3rd Annual Holiday Cookie Swap with special guest Joanne Chang

Participants are invited to bring 2-4 dozen of their favorite cookie to the Quimby Colony at the Roma where we will all get to swap. Joanne Chang will speak about her experiences as a pastry chef and baker, and sign copies of her new book from Chronicle. Then we will all lay out our cookies and circle the table until all the cookies are gone. Come with one type of cookie and go home with dozens! Swappers are encouraged to bring copies of their recipes and a tin to carry their treats home with them. We will have cider to drink and much Holiday cheer to share. This event will take place at The Quimby Colony at the Roma, 769 Congress Street in Portland.

An honors graduate of Harvard College with a degree in Applied Mathematics and Economics, Joanne left a career as a management consultant to enter the world of professional cooking. She worked at Boston's renowned Biba restaurant, Bentonwood Bakery in Newton, and as Pastry Chef at Rialto restaurant in Cambridge. Joanne moved to New York City in 1997 to work in the cake department of the critically acclaimed Payard Patisserie and Bistro. Returning to Boston a year later with dreams of opening up her own pastry shop, she brought her French and American training to Mistral where she was the Pastry Chef until summer of 2000.

In 2000, she opened Flour, a bakery and cafÃ©, in Boston's South End. Flour features breakfast pastries, breads, cakes, cookies, and tarts as well as sandwiches, soups, and salads. In 2007 she opened a second branch of Flour in the Fort Point Channel area and in 2010 a third branch in Cambridge near MIT and Central Square.

The book, which costs $35, will be available for sale at the event.

The Quimby Colony at the Roma is a great new facility in Portland, Maine dedicated to fostering learning and development in the culinary arts.