Laura Denktash is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, artist, jewelry designer, rose ambassador and cooking enthusiast. Fortunate to grow up in a family of good cooks, Laura observed her grandmother in the kitchen with a keen eye. From a young age, she began to understand the art of creating good food, most often with simple, nutritious ingredients. But occasionally, there were exotic ingredients that intrigued her. Her grandmother was also the gardener of the family. Playing in the garden as a toddler as her grandmother tended the plants, Laura became familiar with the flowers, learning their names in both English and Spanish, and memorizing their fragrance. These early experiences and impressions created the imprint that would lead to her most cherished studies later in life.

Laura began baking on weekends at age 12, creating all sorts of decadent cookies, cakes, cupcakes, and brownies for her friends. She enjoyed baking, and received rave reviews that led to repeat requests for her creations. As a young woman she continued cooking and baking for her family and friends. Needing more of a challenge than the basic meat and potatoes could provide, she developed an interest and appreciation for various types of ethnic cuisine.

Entering a new phase in her life, Laura began studying herbs in 1995. In 1996 she completed a rigorous herbal apprenticeship at the Dry Creek Herb Farm & Learning Center. With interest fully ignited, her love of herbs and gardening led her on a journey of discovery that lasted six years. During that time she became a skilled and intuitive flower essence practitioner, aromatherapist, and certified Aura-Soma® practitioner.

She had the privilege of studying with many of the world-renowned herbalists who visited the farm, and she read the books of many more. Somehow knowing that she was destined to write books herself, she kept detailed notes of her adventures at the herb farm.

At a celebration lunch in May of 2000, prior to the farm's closing, Laura received her calling. During lunch she tasted some homemade rose ice cream made by one of her classmates. As she ate the ice cream, she felt the healing qualities of the rose go straight to her heart. The experience was so energetically profound that she heard a voice that whispered "You're going to write a book about cooking with roses." She recalled the reliability of this voice that she had heard only two other times in her life, and determined at once to write the book.

This event started another part of the journey which lasted six years. Immersed in the rose, Laura continued to research the qualities of roses through her studies of aromatherapy, flower essences, and scientific studies, which included a class - Essential Oil, Science and Application. Through those studies, she realized that the rose was the perfect flower. A flower recognized not only for its physical beauty and fragrance, but for the quality of its vibration on an energetic level, giving it the ability to affect humans in ways they cannot see or understand.

Then, she devoted her research of roses to create The Rose Cookbook. During the creation of the book Laura attended weekend classes at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. Applying what she learned at the Academy, she experimented at home with the various forms of rose for cooking including rose petals, rose water, rose extract, and rose essential oil. She collected recipes from friends and created many new recipes, many of which are adaptations of classic recipes. Her dream is to promote the rose as more than just a pretty flower, but as nourishment for the body, heart, mind, and soul.

In November of 2007, Laura released her first cookbook, The Rose Cookbook - A Treasury of Rose Recipes from Around the World. The book has been well received in the United States and abroad. In June 2008, Laura appeared on the local television program, Good Morning Sacramento, where she demonstrated how to create delicious rose petal tea sandwiches with veteran anchor Tina Macuha.

Most recently, Laura has filled her calendar with appearances at American Rose Society meetings in California, where she has been enthusiastically received. A review of the book will be included in the September/October issue of American Rose, the American Rose Society's national publication. Laura is available for speaking engagements, cooking demonstrations, and workshops, where she will happily share her expertise of one of her favorite subjects-cooking with roses!