Simple Ways to Start a Cooking Club

You’re five steps away from getting a cooking club up and running in no time. Check out our additional tips on cooking and organizing to make your experience even more fun and rewarding!

1. Find participants

Aim for a group of 3 to 4 people. This makes it easy to manage, plus there's more food for everyone! Ask your friends and family members, or go to your neighbours or members of local church groups, sports teams, volunteer associations, the local gym, community centre, library, etc. You'll be surprised how many willing participants you'll find!

2. Choose tasty, nutritious recipes

Ask everyone to bring their favourite recipes and choose four or five, keeping in mind the preparation time. You can select wildly different recipes or plan around a menu or a theme (such as world cuisine or kid-friendly dishes). You should also decide if you'll be doubling recipes, as this will have an impact on the ingredients you need to buy.

3. Pick a time and place

Decide where your group will meet and how often. Most groups meet monthly to bring home the meals they've prepared, but some groups meet once a week and eat the delicious fare they've prepared right then and there!

4. Prepare a grocery list and go shopping

Prepare a list of all the ingredients you'll need and divide it among the group members, or designate one principal shopper. Either way, the shopping should always be done shortly before the cooking meetings to make sure ingredients are fresh.

5. Cook up a storm!

The big day has arrived! Here are a few tips to make your event a runaway hit:

• Assign one person to each recipe and ask everyone to gather the ingredients and cooking utensils they'll need. Make sure they read the recipe over before starting so they don't skip a step (like turning on the oven!).
• Put a bowl in the centre of the working area to collect food scraps, wrappings, etc.
• Prepare the take-home containers and dishes before you start and label them if possible so you know which foods go where

Now take your bounty home and enjoy your meals to go! Bon appétit!

Comments

• Diane

  January 11th, 2010
  

  This is an excellent article. Thanks!