Cookbook Supper Club
A book club for people who love to cook
As I pack up my life and get ready to move in just over two weeks, I’m reflecting a lot on what I want to keep in my life and what I want to get rid of. While this evaluation is happening for relationships, emotions, and memories, it’s also happening for a lot of physical stuff.
Moving, particularly moving your life into storage you have to pay for, forces you to confront what you think you value, and what you actually value.
After 11 years in the same house, I’ve collected a lot of stuff I thought I cared about at some point.
I’m not much of a hoarder, but I’ve often left more emotionally difficult things to deal with later. Things I can hide it in the basement. But in a few weeks I’ll no longer have a basement. I won’t have any home at all.
My stuff is going to a few places, broadly categorized as:
Things I need on a two month long camping trip where I will film a cooking show in the woods with a kitchen powered by my electric truck.
Things that need a human, like plants.
Things I want in Nova Scotia for an indeterminate amount of time until I have a house, like shoes and my Peloton bike, that need a temporary home.
Things I need to build a house, like my chop saw and drills, that need a temporary home.
Things I need once I have a house, like my couch, which I am paying to put into climate controlled storage and have driven out to Nova Scotia once I have a place to live. But I might not see these things for 2 years! And it’s very expensive!
As I work through my material possessions, I’m finding many things get to the bottom of this flowchart and I have to ask myself: do I really want to pay to store this for two years until I have a house again? Is it not cheaper to simply buy it again instead? Am I going to unpack this in two years only to take it somewhere to donate it?
So, I am getting rid of a lot of stuff right now.
Some of these decisions are easy. I have 15 years of Bon Appetit magazines. I don’t need them. I found a good home for them.
But when it comes to my kitchen, each question becomes a lot harder. Well, I might need my blender before I have a house (I might need it in the woods!). And what do I do with all these cookbooks? I might need them! In the woods!
You see, I love cookbooks.
I love the unique personality of them – the design, the writing, the photos. I love how they tell stories. I love trying out the recipes and putting my own little star rating inside the book. I love how you can tell a cookbook written for the author, and a cookbook written for a marketable audience. I love going back to cookbooks at different times of the year, over the years.
I have a list of my favourite cookbooks on my website. (I wrote this two years ago and it is not current).
The problem with loving cookbooks, buying cookbooks, and collecting cookbooks is that you rarely get to work your way through them. Many have 100+ recipes, and often you only make a handful. Some cookbooks, like Dessert Person by Claire Saffitz, are amazing reference manuals – I’ve made nearly every recipe. Dessert Person is always on my counter, and is probably coming on my road trip.
Some cookbooks, like Six Seasons, I like to use as inspiration – a jumping off point. And others, like Notes From a Small Kitchen Island, or anything by Nigel Slater, I adore the writing in, but haven’t made too many recipes – my most made recipe from Notes From a Small Kitchen Island is for dog biscuits (5/5 tail wags). I just haven’t had the capacity to try too many others, as it competes with all the other cookbooks in my home.
I’ve always wanted a way to try more recipes from a cookbook, without, say, eating from Mi Cocina every day for a month (which I did, I love that book). And often, I want to try the super complicated project recipes, like mole, which is a large thing to do for a single person.
So while I haven’t yet figured out what to do with all my cookbooks, I have figured out how to get the most out of them.
My favourite way to explore a cookbook is Cookbook Supper Club.
Two years ago my friend Jordan, who at the time I only knew as the owner of Legacy Greens, asked if I would like to attend a cookbook supper club with her and her friends.
I had no idea what this was, so I said yes.
I was very pretty nervous about joining, I didn’t know anyone there, and at the time I really only knew Jordan from shopping at her store. That first cookbook club night, and every one since, has been wonderful.
I’ve made great new friends. I’ve tried so much delicious new food that I never would have had or made before. Cookbook club has since become one of my favourite parts of every month.
Cookbook club is something I am going to take with me – to make a Nova Scotia branch of it. And it’s the kind of thing I think you could try, too.
What is cookbook club?
Our version of cookbook club is a group of 5–10 people who all love food, cooking, and each other’s company. It’s a flexible group, as not everyone can make it each month, and people come and go with the seasons of their lives. There’s a core group, but this club is a branch from a previous cookbook club! Sometimes we have five people, sometimes we have newcomers as guests. It’s always fun.
Each month someone volunteers to host dinner. That person selects a cookbook and shares the recipe list. Everyone picks a recipe, makes it, and brings it to the host’s house – generally potluck / family style. We share a meal together, catch up on life, and it’s pretty great!
We’ve got a good rhythm – I usually make something complicated. Nick always makes surprise bread or desserts. Jordan brings fun beverages from Legacy Greens (I am convinced this is how she does market research now). Sarah usually has some secret career, like shearing sheep, that she tells us about. Misha has made her outfit in addition to what she has made for dinner.
