On a mission to share her Midwest, Amy, a born-and-raised Minnesotan, is a former restaurant chef who returned to America's heartland after a stint in the Big Apple.

Her all-new series, Heartland Table, shines a light on the comfort food favorites she's known for creating in her rural log cabin.

Amy Thielen, the hostess of Heartland Table on Food Network, grew up a few miles from the headwaters of the Mississippi River in Minnesota and graduated from Macalester College.

She spent 7 years cooking professionally in New York under David Bouley, Daniel Boulud, Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Shea Gallante.

Since returning to Minnesota in 2008, she has written for Minneapolis’ Star Tribune, Men’s Journal and Saveur, and won a James Beard journalism award in 2011.

Her cookbook, The New Midwestern Table, a collection of 200 Midwestern recipes, is slated to be published by Clarkson Potter in September 2013.

Amy lives out in the country near Park Rapids, Minn., with her husband and their son

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