Guest blog with Jane Doiron

Today, Jane Doiron, author of Make-ahead Meals for Busy Moms, shares her thoughts on the process of getting her book published.

I have always had an interest in food, recipes, and cooking since I was a young girl. I started buying cooking magazines when I was a teenager. I still remember getting my first cookbook from my aunt and uncle before I was married. I loved trying new recipes back then and still do today! Over the years, I thought about writing my own cookbook, but heard so many stories about people being turned down by publishers unless they were a celebrity. In January of 2008, I did a little research on-line and soon discovered "self-publishing." I signed up with a self-publishing company on-line and started writing my manuscript. It took 15 months to write it as I had a full-time teaching job. Testing out recipes was the easy part. Once I submitted my manuscript in April of 2009, that's when things got to be stressful. When you self-publish, you are responsible to catch any typos, grammatical errors, font issues, format problems, etc. Consequently, it took about 15 rounds of editing the book and over 5 months to get published.

I was very fortunate to have my brother, Roger Rivard, take the photos of my food for the book cover. A book designer at the publishing company designed the book cover using Roger's photographs.

Now that my cookbook is published, I'm meeting so many wonderful people on the internet that are reviewing my cookbook, and I enjoy hearing from people who have tried my recipes. I really hope moms and dads find my cookbook useful. I know my dinner time is more relaxing since I started fixing "make-ahead meals." I have just started testing recipes for a second "make-ahead" cookbook. I hope to have it done in another year or so. Sign up for my newsletter at makeaheadmealsforbusymoms.com and you'll receive a new "make-ahead" recipe each month!

Jane Doiron

Author Interview: Jane Doiron

Today I had the opportunity to learn a little more about Jane Doiron, author of Make-ahead Meals for Busy Moms. Be sure to read my review of the book!

Jennifer Walker: Tell us about your other writing projects, past present and future. Are you interested in writing anything besides cookbooks?

Jane Doiron: Make-Ahead Meals for Busy Moms is my first cookbook. I am currently testing recipes for a second "Make-Ahead" cookbook. At the moment, I'm not interested in writing other types of books.


Jennifer Walker: What inspired you to write Make-ahead Meals?

Jane Doiron: As a second grade teacher, I feel exhausted when I get home from work and it's hard to find the energy or time to whip up a great dinner in a small amount of time. So I took my family's favorite recipes and turned them into make-ahead meals to make my life a little easier. I know that there are a lot of Moms that feel the same way at dinner time, so I thought this book would be a great resource for them.


Jennifer Walker: Where did the recipes come from for this book?

Jane Doiron: I've been cooking for my family for over 20 years, so I have accumulated quite a few recipes. Some of the recipes in my cookbook have come from family and friends, and I have created some on my own.


Jennifer Walker: What is the testing process like for the recipes in your book?

Jane Doiron: If I'm testing desserts, I share them with my coworkers, family, or friends and get their opinions on the recipe. When I test out new recipes at home with my family, I usually include the recipe in the book if all four of us like the recipe.


Jennifer Walker: Do you often employ your book's suggestions for advance preparation?

Jane Doiron: Yes, I always prepare in advance if possible.


Jennifer Walker: How did you get your book published? How has the publishing process been for you?

Jane Doiron: I searched on line for self-publishing companies because I felt that it was the only way my book could be published. I started writing my manuscript in January 2008. I submitted my manuscript to the publisher in April 2009. It was published in August 2009. The publishing process was very stressful and time consuming as there were many rounds of editing. When you self-publish, you are responsible to catch any format, font, or grammatical errors yourself.


Jennifer Walker: Is cooking a passion for you? How long has it been so?

Jane Doiron: I have always loved cooking and entertaining. I'm a cookbook collector and cooking magazine junkie! I started cooking as a teenager. I have taken a few cooking classes over the years such as cake decorating, bread making, and Italian cooking.


Jennifer Walker: Tell us about your family. Do they like to cook? Do they support your writing?

Jane Doiron: My husband and I have 2 boys ages 20 and 15. They're not very interested in cooking, but they have been very supportive in trying new recipes. I think they're more adventurous than some kids their age when it comes to trying new foods, as they have been exposed to my Italian, Mexican, Thai, and Chinese dishes over the years.


Jennifer Walker: What is your favorite type of cuisine?

Jane Doiron: I LOVE anything Italian!


Jennifer Walker: What is your favorite type of book to read?

