Adeline Olmer
- Oct 20, 2022
- 3 min read

A NEW DISCOVERY: COOKBOOK CLUB—WHAT COULD BE BETTER?

I decided to attend my town’s cooking club—what a wonderful thing to do. Until recently, I hadn’t even known there was one.

I climbed the library stairs expecting to turn the corner and find the Cookbook Club, but instead I was confronted with bookstacks. I followed the voices I heard to the back and found a group of women setting out the dishes they had brought. Being a newbie, I introduced myself and was greeted by an assortment of smiling faces talking about food; I was in heaven.

And it only got better. We helped ourselves to the diverse dishes and sat down to let our tastebuds revel in these new delicacies. When you love food, what more can you ask for? As we savored these combinations our minds percolated with questions: what ingredients did you use, what is that flavor, texture, sauce, and so forth. And we hadn’t even started to talk about our own dishes.

The October theme of the Cookbook Club was “How Early American Cookbooks Influenced What We Cook and Eat Today.”

It hadn’t taken me long to come up with my dish—pound cake. Pound cake is thought to have originated in Northern Europe in the early 1700s and was found in a U.S. cookbook published in 1796. The recipe is 1 pound flour, 1 pound sugar, 1 pound butter, and 1 pound eggs. That’s it; its name is the recipe.

The talking only really began once we stopped eating. Each dish was described and why it was chosen explained by each of us and those questions that had started earlier continued with abandon as our understanding of food and cooking increased.

I left delighted to have met a group of people who love food and the magic of cooking as much as I do and I can’t wait until the next time we meet—I’m a member now.

You may want to check and see if your town has a club. If not, consider starting a cookbook club. If you love food, you’ll love it.

Bon Appétit

Here Is What's Happening

Here are the new cooking class dates:

Location: Albano Appliance, 83 Westchester Ave, Pound Ridge, NY 10576

Price per class: $75.00

1. October 27, 2022 6-8 pm

5 Tricks to Great Flavor

This cooking demo explains the five flavor enhancers that chefs use to balance and heighten the taste of the sauces they make. You’ll learn how easy it is to achieve. And, as the changes happen, you’ll get to try the sauce and taste the difference after each step.

Poulet en Sauce

2. November 3, 2022 6-8 pm

Flour-based sauces

When fat (butter) and flour are combined with heat, something magical happens—it’s called a roux. That flour butter mixture is an integral part of many dishes we make. This demo will show you how to transform a basic roux into a bechamel or a sauce velouté. and then how to them into delicious meals.

Mac and Cheese

Pasta sauce

Chicken pot pie

Soups

3. November 10, 2022 6-8 pm

Butter-based sauces

Butter is a workhorse in the kitchen, among other things, it makes food taste better. Its versatility allows it to be an essential part of many great sauces.

Learn how to make the butter-based sauces that will enhance the taste of your food.

Hollandaise sauce

Mousseline sauce

Burt butter sauce

Beurre blanc sauce

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