Read, Eat, Love: Cookbook Book Club
Updated: Upcoming cookbook themes have been added at the bottom of the story.
Good cookbooks inspire good cooking and even better eating. For Ellen Book, branch manager at the Pinecrest Branch Library, her debut book club about cookbooks accompanied by potluck dishes turned out to be a real party. “By the second hour, about 60 people were indulging in a range of dishes from four types of gazpacho to citrus salads to ceviches and fish to mango bread, rum cake and key lime pies,” she says.
The idea started in January after an email exchange with a South Carolina librarian, Book says, and colleagues liked the idea: “It made people smile and immediately want involvement.” Typically, public library book clubs meet monthly, using the library’s collection to distribute a selected title. In this case, she says the cuisine is the focus. “It’s more important to be inspired than to showcase one author or one book. The Floridian display gave new opportunity for chefs to find recipes that spanned from pioneer days to sophisticated menu items from expensive restaurants.”
Book chose a memorable date – April 15 – and the response was one of unexpected delight. One of the participants was Gina Guilford, who writes a blog called Foodie in Miami. “Ellen asked everyone to introduce themselves, tell what their dish was, why they chose it and how it was to make,” says Guilford. “Some cooks made family recipes, some used cookbooks they had or got at the library, some used recipes off the internet and some people just winged it.”
Guilford says her friend Louisa made a traditional gazpacho that her childhood cook made for her in Marbella, Spain. “And there was another cook who made three dishes – a conch salad, Bubble Bread and Toffee Pudding (my favorite dessert of the night). She explained she'd made the bread because it was a bread served at the famous Bubble Room in Captiva, which was a place she visited with her family on vacation.” Guilford made a scallop ceviche with tangerine, lime juice and pickled jalapeños using fresh oregano and jalapeños came from her garden using a recipe from Sunny Days, Balmy Nights: Entertaining Miami Style.
Cookbook author Linda Gassenheimer spoke and took questions, and then everyone got to eat. There was plenty to go around and send home as leftovers.
“This meeting fills a wholesome niche,” Book says. “People crave meeting, eating and socializing. This program is a give and take of new tastes mixed with a bit of learning, topped off with good feelings about breaking bread with newly found friends.”
FIND OUT MORE: The Pinecrest Branch Library will be hosting meetings on third Mondays from 6pm-7:30pm. Interested cooks can create a recipe from a library cookbook or one from your own collection. Cooks preferred but tasters are welcome. Here's a schedule for upcoming themes:
June 17 – Mexican
July 15 – French
August 19 – Vegan
September 16 – Chinese
October 21 – Mediterranean
November 18 – Spanish
December 16 – Holiday sweets
For more information, email Ellen Book.