We all cheer each other on. We also have very great conversations, sometimes about butter, but mostly about our lives.
If you want to start your own cookbook supper club, my advice is below.
Make it easy to share recipes
We use WhatsApp for our group chat. It also has a handy polling feature for figuring out dates.
Once the host picks a book, they send photos of the recipe list. Most cookbooks will have either a global list of recipes at the start of the book, or a per-chapter list of recipes. We’ll usually bring the physical cookbook to dinner. Sometimes (meaning, once) we were prepared enough to bring the next cookbook to dinner to peruse.
Sometimes specific recipes stand out. More often, the group will make requests like:
“I only have time to make a simple salad or side dish”
“I’d like something that’s a complicated project”
“I want to make a dessert”
And then the host, who physically has the cookbook, can peruse more in detail to send out some options. The host typically tries to balance the appetizers, entrees, and desserts, but if we end up with all entrees we just roll with it.
After doing this for a while I have a few tips:
If you’re hosting, take your cookbook to a well lit room, place it on a table, and hold it flat so there isn’t glare on the pages.
If you’re reading recipes, on most phones you can select text from photos – just press-and-hold the recipe text on the photo and you can copy/paste the text into your favourite notes or recipe app!
There are always sneaky secret recipes
As the host, you need to read the ingredients list and not blindly send recipes.
Cookbook authors are sneaky, they will make a recipe look simpler by listing elements of the recipe like this:
1 batch of peach filling (page 134)
1 pie crust (page 172)
1 recipe of whipped cream (page 84)
And you think you’ve sent the whole recipe, but you have not!
And because we are all flawed human beings who won’t actually read the recipe until the day before cookbook club, we will then panic and ask for all of these secret recipes that were hidden in the ingredients lists. This also means as a person cooking, you should read the recipe a week before in case you need to marinate or hydrate something, go to a special store, or ask for a sneaky secret recipe!
Be true to yourselves, not the cookbook
Usually every cookbook club Jordan will say “The recipe said to buy this, and that, and this other thing. But I didn’t want to do that, so I used this instead.” We love and support Jordan for who she is.
In our cookbook club we prioritize being together, having fun, and trying something new over following the rules.
Everyone has different schedules, budgets, and access to ingredients.
At the end of the day, if you can’t find an ingredient, do a reasonable swap. You don’t need to go to 14 stores and spend $75 on spices you’ll never use again. Speciality ingredients usually can be shared – check with the group chat – so if you need to buy smoked black cardamom, maybe somebody else needs it too and you can share it. You can even do a field trip to specialty stores together!
Recipes aren’t rules, they are ideas. For our club, the goal is fun and togetherness.
Sarah Describes a Pancake
Sarah Flambés a Pancake
Present your dishes
We usually go around the table at the start of dinner, each person discusses what they made, the challenges they had with ingredients, how cooking went. It’s generally pretty funny.
Sometimes there’s a performance (see the video of Sarah’s flambé, above), sometimes it’s the surprising delight of a dish (I made a peach tarte tatin that didn’t survive the evening), or a different ingredient (lamb liver mousse) or technique. Sometimes we just like the name (“Fitness Salad” and “Relish of the Seven Lucky Gods”).
Help clean up
After dinner, we all help clean up – even when the host protests (me). If the host is uncomfortable with accepting help, focus on washing your own dishes to take home and use them to pack your leftovers!
For the hosts:
If you don’t have enough dishes or cutlery, ask someone in the club to bring some over
People will usually need serving tools for their dishes, if you don’t have enough ask folks to bring some over
Often people will need to finish their recipes at your house, for our last cookbook I made a peach tarte tatin. I had to roll out my puff pastry, assemble, and bake at Sarah’s house – so I had to ask Sarah to leave me some countertop and oven space.
Try to balance the menu between appetizers, entrées, and desserts; but also using your stove and oven. Fresh salads and pre-made desserts really help here!
For the guests:
Bring containers for leftovers (you can also pack in your serving dish!). There are always so many leftovers.
Try to bring everything you need for your dish, if you need something specific let the host know in advance.
If you have to finish preparing your dish at the host’s house, let them know – especially if you need stove or oven space!
Read your recipe in advance, sometimes you are missing pages of a recipe, or it references another recipe, or something had to be started 1-2 in advance. Sometimes you need a specialty ingredient you need to track down or order online!
Bring a small gift for the host. I usually bring something homemade. Once I brought Misha a lemon that I grew in my home gym!
Bring drinks that you want to share.
That’s all there really is to Cookbook Club.
