Mackenzie Stratton

Title: Food Writer

Location: Philadelphia, PA

Education: Drexel University

Mackenzie is a food writer who approaches the topic from all angles—the technical, aesthetic, cultural, and political. She enjoys the crossroads between writing and cooking because both fields require a level of precision and finesse, but there is also plenty of room for creative expression.

Highlights

Currently working on a local foods cookbook about Mexican cuisine
Have lived in five countries, including Mexico, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Costa Rica
Published over 30 cooking guides and food history features for The Spruce Eats and 22 Words
Speaks both English and Spanish

Experience

Mackenzie's earliest memories are baking "owl pellet" cookies with her grandmother (a family recipe that's an ooey-gooey concoction of oatmeal and chocolate), as well as creating inventive appetizers for family gatherings (mini hotdog tostadas, anyone?).

Since then, she has explored many corners of the globe and adopted a variety of diets—from raw vegan to budget-friendly to local foods grown and tended on a farm she worked on. She has served as the head cook for a vegetarian community, developed recipes for multiple public service organizations, contributed recipes, photos, and writing to a local foods cookbook, and written instructional cooking and food history articles for two online periodicals.

To continue sharpening her knowledge, Mackenzie has dove into traditional methods of food preparation, from Argentinian pit-cooking to Slavic fermenting and Chinese hotpot. Her passion is learning about culture, as well as exercising creativity through food.

Education

Mackenzie has a B.S. from Drexel University.

About The Spruce

The Spruce, a Dotdash brand, is a new kind of home website offering practical, real-life tips and inspiration to help you create your best home. The Spruce family of brands, including The Spruce, The Spruce Eats, The Spruce Pets, and The Spruce Crafts collectively reach 30 million people each month.

Dotdash is among the largest and fastest growing publishers online, and has won over 50 awards in the last year alone, including Digiday's 2020 Publisher of the Year. Dotdash brands include Verywell, Investopedia, The Balance, The Spruce, Simply Recipes, Serious Eats, Byrdie, Brides, MyDomaine, Lifewire, TripSavvy, Liquor.com, and TreeHugger.