Start Your Own Cookbook Club

Post published:November 15, 2021
Post category:Books / Recipes
Post comments:10 Comments
Post author:Melissa

Starting a cookbook club is one of the best things I ever did. In this post, I’ll go into what a cookbook club is, how to start your own, and why you should.

Good food, good friends, and good talks. That’s it in a nutshell, but let’s dig in!

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What is a Cookbook Club?

A cookbook club is kind of a combination of a lot of good things. It’s kind of like a book club. It’s kind of like a potluck dinner. But together.

The simple concept is this. You have a group of friends that you meet with regularly and you all bring dishes that you’ve cooked from a pre-decided cookbook. Everyone gets to try new foods and talk about it. You get to enjoy good company too!

How Do You Start a Cookbook Club?

Find People: Ask some friends you want to start your cookbook club with. Some people might say no, but there’s no harm in asking, right? I got a solid group of 4 girls (including myself) which actually turns out to be a really good size. More people is perfectly fine too!
Pick a Date: Then you have to pick a date you’re all free. We usually have ours around dinner time which is perfect in case some people are working that day. Decide on how regularly you want to meet. We do once a month.
Pick a Location: We rotate through every one’s houses. I offered my apartment for our first meeting.
Pick a cookbook: This is the fun part. You all have to decide on what cookbook you want to choose your recipes from.
Meet, Eat, and Talk!
Pick Your Next Date & Cookbook

Why Do a Cookbook Club?

Food: You get to cook new things and eat new foods. I’ve found so many new recipes this way. All absolutely delicious. We talk about how we would modify recipes as well in case some need a little fixing.
Friends: You can make new friends this way and become even closer with old friends. I became really close with the coworkers I asked to do this with. We now all hang out outside of work together and do things beyond just the cookbook club. I’ve made lifelong friends from this and I love it.
Fun: It’s just plain old fun to meet with some friends and eat food together and chit chat all night!

Get Creative With It

You don’t have to stick to just one cookbook. There have been times where we picked a theme, like soup and then everyone picked a recipe from a different soup specific cookbook. This past month we definitely thought out of the box literally where everyone had to pick a recipe that was on a box or container at the supermarket. It turned out to be one of our best meals yet.

We also created a spreadsheet which we keep track of past meetings and recipes, ideas, and our next meeting info with the recipes we chose. We are quite the organized group!

I made a blank spreadsheet for you to use for own cookbook club! The link is below. Just go to “File” and click “Make a Copy” to save it to your own Google Drive.

Cookbook/Theme Ideas

Here’s some ideas for you to get your own Cookbook Club started!

Comfort Food
Christmas/Holidays
Slow Cooker
Harry Potter
Recipe found on a box/container
Celebrity Cookbooks
Julia Child
Ethnic Foods
Recipes from a Magazine
All Appetizers
Drink & Food Pairings
Summer Picnic
Brunch
Dim Sum
Copycat Recipes from a Restaurant
Cinco de Mayo
Tea Party

When you start your own cookbook club leave a comment below and tell me what you think about it! I’m sure you all have more cookbook ideas, so tell me your favorite cookbook too! I would love some new recommendations. 🙂

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