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Alumna discusses dynamic career, from Wall Street to Reuters to cookbook authorship 

By MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson

It wasn鈥檛 something she envisioned back in her days as a Dickinson student, but 13 years and two very different, successful careers later, is right where she wants to be.

Stein will visit Dickinson Monday, Nov. 16, to talk about her path from Wall Street to a major news bureau to cookbook authorship, and how her Dickinson education helped prepare her for each stop along the way (Stern Center Great Room, 4:30 p.m., also available online via ). She鈥檒l also deliver an interactive cooking demonstration (Stern 102, 5:15 p.m.), preparing a farm-fresh dish straight from the pages of her new book. All are welcome to attend.

It鈥檚 a delicious homecoming for the former international business & management major and study-abroad student whose professional journey began with a job at a Washington, D.C., financial-consulting firm. Four years later, Stein moved to Wall Street, where she worked for two years until the financial crisis hit in 2008鈥攁 watershed moment in the industry and an ideal time to reassess long-term goals.

Realizing her love of writing, Stein enrolled in a master's program in financial journalism at Boston University and embarked on her second career鈥攁s a journalist for Reuters, covering breaking national news and the New England beat as part of the worldwide news service鈥檚 Boston bureau. She and husband Eric also began to raise a family, and two years in, she transitioned to a busy freelance writing career, which allowed her to spend more time with daughter Abigail, now 3.

Stein also spent a lot of time in the kitchen, preparing healthy food for her family. That led to career No. 3.

While pregnant with her second child (Jackson, now 9 months), Stein developed recipes around fresh, local ingredients that would appeal to all members of her growing family鈥攁nd that a busy parent and professional could prepare with minimal fuss and stress. The result is Fresh Made Simple, a 200-page, 76-recipe cookbook (Storey Publishing), released last month, and featured in the October edition of O, The Oprah Magazine.

Each dish is built with fresh, local ingredients, and most are vegetarian, though there are helpful tips on how to incorporate chicken, fish and beef. Some are inspired by her days as a Dickinson study-abroad student in Mexico. All are accompanied with watercolor-and-ink illustrations that artfully explain every step along the way.

鈥淢y hope is that the illustrations make [cooking] more approachable and remove some of the worry a cook might have,鈥� says Stein, noting that because the emphasis is on fresh ingredients, rather than precise measurements, cooks are encouraged to modify amounts according to their own tastes. 鈥淭he idea is that it鈥檚 OK to relax and get creative鈥攁nd even a little messy鈥攊n the kitchen.鈥�

Perhaps most importantly, because the recipes are simplified and can be made with basic cooking tools鈥攁 saucepan and oven, a spatula or knife鈥攖hey are easy make, share and enjoy with friends (and even small children; her toddler, Abigail, regularly helps plan and prepare meals).

鈥淚t鈥檚 about being able to make good, fresh food, literally in minutes,鈥� Stein says, 鈥渂ut it鈥檚 also about really enjoying making, savoring and sharing delicious, healthy food with your family or friends.鈥�

Stein鈥檚 visit kicks off International Education Week at Dickinson, which also includes an international-flag Guess It! Game (Nov. 17 and 18), an international-flag ceremony and a South America study-abroad info session (both on Nov. 19) and an international movie night (Nov. 20).

Learn more

• 鈥淭he Past, Present and Future of Global Education鈥�
• (author website)
• Global Study & Engagement
• Alumni in Action
• Liberal Arts at Dickinson
• Latest News

Published November 13, 2015