As the former wife of a retired U.S. Navy Admiral, Marcia Steidle has traveled extensively throughout the world, sampling local cuisine and entertaining at cocktail parties for 250 and dinners for up to 40. She has taken cooking and wine appreciation classes in Berkeley, California and in Florence, Italy and has worked in the tasting room at a Virginia winery. She placed as one of 10 finalists in Maggiano’s Little Italy Restaurant in McLean, Virginia’s Best Italian Cook contest. Marcia graduated from the University of Maryland, University College, in 1987 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Behavioral Sciences and a minor in Journalism. She worked as a Realtor for nearly 20 years before decided to make a career change. She is culinary arts graduate from the Hospitality, Culinary Arts & Tourism Institute at Anne Arundel Community College. In summer 2007 she was one of only five students who participated in a culinary arts internship program on the Amalfi Coast in Italy. Her blog, http://www.theadmiralschef.com chronicles her adventure. She is also in the process of writing a cookbook, The Admiral’s Chef: Recipes from a Navy Wife’s World Travels.

Marcia has three children: Gretchen Steidle Wallace (www.globalgrassroots.org); Brian Steidle, former Capt, USMC (author of book & subject of documentary “The Devil Came on Horseback”), and LCdr. Eric Steidle, USN Reserves.