About

Ashley Strickland Freeman is an award winning food stylist, recipe developer and tester, author, and editor. She grew up in Savannah, Georgia and realized her passion for food and cooking at a very young age. After receiving a degree in Journalism from The University of Georgia and a degree in Culinary Arts from The French Culinary Institute (now International Culinary Center) in New York, New York, she moved to Birmingham, Alabama where she worked in the Oxmoor House test kitchens, developing, testing, and food styling recipes for cookbooks for the brands of Southern Living, Coastal Living, Cooking Light, Weight Watchers, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Health, and Gooseberry Patch. From there she transitioned to the editorial side and was the Food Editor of over 30 publications before becoming a freelancer in 2013.

Her most recent cookbook, The Duke’s Mayonnaise Cookbook, was published in June 2020. Ashley is also the culinary producer for Delicious Miss Brown on Food Network. Recent past projects include food styling and recipe testing for The Way Home by Kardea Brown, The Beach House Cookbook by Mary Kay Andrews and food styling and recipe development for Savannah Bee Company and Moink. She was also a recipe editor for Emeals for over 6 years. She has written two other books: Southern Living Ultimate Book of BBQ: The Complete Year-Round Guide to Grilling and Smoking and 28 Days of Clean Eating: The Healthy Way to Kick Dieting Forever and served as editor of Trick Out Your Mac ‘n’ Cheese, Trick Out Your Dish: 110 New Twists on Your Favorite Foods, and The Egg Cookbook: The Creative Farm-to-Table Guide to Cooking Fresh Eggs. She was also copy editor for Beach Cocktails: Favorite Surfside Sips and Bar Snacks, The South's Best Butts: Pitmaster Secrets for Southern Barbecue Perfection, The Southern Cookie Book, Southern Living United Tastes of Texas: Authentic Recipes from all Corners of the Lone Star State, Simply Sweet Dream Puffs: Shockingly Easy Fun-Filled Treats, Christmas with Southern Living 2014: Our Best Guide to Holiday and Decorating, and Simply Sweet Color Cakes: Wow-Worthy Desserts Anyone Can Make; developed and tested over 150 recipes for Betty Crocker and Pillsbury publications; and served as a food stylist of six cookbooks.

Ashley is based in Charleston, South Carolina and frequently works in Savannah, Georgia and South Florida. Besides editing, developing and testing recipes, and creating content for her blog, Little Black Skillet, she loves being a new mom to son Anderson and traveling with her husband. 

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