How to host your first cookbook club dinner
Cookbook Clubs are popping up everywhere and why not? They are the an affordable and delicious way to share a fun night with the girls.
How many people? We decided to keep the number of people between six and eight. That way each person could make a course: appy, soup, salad, entree, veggie, dessert. If there were additional people we’d add an app, less we’d remove soup or salad. Easy.
How to pick the cookbook. We decided to expand the idea to a favorite cook rather than a specific book. We all get our recipes from the internet so it made it easier for us. This month it was Ina Gartner - excellent choice for sure!
How to decorate? Think of this as a homage to your cook and create an atmosphere that reflects their personality. With Ina she’s all about comfortable gatherings of good friends and cocktails. I wanted the vibe to be casual and fun.
I created a Whiskey Sour station (her favorite) with her picture and quote, “Everything tastes better in a martini glass, so that’s what I’m going to serve.” and then we had fun making sure we shook the sours for 30 seconds just like she does.
It was fun to set the table. Staying with a white tablecloth, I added a blue stripe runner to make everything feel crisp and folded green patterned napkins with a hint of blue. Then grounded everything with rattan chargers. I pulled all the colors with the plates - blue and white geometric Corelle and green cabbage plates and bowls. Look in your cabinet and try to mix and match to create your own look. I made copies of her headshot, cut them out, and taped sticks to them so we could be Ina for a night. lol Then picked up some daffodils from Trader Joe’s, added candles and a couple of small blue and white ginger jars. For glasses I pulled blue plastic water glasses and wine glasses.
Don’t be afraid to go high low on your table. Stay away from plastic utensils, but you could use pretty paper plates for a salad plate if it had the right colors and added to the look. The key is to keep it cohesive and not too over crowded. Think Pottery Barn rather than flea market.
Since Ina has a new book, Be Ready When the Luck Comes, I wrote out quotes from it and wrapped them in mini envelopes. Each of us, read one when our course was served and we talked about how it applied to our lives. It was a beautiful way to create a deeper level of conversation and we all felt closer when the dinner was over.
I came from a family of five kids and we always worked together in the kitchen. I had envisioned a cookbook club would recreate that kind of bonding and really did. Next month we are celebrating Valerie Bertinelli.
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