about the authors

Shannon Kring Biró is executive producer and co-star of the Emmy^® Award-winning PBS reality-cooking series The Kitchens of Biró and co-author of the Benjamin Franklin Award-winning Biró: European-Inspired Cuisine (Gibbs Smith); Johnsonville Big Taste of Sausage Cookbook: More Than 125 Recipes for On and Off the Grill from America's #1 Sausage Maker (Random House/Broadway Books); and The Kitchens of Biró: Simple SpanAsian Cuisine (Gibbs Smith).

A frequent keynote speaker at events throughout the US, Europe, and Indonesia, Shannon was a finalist in the 2004 Stevie Awards for Women Entrepreneurs. She is president of Biró Internationale, LLC, an integrated cuisine company consisting of award-winning restaurants, culinary schools, how-to media content, branded merchandise, and an international restaurant and marketing consultancy.

Shannon and her work have appeared on NPR and The Rachael Ray Show, and in dozens of leading publications including The Wall Street Journal, SmartMoney Magazine, TV Guide, Redbook, Woman's World, Nation's Restaurant News, Chicago Tribune, Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture, and Restaurants & Institutions.

Natalie Kring graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside with a BA in English. She is a former independent bookstore manager and poet whose work has been featured in the online literary journal Eclectica.