The Cooking Club Cookbook: Six Friends Show You How to Bake, Broil, and Bond [Paperback]

Katherine Fausset (Author), Cynthia Harris (Author), Lucia Quartararo (Author), Lisa Singer (Author), Rebecca Sample Gerstung (Author), Sharon Cohen Fredman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 4, 2002

The Cooking Club Cookbook is the story of how six friends learned to cook, the meals they created, and the fun they had along the way. Filled with tales of broken broccoli Christmas trees and seduce-me steaks, this book is at once an easy-to-follow guide to starting a cooking club, a collection of menu suggestions, and an inspiration for anyone who’s ever wanted to feel really at home in the kitchen.

Having created hundreds of dishes, the members of the Cooking Club now offer tips for re-creating their culinary triumphs and avoiding their embarrassing mishaps. Chapters include “Stealing Home: We Raid Mom’s Recipes in Search of Cozy Cooking,” “Chow Bella: Like True Renaissance Women, We Master Six Regional Dishes,” and “Low-Fat Tuesday: The Lighter Side of Creole Cuisine.” The recipes range from the easy (Mini-Me Mac and Cheese) to the exotic (Cellophane Noodle Salad with Shrimp) to the downright elegant (Mussels in White Wine and Saffron Sauce). The Cooking Club Cookbook is an invaluable resource for a new generation of cooks, told in the voice of a best friend.

Recipe for a Cooking Club

Ingredients

• Six or so members, to taste
• One day a month, for meeting
• Tinfoil, for carting dishes between kitchens
• Sense of humor, plus extra for garnish
• The Cooking Club Cookbook—strongly recommended

1. Choose your members. A go-get-’em attitude is our only prerequisite, although you get extra points for having a dishwasher.

2. Plan a theme, such as Spanish, sexy foods, or Mardi Gras. Discuss menus in advance so you don’t end up with six desserts. (On second thought, that’s not such a bad idea . . . )

3. Cook at home and then bring your dish to the host’s house. You should be able to experiment with all foods, just no force-feeding. (Don’t think we haven’t tried.)

4. Eat. Drink. Compliment everyone’s dish. Have fun. It’s what will get you and the gang back into the kitchen month after month.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The women behind The Cooking Club Cookbook are independent, fun-loving, successful New Yorkers, who get together once a month for a cooking club. Why? "It's tastier than a book club." Together they've been through countless job changes, two weddings, numerous boyfriends, and apartment upgrades. And still they meet once a month. A quick perusal of The Cooking Club Cookbook is all you need to understand why. These six women are funny, intelligent, and loyal, and they've learned to cook very well. Each woman brings one dish, and the theme is agreed upon ahead of time (Spanish, Mediterranean, Comfort, etc.). They don't have much free time, so their dishes are simple. They don't have much space, so the required equipment and number of ingredients is limited. The point of the club, really, is to get together on a regular basis to catch up, gossip, and ask for opinions and advice.

The bonus is that each woman only has to prepare one dish, but gets to enjoy fabulous meals like the Far East Feast: Cellophane Noodle Salad with Shrimp, pungent with garlic, lime juice, and sesame oil; surprisingly easy steamed Shiitake Dumplings; sophisticated Thai Vegetable Curry; lick-the-pot-clean Spicy Peanut Chicken; an ex-boyfriend's Lemongrass Bass; and a delectable Coconut Rice Pudding. You might take one look through this book and start recruiting for a club of your own, but at the very least, the gorgeous photos and easy recipes will have you turning out seriously gourmet food for your friends. --Leora Y. Bloom

From the Inside Flap

The Cooking Club Cookbook is the story of how six friends learned to cook, the meals they created, and the fun they had along the way. Filled with tales of broken broccoli Christmas trees and seduce-me steaks, this book is at once an easy-to-follow guide to starting a cooking club, a collection of menu suggestions, and an inspiration for anyone who?s ever wanted to feel really at home in the kitchen.

