Lucinda Hutson is a nationally celebrated food, garden, and lifestyle writer and lecturer. She also designs  gardens, creates festive events and consults on recipes and menus.  She is the author of The Herb Garden Cookbook (University of Texas Press), now in its Second Edition and 20th year of publication, and Tequila! Cooking with the Spirit of Mexico (Ten Speed Press).

Southern Living selected her colorful recipes as the May 2001 cover along with a feature article of her gardens.  Lucinda's recipes also appeared as the cover of the Time-Life cookbook series Great Meals in Minutes: Mexican Menus.

Lucinda wrote "A Garden of Several Courses" for the August 2005 issue of Fine Gardening, illustrated with six pages of photographs of her "outdoor rooms", comparing them to the many small courses of a lavish feast.  The 2004 Annual Design issue of Austin Monthly showcased her legendary gardens as well. She has written other articles for Fine Gardening, Food Arts, The Herb Companion, Chocolatier, Kitchen Garden, Horticulture, Texas Highways and many other magazines. 

Lucinda appears on nationally broadcasted radio and P.B.S. television programs including “Southern Living Presents”, HGTV's "The Gardener's Diary", and KLRU'S "Lucinda's Mexican Day of the Dead Altar."

She presents her popular slide show lectures across the country at venues such as the Smithsonian, the I.A.C.P. (International Association of Culinary Professionals), The Herb Society of America, the Philadelphia Flower Show, and numerous botanical gardens and garden societies. Lucinda also leads private tours through her legendary gardens and teaches cooking classes at Central Market Cooking Schools, Lake Austin Spa Resort, and private cooking schools.

Over the years, Lucinda has created popular events for the Texas Hill Country Wine & Food Festival such as "Texas Meets Tuscany", where she specifically highlighted purveyors of Texas wines and food products with a Tuscan flair. She designs and partakes in many other events featuring her fiesta foods and legendary libations--sangría, tequila cocktails, and festive punches--such as Share Our Strength, a national non-profit anti-hunger organization; the Texas Book Festival; and San Antonio's New World Wine and Food Festival.

Lucinda served as “Mistress of Ceremonies” for the José Cuervo 200th Anniversary Dinners in New York and in San Francisco, and presented a tequila tasting with Austin's beloved Fonda San Miguel restaurant for a James Beard Foundation dinner in New York.

Lucinda Hutson was born and reared in El Paso, Texas, where she learned to speak Spanish fluently. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology from the University of Texas. A fiesta of herbs, flowers, and whimsical folk art surrounds Lucinda's renowned "Texican" artisan cottage in Austin, replete with its own tequila cantina.  With her lively personality, unique flair and attention to presentation, Lucinda turns every meal into a celebration, and every party into a fiesta!