NEW SALEM — A new “Cookbook Club” series starts at the New Salem Library on Oct. 18, with local author Rob Chirico, author of “Not My Mother’s Kitchen: Rediscovering Italian-American Cooking Through Stories and Recipes.”
Chirico will talk about his cookbook and join in on a meal that participants will cook from its recipes. The meal is slated to begin at 6 p.m. There will be a limit of 16 people. The talk, sponsored by the Friends of the New Salem Library, is slated to begin at 7 p.m. No registration or cooking is required. Anyone interested can sign up at the library. You will be asked to prepare a recipe from Chirico’s cookbook to share. Copies of the book will be available at the library.
To register for the meal, call the library at 978-544-6334 or stop by. For questions, email NSFriendsofLibrary@gmail.com or call the library.
ORANGE — The second annual Cupcake Wars to benefit the Mahar After Prom Party are planned for Oct. 1, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Athol-Orange Elks Lodge at 92 New Athol Road.
Bakers will present their cupcakes to attendees and judges. There will be Best Overall Cupcake and the People’s Choice Cupcake, and cash prizes in three divisions: youth, amateur, and professional. The theme for this competition is “Seasons” and there will be a prize in each division for the best representation of one or more seasons.
There is a registration fee for professional and amateur adult bakers, and another for youth bakers 18 and younger. Call 978-544-6377 or find the Mahar After Prom Party on Facebook to request information and a registration form. Thirty bakers can register. The deadline to register as a baker was Sept. 20, for a first flavor. Bakers can now register a second flavor for the competition with the registration fee applied a second time.
All proceeds benefit the Mahar After Prom Party, an all-night, drug-and-alcohol-free event to keep Mahar seniors and their guests safe on prom night.