Meredith Laurence has always had a love of food and turned this passion into her career over the last 25 years.

Her food industry career has taken her around the world; from Canada to France, San Francisco to Vermont, and finally here to Philadelphia. Her skill and passion for cooking was evident whether baking and catering, preparing gourmet meals as a chef at two Michelin-starred restaurants, or instructing the next generation of chefs at New England Culinary Institute.

But Meredith has yet another passion that led to the creation of Blue Jean Chef after moving to the Philadelphia area: teaching.

“Teaching people, demystifying cooking techniques, and helping people become happier, more comfortable in the kitchen was the most gratifying thing I’d ever done in my career,” she shares. “I created Blue Jean Chef hoping to make people as comfortable in the kitchen as they’d be in their blue jeans.”

This year, we were thrilled Blue Jean Chef partnered with us once again to Spread the Love with a generous $15,000 match during the entire month of February!

Spread the Love is our annual campaign to raise enough, through cash donations and food drives, to provide 40,000 jars of peanut butter – enough for 640,000 PB&J sandwiches for hungry kids across the Delaware Valley!

Peanut butter is one of the most-needed items for pantry shelves because it’s nutritious and kids of all ages love it.

Generous contributions, along with the Blue Jean Chef’s match, will go a long way in spreading the love and relieving hunger this year.

Thank you, Meredith — we are so grateful to count you among the Philabundance Family!

For delicious recipes, instructional videos, cookbooks and more information on Blue Jean Chef, visit www.bluejeanchef.com.