Brooke M. Bell

Editor

Brooke M. Bell is the editor of Taste of the South, a fast-growing magazine that preserves the past and celebrates the future of Southern food. As editor, Brooke directs the editorial staff and is responsible for the planning and executing of all the content for the magazine. She also partners with the test kitchen staff and photography team to develop the recipes and images in every issue.

Brooke joined the Hoffman Media team in 2007 as food editor of Cooking with Paula Deen, where she created story packages and oversaw the development of all recipes and food-related content before taking the helm at Taste of the South. Prior to arriving at Hoffman Media, Brooke worked as managing editor for three of Grand View Media Group’s titles, as food writer for Birmingham Weekly, and as a freelance food writer for various publications. She received a bachelor of arts degree from Birmingham-Southern College and an associate degree in culinary arts from Culinard, the Culinary Institute of Virginia College in Birmingham, Alabama.

When she is not researching the latest trends in seasonal cooking and the culinary arts, Brooke spends her time shopping at farmers markets, tending to her backyard garden, and entertaining her family and friends. She lives in Birmingham with her husband and Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

Betty Terry

Food Editor

Food editor Betty Terry turned a freelance writing assignment about cornbread into a fulltime career when she joined Taste of the South magazine in October 2004. She left a career in marketing and public relations to pursue her love of food and all things Southern. Along the way, Betty earned a degree in culinary arts from Culinard, the Culinary Institute of Virginia College, in Birmingham, Alabama (where she was a member of the school's first graduating class). She also holds a degree in art and history from Birmingham-Southern College.

Raised in a large family of five sisters and one brother by parents who grew up close to the land in rural Alabama, Betty remembers when vegetables were always fresh from the garden, cornbread was always homemade, and there was always a place at the table for anyone who dropped by around suppertime. She is a big fan of fried okra, slow-cooked pork barbecue, buttermilk biscuits with blackberry jam, and sweet tea. "Southern cooking doesn't need labels like 'Creole,' 'Low Country,' or 'Mountain Cooking,'" Betty says. "To me, it's all home cooking."

Malinda Nichols

Photo Stylist

Malinda Kay Nichols joined the Taste of the South staff in August 2007 as an editorial assistant. That’s where she had the opportunity to learn the ropes of photo styling, and now as photo stylist, Malinda professes to have found “the job of her dreams.” With a degree from the University of Alabama in apparel and textile design, she is excited to have a career where she can be creative and put her education to good work.

Malinda and her husband, Zack, whom she has known since elementary school, live in a cute cottage with their neurotic dog, Tallula. Malinda can often be seen riding her Vespa scooter around town. Her other interests include baking, sewing, and all things vintage. "While I enjoy cooking and eating extravagant meals," Malinda says, "there is nothing like a good grilled-cheese sandwich and a glass of sweet tea."

Karen Callaway

Contributing Writer

After 20 years as a stay-at-home mom to three children, Karen Callaway found a new career as a writer at Hoffman Media. In addition to contributing to Taste of the South, she is the associate editor for our sister publication, Southern Lady. For Taste of the South, Karen especially enjoys writing stories about the farmers who grow the food Southerners eat. "I fall in love with all my farm families," Karen says. "I treasure the friends I have made along the way."

Karen resides in a cozy cottage with the youngest of her three children, her perfect-in-every-way son, Ry, two cuddly cats, and an old yellow dog that helps her garden by digging holes in the backyard. She has an affinity for cooking gadgets (the cool kind), vintage aprons, and authentic New Orleans bread pudding. Like many writers, she is working on a novel she hopes to actually finish one day.

Jodi Daniels

Art Director

"I always knew exactly what I wanted to do when I grew up," says Taste of the South art director Jodi Rankin Daniels. "I wanted to design." Jodi's childhood love of coloring, drawing, and creating led her to the University of Alabama, where in 1999 she earned a bachelor's degree in advertising and communication with an emphasis in creative design. She joined Hoffman Media in August 2004 and later became art director for Taste of the South.

Growing up on a dairy farm in Faunsdale, Alabama, Jodi Lynn (as her family calls her) had an idyllic childhood. She recalls showing cows, churning butter, and picking sweet corn in the wee hours of the morning with her parents and three older sisters. She learned to cook at an early age, baking brownies and making spaghetti sauce for her family's dinner. "Homemade spaghetti sauce," Jodi insists, "not from a jar!"

These days it's her husband, Jason, who enjoys Jodi's cooking, and he doesn't seem to have many complaints. Jodi, Jason, and their son, Balin, live on the outskirts of Birmingham. "Even though my dreams took me to the big city," Jodi points out, "my heart remains in the Southern pastures that gave me that sweet corn and that tall glass of fresh milk I love so much."