rowing up in the Mohawk Valley of upstate New York, Hallie Durand's family always ate supper together, all six of them. Hallie's favorite meals were Mulberry's Beans, Glop, and Pick Around. The maple syrup was always pure, the sweet corn grew in the field next to the house, and the water came from their spring. Hallie picked blackberries, black caps, and raspberries from the back forty acres, and she and her middle sister spent much of their free time in the hay barn, where they swung from ropes and sang loudly. Food, often cooked in the crock pot or the pressure cooker, helped keep the family close and comfortable, as it does to this day.

Hallie still shows her friends and family that she loves them by offering them food. She spends a good deal of her spare time in the kitchen and has a great appreciation for simple food well-cooked. She loves crisp white napkins and Fiestaware, accompanied by beautiful heaping platters of food. She always prepares at least twice as much as will be eaten, because she believes people should leave the house with leftovers in hand.

Hallie lives with her husband and three children in the New York area. Her debut chapter book series featuring a girl named Dessert was acquired by Atheneum Books for Young Readers for publication in Summer 2009.