Cookbook Club

Fresh crab, lime, avocado dip on homemade tortilla crackers

Do you know what happens when it rains for 6-months? In a row?

Bacon, Blue Cheese and Pecan Cookies

You start a cookbook club.

Shiitake Pot Stickers with Sake Sauce

The goal of any good cookbook club is to encourage others to come over, bring their favorite recipe from a selected cookbook, drink lots of wine and Prosecco, and then eat. The intended side effect is that significant food discussions will ensue.

It's bloody brilliant.

Although the idea of a cookbook club isn't novel, my good friend Kelli and I were more than happy to steal the idea and make it our own. We grabbed our mothers, my sister and our network of friends for the first meeting.

The goal of our first meeting was simple. We wanted everyone to have a chance to meet, chat and then slowly, slowly back away if the whole idea of the cookbook club was too overwhelming.

I'm happy to say that all members stayed.

Lettuce Wraps surrounded by Fennel and White Bean Dip and Egg-Dipped Turkey Bites

The theme of this first meeting was "Appetizers." Folks brought either their favorite appetizer or tried a new appetizer recipe. And, after a very lovely cocktail hour (red wine, white wine, Prosecco with raspberries), we all went around the (literal) table and presented some fun tidbits about our appetizer, such as:

• Where the appetizer recipe came from,
• Why you selected this particular recipe,
• What you liked or didn't like about the recipe. Or what you learned.

And, after we discussed, we ate. And ate. And ate some more.

Towards the end of our meeting, my godmother convinced us all to sit on the porch and take a picture. Things like this always sound like a good idea after appetizers and lots of booze.

You may notice my little guy sitting on my lap. He would like you to know that he is the honorary male member of this club.

I had a great time for so many reasons. I met new people who also love cooking. We 'geeked out' talking about ingredients, where we grocery shop, what restaurants we like. How to Tweet Mario Batali. Whether we could get Tom Douglas to come give us a lecture.

Again, brilliant.

Rosemary and Parmesan Madeleines and Smoky Fried Chickpeas

Our next meeting is in two months and the theme is "your favorite recipe from your Grandma." Rumor has it that some folks in the club are busy adopting grandmothers from exotic locales around the world.