the US Peace Corps for three years in the South Pacific. Craving dishes and foods from home, she utilized the resources available to her to create foods that were both good to her, and for her. Her drive to learn and grow continues.

Peter Ward has been pairing food and wine in organized tastings for corporate and private clients since 2007. We are pleased to have him join Just Simply... Cuisine and provide us with a “snob-free” passport to the wine world while pairing affordable wines with all styles of cuisine.

Peter’s blog “Corkshrewd” will guide you through the wine world from the perspective of someone who entered it rather recklessly but now navigates it with confidence and ease.

Tory O’Kane has been stealing slices of pie and bits of bacon ever since she could crawl. At home, she specializes in leftovers, but in the workplace Tory specializes in development of small businesses. Her background is in branding and marketing. She spent the past three years building the brand for a dark fiber telecommunications company, Lexent Metro Connect, which was recently sold to Lightower Fiber Networks and most recently Metro Network Services. She is now pursuing her MBA at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business.

Mal Jones, an Alexandria, Virginia based artist, creates websites and provides other design services for small to medium sized companies. He loves working with local business owners to bring their work online.

Nils Tcheyan works with people and organizations to create images that capture the connections that happen when people come together. He's lived and worked all over the world and loves to meet people, hear what they are doing, and translate their stories into photos that can be shared with others.