2009 Letter from the President:

This year marks the Guild’s 30th anniversary. As many of you know, the Guild was founded in 1979 by women in the culinary field who wanted to connect with their peers. Today, we are made up of both women and men, some of whom are culinary professionals and others food enthusiasts.  Throughout the years, the Guild has undergone many changes, but the thread that connects us all is our passion for food.

During the Guild’s thirty years of existence, we have had countless events in private homes, mansions, museums and on farms. Our classes have run the gamut from hands-on pasta, cheese, knife skills, butcher, pie and turkey classes, to wine tastings and walking tours. We have had renowned chefs as members and hosted dozens of local cookbook authors.

This year, to commemorate our rich history, we are planning a wonderful series of events.  We will hold our annual opening meeting on October 19th with Annie B. Copps, food editor of Yankee Magazine, as our speaker. She will be talking about working alongside Julia Child (one of our founding members), as well as about the local sustainable food movement.  On November 9th we  are honored to host renowned Chef Barbara Lynch , John Gertsen (mixologist at No. 9 Park) and Andrew Anderson (of Ilex Flowers) for a fabulous event showcasing holiday party tips. On December 7th we will usher in the holidays with our warm and luscious annual Cookie Swap.  In the New Year, we will host a fireside chat with Needham’s own Dave Becker of Sweet Basil, a butchery class with John Dewar (of John Dewar & Co) and David Marks (of Stoddard’s Cutlery), an overnight culinary trip to Portland, ME and a grand gala in April.  

In addition, I am excited to announce two new programs: a supper club (that will dine in local, chef-owned restaurants) and a culinary book club. All the details are available on our website www.cgne.org.

I hope you will use our website as your reference for events, contacts and member information.  To let New Englanders know we exist for them, we will be using the social media networks Facebook and Twitter to share our news. Finally, we have installed Paypal, an internet payment system, to register and pay for events.

I am honored to be your President for the next two years and know that with your support, hard work and culinary enthusiasm we will reach new heights of membership and prominence. Thank you for your patronage and your passion. 

I look forward to seeing you, both familiar and new faces, at the events and programs this year!!! 

Carrie Richards
President, Culinary Guild of New England