Once Upon a Pesto
Fate or Fiction: Hershey and my cookbook journey
Once Upon a Pesto
Hershey loved carrots. The crackling sound of a plastic bag followed by the thump of a refrigerator door made him squeak like any excited guinea pig would.
The foreshadowing of living in a chocolate town showed up in my earlier years more than once:
- Elementary school: I named my guinea pig, Hershey, because his fur was the color of milk chocolate with a Hershey’s kiss-shaped white mark near the top of his head
- Middle school: For an art lesson on pottery, I made a jumbo coil pot mimicking a foil-wrapped Hershey’s kiss that even had a paper tag (added after firing in the kiln)
- College: I studied abroad in Perugia, where the Perugina chocolate brand makes Baci, the Italian equivalent of Hershey’s kisses
It was never a ‘must’ that I reside in Hershey—it was fate. But what led me here?
I was born in Pittsburgh, grew up in Adams County, and attended Penn State University Main Campus. After graduating, I moved to a suburb of Philadelphia for a job with a teen travel company. A couple years later, I accepted a role as a video producer for Men’s Health magazine, which took me to the Lehigh Valley. Let’s take a pit stop here.
In the late summer of 2016, instead of biking straight home from work, I stopped at a park that was bustling with kids' sports. As I sat on a bench overlooking the playing fields listening to the joy of youth, I started writing ideas for a book.
- Why? Because my new employer was a publishing company and I wanted to set a challenging goal.
- What kind of book? A cookbook because its visual nature would allow me to use my skills in photography.
- What about its theme? Pesto because (based on my studies in Italy, learning Italian, and producing a mini-documentary about olive oil) it was a launching pad to teach others more about global food.
- And a name? Once Upon a Pesto because of its allusion to children’s playful imagination, and how stories of food history and culture would be woven throughout.
Over the next two years, I developed dozens of pesto recipes as well as two unique, internationally-inspired uses for each. Grocery shopping, cooking, food styling and photography, and writing were my weekends. I established my social media channels and website as well, focusing on growing and engaging my audience.
Hershey became my home in June 2019, when I was recruited for a video marketing position at Milton Hershey School. Very quickly the school’s community, my church’s network and worship team and friends at the gym all became my second family. It was in Hershey that I started the journey of getting Once Upon a Pesto published.
From continuous communication with my graphic designer to a supportive relationship with my publisher, I started to see the finish line of my goal on the horizon. I still remember the day my publisher reached out to tell me my cookbook was listed online for pre-order, with an official release in July 2025. The excitement and satisfaction I felt was unmatched…until I received copies of the printed book in June. Holding my very own cookbook was surreal.
Now, as I think about Hershey the town and how my family here has been growing and supporting me in the accomplishment of a published cookbook, I also reflect back on my guinea pig Hershey and my childhood, when my interests in writing, art, and storytelling began. I remember making a ‘book’ about talking guinea pigs by folding and stapling printer paper, illustrating it with colored pencils, and showing my family what I made. Showing and sharing Once Upon a Pesto with readers local and worldwide is the adult version of that childhood elation.
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Connect with Jessica and follow Once Upon a Pesto:
- Website: onceuponapesto.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/onceuponapesto (@onceuponapesto)
- Facebook: facebook.com/onceuponapesto (Once Upon a Pesto)
- Get the cookbook: librarytalespublishing.com/products/once-upon-a-pesto