How would you set up cookbook club? I started a book club/cookbook club almost a year ago. The idea was every other month we would have a book and also a cookbook element. My thought was to try new recipes and for the people who didn't or couldn't read the book.I said we would figure out the cookbook element at first meeting and it never happened... I don't want people buying a new cookbook but what are some guidelines? All ideas welcome!

Question

How would you set up cookbook club? I started a book club/cookbook club almost a year ago. The idea was every other month we would have a book and also a cookbook element. My thought was to try new recipes and for the people who didn't or couldn't read the book.I said we would figure out the cookbook element at first meeting and it never happened... I don't want people buying a new cookbook but what are some guidelines?  All ideas welcome!

Allison Trapp · Answer

Cookbook Club Recs: I’ve been in one for the past 7 years. There are about 15 people in the club but only 8-10 show up for any given meal. The format seems to work pretty well:

We meet every 4-6 weeks

At the end of the meal whoever wants to make a suggestion writes one down on a piece of paper and we pick out of a hat

We choose a host (it rotates) and a date that people who are present can make it

Everyone chooses 1-2 recipes to make and puts them on a Google doc so we can make sure there is coverage across categories

Because someone has suggested the book, usually at least one person has it, so sometimes if I don’t want to buy the book and can’t find it at the library, I’ll look up the index on Eat Your Books and ask the owner to text me a recipe or two. We’ve found that the best meals often come from single cuisine cookbooks because they feel the most cohesive. If you’re doing books too, you could choose one that goes with the book you’re reading?

Kelsy CARLEEN · Answer

Two ways to avoid buying a new cookbook each month (for cookbook club): 1) Avoid new releases. This one can be hard, the new releases are tempting! But older books are more available through the library (hard copy or digital)

2) Sometimes if we want to pick a new release (or just because) we pick a chef/author instead of of a specific cookbook (Alison Roman, Hetty Lui McKinnon and Deb Pearlman, for example all have enticing cookbooks AND good online recipe archives for those who don't want to fuss with getting their hands on a specific book)

My cookbook club has been going strong for 18 months (🎉) and we also share with each other etc. but these are two good ways to systemize the cookbooks being accessible to everyone without constantly making purchases.

Sophie Consults · Answer

Make it a meal & set the next meeting: I’ve had a cookbook club with friends for two years and this is my advice (cc: @Emma Joss for more):

Center the dishes around a meal. We all cook 1 or 2 dishes from the book and try to have apps, salad, mains and dessert represented. If you just can’t get it together to cook bring booze!

Set the next one at the table. At the end of dinner we try to set the next club meeting. If that doesn’t work then send out a doodle poll. If not everyone is available then go with the date that works for the most common denominator.

We rotate who picks the book, and the picker also hosts dinner.

It’s been so much fun !!

Kate · Answer

schedule your (book, cookbook, etc) club on the same day every month!: cookbook club is great, scheduling cookbook club is a disaster. If you have it held on the same day every month, then there's never any of that awkward back and forth about calendly polls. Whoever shows up, shows up!

Kristi · Answer

Cookbook Club!!: In case it’s helpful, here is the Google doc sign-up that I would send out. Originally, CC started out as a core friend group and we’d all choose a date and then the host would assign categories (appetizers, desserts, etc) from the table of contents for people to choose within their category. When I moved to a new city, it was much more nebulous who would attend so I started just typing out the table of contents and people would ask to see a few recipes, I’d text them photos, and they’d sign up so others could see what was already being made. Personally I like the concept that the host chooses a cookbook on their shelf and everyone makes a dish from it - so fun to try 15 different things from one book!

Lily Gedney · Answer

Cookbook Club Google Drive: I used to have one - and would love to restart - and whoever chose the book that month would take a picture of the table of contents and share with the group. People would select recipes from there and we’d take a picture / pdf and put in a Google Drive. Other times the host would just choose 20 recipes that would all work together as a cohesive meal, take pictures of each and we’d whittle down from there.

Library is a great idea, too, and some would do that!

Treemiele · Answer

Cookbooks at the Library: Getting cookbooks at your local library is a great option to make sure everyone has access.

Another way to do it would be for everyone to pick a different cookbook rather than all trying to cook from one.

Or, the host chooses next month’s cookbook and everyone chooses a recipe from it while at that month’s book club (this would help with menu coordination for the next meeting without sending the group text into wild paroxysms and could help with the theme of next month’s literary selection). People could opt to buy it, borrow from the library, or take a pic of their recipe right then.