Country Cuisine Catering started very innocently in 1983 with a few large pots and two ovens in our old Dutch House in Stuyvesant, New York, along with a refrigerator that our three sons shared. It was a common house joke that notes were left on the party food “Eat, you die.” The birth of Country Cuisine came when a neighbor, Zackery, and I realized we had good cuisine in mind and the area needed a catering service that could tailor to individual tastes and needs to suite the occasions. I had won a contest for the Holiday issue of the local Hudson, New York newspaper Register Star, with the winning bread: Brethren Cheddar Dill. There were 100 loaves and the judges chose my entry. The Register Star in the interview for my winning entry, became intrigued with my passion for cooking over the open hearth in our 15th century Dutch House. The novelty of the subject brought many seekers for my enterprise, thus the birth of the business, Country Cuisine.
 | ||||
"Those who forget the pasta
are condemned to reheat it.”
~ Unknown
I had worked for a friend Alaine O’Dell in her catering business, Cook’s Night Off. I had never even considered this type of business, since my background was in education. Entertaining was something we enjoyed, but to feed multitudes was a wild idea. Alaine gave up her business about a year after I had become her right hand helper. We had done corporate luncheons, fancy dinner parties, weddings, and I was loving it. There was never a challenge that I wouldn’t jump into finding it fascinating.
I actually started out as the Social Secretary which, after much research, had every hall that could accommodate large or small functions on index cards. The musical organizations, soloists, quartets, harpists, flutists, you name it . . . they were on file. Rental businesses and what they had to offer were at my finger tips. I soon realized that the missing link were gourmet caterers. Zackery and I teamed up to birth Country Cuisine Catering.
I immediately enrolled as a special student into the Culinary program at Schenectady Community College. The chapter on salmon and poaching was one week before I had a 19# poached salmon for an elegant party. Oh, those anxiety attacks, but the immediate gratification that food can be a wonderful art form, and a great boost to your self-esteem. We were the sought after catering duo. We were launched! Unfortunately, Zackery soon left and went back to his native England.
Country Cuisine grew rapidly and we found that the cottage industry needed a home of its own. We became aware of an opportunity to buy an existing bakery in Kinderhook, New York; this was a perfect marriage for the catering business. We transformed the space into a charming look of old Kinderhook in the fall of 1985. The smell of homemade breads and pastries radiated throughout the quaint town. Business was booming. The work force grew to keep all the orders and parties in check. Weddings, political parties, holiday parties, intimate dinner parties for all occasions kept us in constant demand.Columbia County, New York in the 80’s became a “bedroom community” for New York City residents who came to the county to relax for the weekends. This change was very timely for our elegant cuisine. New Yorkers could have great entertainment, New York City style, while in the county.
Country Cuisine, had many trials over the years, moving to Valatie after a tremendous rental hike in Kinderhook, opening a pilot bakery in Hudson, opening an outlet in Kinderhook, and sending the baked goods to New York City’s Green Market which went on for many years. In 1996, the operation moved back to Stuyvesant when the bulk of the business turned to the New York City Markets and Catering.
In January of 1997, my life drastically changed. I met David Conrad. Plans for a future away from New York State became very clear by April when I began interviewing for a teaching position in Ohio. I was fortunate to obtain the dream job of teaching students to work in the Culinary Arts industry. David and I were married in August of 1997. Country Cuisine was a memory until I retired in 2007.
The rebirth of Country Cuisine Cooking School became reality. I have a passion to teach, so County Cuisine is now alive and well in Ohio.
Pictures from the bakery in Kinderhook, New York, circa 1985.
