Hola! Thanks for stopping by my site. I am a writer, mostly about food. I’ve written essays and feature stories for magazine and newspapers and I’ve authored and co-authored 18 cookbooks including my own Bowls of Plenty, a collection of recipes for food that is somewhat healthy, super delicious, and served in a bowl.

I’ve been nominated for three James Beard Awards. The third time turned out to be the charm, when Cubism Makes a Comeback, a story about (of all things) bullion cubes, which I wrote for the Los Angeles Times, was awarded Best Newspaper Feature Writing.

My feature stories and essays have appeared in Saveur, The Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Times Magazine, Gourmet, and Bon Appetit, as well as other publications.

I am currently working on a baking book with my friend, the legendary baker, chef, and food personality Nancy Silverton (Alfred A. Knopf in 2022). Also, from the Department of Things I Didn’t Plan on, I am the Event Director of Valle Food & Wine Festival in Baja California’s wine country, Valle de Guadalupe.

You can reach me at carreno @ mac dot com. Please write; I love a worthy distraction.

P.s.: You’ll see that I sometimes refer to myself as Carolina, and sometimes as Carolynn. This is a problem. My real, legal name is Carolina. My published writing has the byline Carolynn. I answer to both.