Karen Adler is a food writer, culinary instructor, and publisher. As a culinary instructor, Adler specializes in outdoor cooking - fish, game, meat, and vegetables. She has taught at more than a dozen institutions and venues, including Viking Culinary Centers, A Southern Season in Chapel Hill, Central Market Cooking Schools in Texas, Cooks of Crocus Hill in Minneapolis/St. Paul, KitchenArt in West Lafayette, Indiana, and Copia in Napa, California. She has written for numerous publications including Q magazine, Backyard Living, Barbecue Today, Cooking Pleasures, and the St. Louis Post - Dispatch. She has appeared on local and national television and radio. Adler has authored or co - authored more than 14 books with 9 titles specializing in barbecue. With co - author Judith Fertig, Adler has been a spokesperson for the Catfish Institute and the Propane Educational and Research Council. She has been the guest chef at the Seattle Grillfest, Charlie Trotter's To Go Chicago, Traverse City Culinary Fest, and the American Royal International Barbecue Contest. She is a founding member and former president of Les Dames D'Escoffier, Kansas City Chapter. Adler is also the past vice president of the National Barbecue Association, having served as its Awards of Excellence founder and chairman. She is the president and owner of Pig Out Publications, Inc., a specialty barbecue books wholesaler. She lives in Kansas City, Missouri. Judith Fertig is a food writer and cookbook author who specializes in the food of the American Midwest, a regional cuisine that encompasses barbecue, breads and grains, and wild and heirloom fruits and vegetables. Among her accrued accolades are nominations for both the James Beard and IACP Cookbook Awards and inclusion on the Chicago Tribune's list of the year's ten best cookbooks. Trained at the Cordon Bleu in London and at La Varenne cole de Cuisine when it was still in Paris, Fertig now teaches cooking classes at institutions such as the Culinary Ce