Hello AMS Culinary Committee members! Mushroom season is right around the corner, and given the above average rain and snowfall levels we have seen this winter, it’s shaping up to be a great year!

I am Lisa Goodwin, Culinary Committee Chair for 2017, and I'm pleased to announce that we will be holding our kick-off committee meeting for this year on Saturday, March 25th. We will meet at the Scottsdale Medical Imaging board room, located at 9700 N. 91st St. in Scottsdale, to discuss the upcoming year's agenda. Afterwards, those who wish to socialize further can join us at Portillo's for dinner and drinks.

Please note that for those members who are out of town and cannot attend the meeting in person, we will be setting up a call-in number so that you can participate by speaker phone. Directions will be provided after you register.  Either way, we hope you can join us! 

It is our goal to offer more events around the state moving forward, and AMS would greatly benefit from your assistance. We would love to hear your suggestions for creating memorable culinary experiences for AMS members. If you have ideas for events, please submit your suggestions as soon as possible so that we can include these ideas in the final meeting agenda for discussion.  

Below is a list of proposed events that are currently on the agenda:

• Wine & mushroom tasting at Javelina Leap winery near Sedona (owners are mushroom fans)
  
• Morel dinner at Salt restaurant in Pinetop in May or June
  
• Cooking demo at the NAMA Regional Foray in August
  
• Mike Dechter's Nature Conservancy “pick and cook” event on 8/26/17
  
• Regional potluck suppers in spring and fall (need local organizers/volunteers)
  
• Annual potluck & meeting in December
  
• Publishing an AMS cookbook
  

If you can please share your suggestions and register for the meeting by 3/20/2017 it would be most appreciated.  Thanks for your time, and we look forward to working together to make this year’s AMS culinary events a huge success!

Sincerely,

Lisa Goodwin
Culinary Committee Chair