Cooking Across America: Country Comfort

Mary Elizabeth Roarke earned a Pastry & Baking Arts degree from her time at culinary school. She currently bakes alongside her daughter in their catering business on Long Island where she resides with her husband and four kids. She also has a BS in Nursing and has worked in the field for over 30 years, now working in clinical research as a global study manager with a pharmaceutical company. Mary Elizabeth has written a chapter for a book titled, Potluck Wisdom for the Pharmaceutical Professional. This opportunity sparked her interest in writing and she went on to combine her love of baking and sharing recipes in the Country Comfort Series. She continues writing stories for local newspapers, works on her project's newsletter and has published both scientific and professional articles.

Chef Nicole Roarke is an honors graduate of the French Culinary Institute in New York. While earning her Bachelor's degree in Psychology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, Nicole began her career in restaurants in 1997. She honed her cooking skills in many restaurants including the Bon Appetite favorite The Linkery, Loews Coronado Bay Resort in San Diego, CA, the Aviles at the Hilton Historic Bay Front in St. Augustine, FL, Trattoria Aroma in Buffalo, NY, and Jean Georges' Spice Market in New York, NY. Nicole participated in such events as the 2005 Chaine de la Rotisseur and the 2006 Taste of St. Augustine. Nicole worked as the exclusive caterer of the Frank Lloyd Wright Davidson House in Buffalo and as an Executive Chef in Long Beach, NY where she resides today. Along with her mother, Nicole established NR Catering in 2010, specializing in off-premise catering. Nicole began teaching private cooking classes in Lynbrook, NY and presently instructs at a NY accredited Culinary School in Syosset, NY.