BIOGRAPHY - Jan Turner Hazard

Hi! I am Jan Turner Hazard, and together with my partner Nancy Byal, we are the GadgetGals.We are two "foodies" who write about kitchen gadgets and cooking for our site and any publication smart enough to hire us. I live in an apartment in "liberal" New York City, and Nancy lives on a farm in "conservative " Iowa. We feel this contrast is our strength. (Click here for Nan bio.)

What brought me to become a GadgetGal? My last gig was as the food and equipment editor of Ladies Home Journal (LHJ) for 16 years and associate food editor for nine years. Along with a great staff, we developed and wrote the food and nutrition stories for the much loved, highly rated "food section" of the magazine. I supervised the on-premise test kitchens where a gazillion recipes were triple-tested to assure readers that the recipes do work. (GadgetGals continues that same rigorous testing of recipes and kitchenware.) Under the LHJ brand, I also edited over a dozen cookbooks such as the eight volume 100 Great series: 100 Great Chicken Recipes, 100 Great Pasta Recipes, 100 Great Cookie Recipes. Sadly, the books are out of print. I also edited an 8-page monthly Cooks Club newsletter. Independently, I wrote a cookbook called Half-Baked Gourmet-Party Food; you can find it at www.amazon.com.

My college years were spent at Colorado Women’s College and Long Beach State University in California where I focused on Foods and Nutrition. After graduating, a job with Stouffer Food Corporation drew me to NYC. I fell in love with the city and a special man now my husband. I've never left. (Hey, it's true--NYC gets in your blood.) After Stouffers, came Good Housekeeping magazine, where I learned all about being a food editor. I have loved writing about food and gadgets ever since.

Professional associations help me network with other foodies and keep me on top of food happenings. I belong to Les Dames d’ Escoffier, where I served as president from 2000 to 2002; New York Women’s Culinary Alliance; Association of Food Journalists; and the International Association of Cooking Professionals. For the past 20 years, I have served as head judge of the Tabasco Community Cookbook Awards. I also serve and judge on the James Beard Cookbook Award Committee.

I am  the mother of two grown children, Jack and Katherine. They are my proudest work.