Having created hundreds of dishes, the members of the Cooking Club now offer tips for re-creating their culinary triumphs and avoiding their embarrassing mishaps. Chapters include ?Stealing Home: We Raid Mom?s Recipes in Search of Cozy Cooking,? ?Chow Bella: Like True Renaissance Women, We Master Six Regional Dishes,? and ?Low-Fat Tuesday: The Lighter Side of Creole Cuisine.? The recipes range from the easy (Mini-Me Mac and Cheese) to the exotic (Cellophane Noodle Salad with Shrimp) to the downright elegant (Mussels in White Wine and Saffron Sauce). The Cooking Club Cookbook is an invaluable resource for a new generation of cooks, told in the voice of a best friend.

Recipe for a Cooking Club

Ingredients

? Six or so members, to taste
? One day a month, for meeting
? Tinfoil, for carting dishes between kitchens
? Sense of humor, plus extra for garnish
? The Cooking Club Cookbook?strongly recommended

1. Choose your members. A go-get-?em attitude is our only prerequisite, although you get extra points for having a dishwasher.

2. Plan a theme, such as Spanish, sexy foods, or Mardi Gras. Discuss menus in advance so you don?t end up with six desserts. (On second thought, that?s not such a bad idea . . . )

3. Cook at home and then bring your dish to the host?s house. You should be able to experiment with all foods, just no force-feeding. (Don?t think we haven?t tried.)

4. Eat. Drink. Compliment everyone?s dish. Have fun. It?s what will get you and the gang back into the kitchen month after month.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Villard; 1 edition (June 4, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375759689
• ISBN-13: 978-0375759680
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 0.5 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #637,892 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have..., June 13, 2002

By 

"jclarey2" (Mpls., MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Cooking Club Cookbook: Six Friends Show You How to Bake, Broil, and Bond (Paperback)

for home cooks who have high standards for good-tasting food. I have specific criteria for cookbooks that I enjoy using for home cooking and generally have a hard time finding books that meet those expectations. This cookbook exceeds those expectations. It manages to be witty, fun, well-organized with wonderful photos and a great layout, doesn't require that I possess the skills of a Babbo Ristorante chef or that I have direct access to Alice Waters' organic farm for unique ingredients. All this rolled-up into one book! I'm a midwestern gal with coastal dining tastes who looks for cookbooks containing recipes I can make within a reasonable span of time, for a reasonable cost, and whose ingredients I can buy at a grocery store in the middle of nowhere. I highly recommend this book.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comaraderie and Cooking - a great combo, June 25, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Cooking Club Cookbook: Six Friends Show You How to Bake, Broil, and Bond (Paperback)

I LOVED this cookbook - what could be better than easy and delicious recipies, wonderful ideas for party and dinner themes, and charming, funny text combined with really helpful hints and absolutely gorgeous design? Add lovely, crisp photos and you've got the recipe for a marvelous cookbook for yourself or for gifts. I'm an experienced cook, not a young woman or man just learning - but this charmer seems to have something for everyone. And, if you are just learning -- this is really the ticket.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oh to be the SEVENTH girl!, September 27, 2002

By 

yoyobunny "yoyobunny" (new york, ny USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Cooking Club Cookbook: Six Friends Show You How to Bake, Broil, and Bond (Paperback)

Witty, charming, well designed, user friendly, and most of all- the recipes are wonderful!

As a seasoned NYC home chef, the hardest thing to do is to come up with a recipe that involves little space, little equipment and little time. These six girls not only engage you with their wonderfully witty writing, but have simplified the difficult task of apartment-sized cooking so that anyone can do it and have excellent results.

Plus the wonderful photos of the food and of the girls cooking, shopping and dining really does make you feel invited. And the graphic design gets great marks for being as chic as they are!

I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of little cooking clubs don't start up because of it! [Word has it that they might be doing another book? Cross your fingers on that bit of gossip!]

PS: this would make a great housewarming or hostess gift!