Ellie Mathews (b. October 22, 1945, Port Angeles, Washington) is an author of fiction and nonfiction works including The Linden Tree (winner of the 2007 Milkweed Editions Prize for Children’s Literature). Her recipe for Salsa Coucous Chicken was the Grand Prize Winner of the 1998 Pillsbury Bake-Off®.Mathews holds a degree in geography from the University of Washington, 1976 with emphasis on cartography and graphic arts. In her first career she linked those interests with software development.In the early 1990's she began writing. She has published fiction and nonfiction, has been honored with two fellowships and an arts commission award. Her book, Ambassador to the Penguins, A Naturalist’s Year Aboard a Yankee Whaleship about Robert Cushman Murphy's 1912 journey to South Georgia Island, came out to starred reviews. Her memoir The Ungarnished Truth, A Cooking Contest Memoir about winning the Pillsbury Bake-Off is forthcoming in March 2008 from Berkley Books.