A look at online cookbook clubs

Many cookbook lovers attempt to start a cookbook club but discover that schedules are difficult to coordinate, folks back out at the last minute and unless you can develop a core group of committed individuals, it becomes more of a headache than a delicious experience.

One of the ways to lessen the headache and still enjoy the camaraderie of discussing recipes is by forming an on-line group. One such group is Wok Wednesdays on Facebook. This group was started by Matt Lardie in 2012 to bring together stir-fry lovers. Recently, the nearly 2,000 members have completed all the recipes in Grace Young‘s Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge. But they aren’t stopping there, today they begin cooking their way through The Breath of a Wok. 

In The Cookbook Junkies, a group I created to share the love of cookbooks, we offer advice on cooking, cookbooks, encouragement and friendship. Through this group, I’ve created a few cook-through-the-book groups. Recently, I started the Taste & Technique group to cook through Naomi Pomeroy’s new title. The reason I chose this title was it is the perfect book to help hone our skills.  Be sure to enter EYB’s giveaway and check out the piece on the book that shares three delicious recipes.

A web based live cooking group,  Cook the Book with Denise and Jenni, picks a recipe or two from a favorite cookbook, secures the author (who travels to Jenni or Denise’s home) and then broadcasts a live feed at a set time (with playback options for those who can’t participate during the live broadcast). It’s a fun experience and offers the opportunity to cook along your favorite authors and other members.

Another wonderful way to organize a cookbook club or share experiences is through an Eat Your Books membership.  If your cookbook group sets up an EYB membership, group members can share their experiences with the book they are cooking from, read recipe reviews from others in the group (as well as from other EYB members).  Another advantage of setting up an EYB Account for the group is that we link to recipes from cookbooks available online (if they have been reproduced with permission from the publisher). 

The benefits of an individual membership is multi-fold. Access to your book titles, recipe indexes, giveaways, author interviews, reviews and the forum alone holds valuable information and the ability to interact with other cookbook fans. There are several cooking along topics in this section of the forum that hold great information.

There are many ways to share your love of cookbooks and cooking on line. Cookbook lovers unite!