Welcome to Unpeeled Journal!

What’s this?

Unpeeled Journal is a weekly newsletter where you’ll find good recipes, good cooking, plus real world, real human writing about stuff like:

Recipes: fresh, inspired recipes for every occasion and skill level. This month, I’ve been working on a recipe dupe for the white chocolate coconut cake Tom Cruise sends to his friends at Christmas. (Subscribe to get the recipe — in case he loses our address again this year.)
Wine School: learn the best food pairings, how to saber a champagne bottle, store wine, and wine stuff in general
Kitchen How-Tos: cooking and baking tips from a pro. These are the small tricks of the trade that can make a huge difference. Do you know how to slice 12 grape tomatoes at once? You will.
Interviews with leading women in food: master sommeliers, food historians, woman-owned food business entrepreneurs, and more
Travel Food Guides: Do you plan your meals above all else when you travel? Me, too. Here’s where to eat when you travel Paris, New York, D.C., Nosara, Marrakech….
Personal recommendations for kitchen tools, my favorite ingredient brands, cookbooks, and holiday gift guide for cooks (always super popular)
And lots more

This IACP Award-winning resource is designed for food lovers by me, Lisa Ruland, a food writer and pastry chef whose work has appeared in national publications like Bon Appétit, Saveur, Taste, Eater, and The Washington Post. (You can find some byline links right here.)

Every newsletter is 100% original, written with love — and expertise.

I’m all about food when I travel, so I love pulling together dining guides for around the world.

What will I get with a subscription?

Paid subscribers get full access to every post, plus insider access to my pro cooking techniques, things I’m loving, interviews, behind-the-scenes peeks, and essays. Plus, subscribers also get exclusive discounted access to my holiday home baking class on Zoom!

It’s $7 monthly, or $59 annually (which, according to math, works out to only $4.91 per month, so that’s the better value).

Free subscribers get a curated collection of recipes for the week, plus occasional features.

Love to bake? You’re in the right place. I like it so much I quit being a lawyer and became a pastry chef. You’ll love these recipes.

Who writes this?

Hi! I’m Lisa Ruland, the creator of Unpeeled Journal. I began my career in a far different field: as a U.S. Senate staffer, and later, as a prosecutor for the Bronx County D.A.’s Office in New York, which is about as far from a comfortable kitchen environment as you can get. Crying in my office in the Appeals Bureau was not a good life plan, so I swapped my business suit for a sweeter one: I grabbed an apron and earned a degree in baking and pastry from the Culinary Institute of America.

I then worked as a pastry chef in some of New York City’s top bake shops, crafting wedding cakes, pastries, and baked cookies by the thousands? Millions? I lost count. Eventually, I found my happy place in food writing.

My food, recipe, and lifestyle writing has been featured in national publications including Condé Nast Traveler, Bon Appetit, Food52, Saveur, Taste, Eater, and more. I also have a Level 2 Wine Certification from WSET — and may go for Level 3.

Widowed as a newlywed in my early 30s (I’ve since remarried), I have explored the relationship between food and grief in Unpeeled and in publications such as the BBC World Service, Modern Loss, and The Washington Post.

Unpeeled Journal is my warm love letter to cooking, baking, our connections to one another and all things food.