Club Folder

Everything you need to know about Seattle Cooking Club:

WHAT?

A cook book or specific theme is selected by a voting process each meeting.  Cooks should try many recipes / techniques / etc. over the course of session so they have a bit of experience with the topic and can participate in discussion at the next meeting.  Ideally, attempt a minimum of six recipes to get the style of the book or chef.  At the meeting, everyone brings a dish to share from the current session.  We enjoy socializing, eating, and discussing our kitchen triumphs and defeats of the last couple months.

WHO:  

Current members may invite anyone they think would enjoy and actively participate in this club.  We are a group made out of people who enjoy being in the kitchen.  Some have more experience than others.  What matters is that you like cooking and want to challenge and stretch yourself.  Enjoy a community where we will celebrate our successes and sympathize with our failures.

Attendees should not feel obligated to stay in the club, nor attend every meeting.  This is only for people who enjoy it and continue to enjoy it.

WHEN?

Meetings and book discussion:

• Ideally we will meet once every other month on a predetermined Sunday in the late afternoon – early evening.  Timing may change occasionally to make way for holidays or other special circumstances.

Expect the following timeline for each meeting:

• 5:00 – Arrive, socialize, cocktails, last minute prep.
• 5:30- All plates and platters on the table, cameras out, photos taken.
• 5:35- Time to enjoy our spoils.  We eat and discuss.
• 7:00- Wrap it up.

Midterm Dinner:

• On the “off months” where we are not having a club meeting, we try to have a midterm dinner which is more organized and more of a socializing time.  Typically families are welcome to attend this and they are on Saturday nights.  This is more tricky to arrange so don’t feel obligated to participate in this if it doesn’t work out with your schedule.

 

WHERE?

If you would like to host a meeting, great!  If not?  Great!  No pressure here.  There are multiple members who have said that they would love to open up their homes more often, and someone else can select the theme.

The host or hostess should provide beverages, plates, napkins, etc.  Ask for help if needed.

HOW?

How are we going to make sure this runs smoothly?  Good question- for now we are going to attempt the following guidelines.

• RSVP to Kelli one week in advance.
• Should you require any support, equipment, etc on site, contact the host or hostess directly.
• Do NOT feel like you need to make enough for everybody!  DO make a reasonable amount and try to portion it appropriately for the approximate number of expected guests.
• Allergies?  If you have food allergies, please be sure to make that known on the day of the event.  Though we will not be catering to food allergies and preferences, we don’t want anyone to get violently ill either.
• Do NOT bring hostess gifts.  Wonderful thought.  Thank you, but no thank you.
• If you have a cookbook you would like the group to try, bring it to the meeting and present it to the group.  The book is voted on by the group.  Majority rules.

Communications

Specific information pertaining to events will be emailed to members of our cooking club directly.

Between meetings, members are invited to participate by submitting postings to this blog.  Postings should be an outlet to express their triumphs and sorrows as they experiment with the current subject matter.  It should be a place to be creative and to feel connected during the two months between meetings.  The blog should encourage us to keep trying new things and to be a resource for ideas.

What constitutes a post?  Pretty much anything.  The only requirement is that the content be topical.  It should relate either directly or indirectly to the current topic.  This may be a recipe, technique, ingredients, methods, etc.

Please try to keep posts to a maximum of 500 words, and if possible, add visuals for interest, though that is not necessary.

Ideas for postings?  If you are not sure what to write about but want to participate in the blog, here are a couple of ideas:

• Kitchen Diaries- What have you been doing in your kitchen?  Tried any recipes?  Learned something new?  Had a fiasco?  Ate something delicious?  We want to hear about it.
• Field Trips- Looking for inspiration around our current topic?  May be a trip to a specialty grocery store?  May be went out to a restaurant that specializes in our cuisine of choice?

There are lots of options.  Have fun, and of course, no pressure if this is not something you wish to participate in.

How do I submit?  If you think that you would like to do quite a bit of posting, let me know and I will send you an invite to be an author on the blog.  You will have access to create at will.  If that is intimidating, or you’re not sure, feel free to email me your texts and photos and I am happy to pop it on there for you.

All points of view are encouraged!