So, a brief bit of information about me.  I will compose a more complete bio later.  First, I am a spoiled California brat, being born and raised in the Golden State and being a fifth generation Prune Picker.  My great grandparents immigrated to California from Virginia in 1852 and established a cattle farm in the San Joaquin valley.   What’s a “Prune Picker?”  As opposed to what the Urban Myth people say, time was when native Californians were called “Prune Pickers,” because of the agricultural nature of the state.  More specifically, it refers to someone from the Santa Clara valley, (not me) which at one time was all orchards of the type of Italian plum that are used to make prunes.

Yes, there was a time when the “Prune Yard,” was a place where they produced prunes, not a collection of trendy gift shops; just like there was a time when San Francisco’s “Ghirardelli Square” was a place where chocolate was made and “The Farmers Market” in Los Angeles was were farmers from the San Fernando valley brought their produce to sell.  But, back to me.  I call myself a spoiled California brat because of our weather.  If it gets below 40° I think it’s a right-wing plot to undermine the rights of the rank and file.  Anyway...

My degree is in design, color and composition with a minor ceramics, from The California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland.  I became a writer and foodie through the back door.  My father always dreamed of being a writer but never quite managed it.  My name is a way of honoring that dream.  When I first got published I took his middle name.  The double “n” on the end of Duncann was a misspelling on his birth certificate and I just liked it.  Becoming a food writer is really an in through the out-door story.  Again, due to my father, I am an impassioned armature historian.  Also, both my parents had an intense interest in good food, long before the current “yuppy,” food renaissance and T.V. inspired celebrity chef thing.  My father developed an interest in the history of food, particularly that of Ancient Rome and the Middle ages.  

When the original California Renaissance Pleasure Faire came along it was like a match made in heaven.  Phyllis Patterson and I became good friends and I became her consultant on Renaissance food and eventually became the catering coordinator.

I am well traveled, having spent a considerable amount of time exploring the British Isles, Europe, Mexico and the United States, studying the foods and folk traditions of those locations.  My food column ran in the San Francisco Examiner and the Los Angeles Herald Examiner for several years and I am the author of over a dozen cook books.  My first novel, a culinary mystery, “Valley of Zin” was published in 2007 and is available through Amazon.