It’s fun. It brings me joy. Cookbook Club is full of such lovely relationships, emotions, and memories I am going to take with me when I move. I’m going to start a new chapter of Cookbook Club, and I hope the KW crew will come visit me for a Cookbook Club Road Trip.
FAQs
Much like cookbooks and recipes themselves, this is how we do cookbook club. You can use this to inspire how you do cookbook club. Our goal is fun and community, not strictly following rules or recipes.
How do I choose the right cookbook for the club?
Pick a cookbook you like, even if you’ve never used it before. If the recipes are terrible, they are terrible, and everyone bonds over it. That is part of the adventure!
Should the meals be themed or follow specific chapters of the cookbook?
You can! We haven’t. As long as the recipes are in the cookbook we consider them fair game, and we don’t really focus on if the dishes go together (generally they do).
How many members should be in the supper club?
We have 10 people in the group, usually 5–7 attend. We keep it going even if people can’t join, otherwise it’s too easy for the whole thing to fall apart. Sarah is really the one who makes this happen. You need a leader.
How often should the club meet?
We meet once a month! Your club might vary!
How much time does it take?
Usually we set the invitation for 6pm. People trickle in. We chat, catch up, finish preparing our recipes, set the table. This usually takes around an hour. We eat, we have dessert, we help clean up, and everyone’s gone by 9 or 10pm.
Where should the supper club meetings be held?
Someone volunteers to be the host each month, and we ask for that at the end of each cookbook club. We don’t have a schedule more than a month out. We rotate between who is hosting. You could also have a fixed host. It’s your club, make your own rules!
What are some tips for organizing the first meeting?
How do I find people to join?
Ask the people in your life who like food! They don’t have to be crazy home cooks or super foodies. Most people love the idea. Keep it simple.
“I saw this post about hosting a cookbook supper club – everyone gets together and brings a different dish from the same cookbook. I thought it sounded fun. Would you be interested in trying that?”
How do we handle dietary restrictions or food allergies among members?
We are lucky in that we don’t have any dietary restrictions or allergies in our club. If you do, you’ll want to make sure remind everyone of this at every planning chat, particularly if you’re inviting new people.
If you have a crew with fairly specific needs, like gluten free, dairy free, vegan, I’d suggest focusing on cookbooks, cuisines, and recipes that fit those dietary needs. You can also be discerning on which recipes get included.
If someone does have a known allergen, and you are going to use an ingredient they are allergic to, make it known. Make sure to have extra serving ware available so as not to cross-contaminate food.
You can usually swap out ingredients.
When it comes to food preferences – not allergies – it’s important to set those aside. We’re often doing cookbooks from a wide variety of geographic and cultural areas, we’re often trying new ingredients and flavours. If that’s not something you enjoy, cookbook supper club may not be for you.
What is the best way to split the costs of ingredients?
For our club, everyone is responsible for their own dish. You’re in charge of the recipe you select for yourself. You choose how much time and money you want to spend. You buy your own ingredients.
You are not in charge of other people’s decisions or budgets. If you feel you’re putting in more comparative effort, you can choose to put in less effort by picking a different recipe. The recipe is your choice.
This has never been an issue in our club. I’m often using organic ingredients, finding obscure speciality ingredients, and doing things like making a 35 ingredient mole because that is how I have fun. I don’t expect that from anyone else.
You can certainly take a different approach, such as setting budgets, but it’s so much easier and less drama if everyone chooses what is accessible to their interest, skills, schedule, and budget.
How do we maintain a balance between recipes?
Everyone picks their own dish. You can try to encourage a balance appetizers, entrees, and desserts as people select their dishes. In our club, the self selection process works really well, with people adjusting based on whoever picks their recipe first.
Should the supper club include drinks, and if so, how do we decide on pairings?
You can make this as simple or complicated as you want to.
For our club, generally everyone brings something. I usually bring a non-alcoholic option as I don’t usually drink. We don’t do pairings. You might, but that takes a lot of extra planning!
How do we encourage discussion about the food and the cookbook?
The host often has spent the most time with the cookbook (though sometimes multiple people have the book). It’s great when the host can share how they found the book, some fun facts about the author. Everyone shares their experience making their recipe.
What should be done if someone can't attend?
This happens a lot, and often at the last minute. We just go on anyway. Once we only had four people and it was the funniest, spiciest cookbook club.
Should the club have a leader or rotate responsibilities among members?
Sarah is our de facto leader. If she doesn’t herd the cats, we don’t get together. She sends out reminders, calendar invites, and polls.
We are all very grateful for Sarah. Be the Sarah you want to see in the world.
How do we document our experience?
We keep it simple. Sarah has a Google doc with all the books we’ve done. We take photos of all the food and post it in the group chat. Sometimes I bring my camera! Sometimes I don’t!
You can make it more complex, but that’s what we do!