Jane Doiron: I used to read a lot of historical romance books. Now, if I have any spare time, I like to read cooking magazines.

Book Review: Make-ahead Meals for Busy Moms, by Jane Doiron

Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms
by Jane Doiron

Paperback: 232 pages
Publisher: Outskirts Press (August 17, 2009)
ISBN-10: 1432720864
Rating (1 to 5 *): *****




Book Review:

Chances are, you have been guilty of having pizza delivered after a long day instead of preparing a wholesome, home-cooked meal or taking grocery store chicken to a potluck at work because you just didn’t have time to prepare anything. If you are one of those insanely organized people who always has time for everything you need to do, you probably know at least one person who just can’t seem to find the time to cook every night.

Make-ahead Meals for Busy Moms, by Jane Doiron, offers a solution for those times when you know the kiddos will be clamoring for dinner the minute you walk in from a 12-hour work day. The book is filled with recipes that can be prepared partially or completely a day, or even weeks ahead of time. Unexpected guests drop by? Luckily, you have some tasty banana bread in the freezer for just such an occasion. Need an appetizer for your best friend’s potluck baby shower? No problem, guests will drool over the bacon tomato mini cups you prepared in advance.

Make-ahead Meals for Busy Moms provides detailed, easy-to-follow recipes for new twists on old favorites like chocolate chip cookies and lasagna as well as many new ideas like cranberry lemon bread and broiled honey mustard salmon. In addition, it gives instructions for what can be prepared in advance and how to finish the dish and serve it. Also included are instructions for freezing and storing many of the dishes—make one to enjoy now and freeze the other for another time.

Jane Doiron seems to have thought of everything the busy mom (or dad!) needs to put a delicious meal on the table morning, noon or night—or to be a star at your next gathering.

Author Interview: Linda Weaver Clarke

Today, I had the opportunity to learn a little about Linda Weaver Clarke (www.lindaweaverclarke.com), who teaches Family Legacy workshops as well as writing historical fiction.

Jennifer Walker: When did you first become interested in family history and historical fiction?

Linda Weaver Clarke: I have always loved historical fiction because it’s entertaining and at the same time I learn something about history. I became interested in my family’s history when I began reading about them. My mother and grandparents had written their biographies and that was when I realized how intriguing their stories were.


Jennifer Walker: Describe your Family Legacy workshops for us. What should someone expect when they attend one?

Linda Weaver Clarke: I teach people how to take their family history or their own autobiography and turn it into interesting stories. It’s important to teach our children their heritage. Each of us has a story from our ancestors to tell. If these stories are unwritten, then they’ll be lost forever. In my workshop, I encourage people to research the area their ancestors settled and the time period. First, find out everything you can about the area. If possible, go there and walk around, find out where your ancestors lived, went to school, and played. If you can’t go there in person, then do research and find pictures. To read samples of what you can do with your stories, visit my website at www.lindaweaverclarke.com and read the “short stories” of my ancestors.


Jennifer Walker: How did your Family Legacy workshops begin? How did you grow it into what it is today?

Linda Weaver Clarke: After my book was published, I decided to teach people how to write their stories. So I began teaching in my own area, and then gradually expanded further and further from home. Before I knew it, I had libraries from all over the U.S. signing up for my workshops. The libraries sponsor me and the class is usually free to the public. Libraries provide many ways of education for their communities as long as they have an active Friends Group to support them.


Jennifer Walker: What if someone is interested in preserving their family history but don't feel like they can write it themselves. Do you ever provide writing services for them?

Linda Weaver Clarke: No, I encourage them to write it themselves. You see, these stories are dear to us and we need to put our own heart into it. After I began writing my ancestors’ stories, I became closer to them. I felt as if I really understood them and how they must have felt as I wrote their experiences down. It is a blessing to write your own stories. I’ve had many people tell me that they didn’t know if they could do it, and after my class was done they couldn’t wait to go home and begin writing. One woman from Boise, Idaho said to my daughter who assists me, “I felt as if I had handcuffs on my wrists and your mother has just unlocked them.” This statement really touched my heart.


Jennifer Walker: Tell us a little about some of your favorite writing projects, past and present, and what do you have planned for the future?

Linda Weaver Clarke: Past, present, and future? Okay, as for the “past,” I have a historical fiction series called A Family Saga in Bear Lake, Idaho. Each story has its own plot and can be read separately, but the main characters grow up. One of my secrets in writing this series is inserting real ancestral or family experiences into my novels. To me, their experiences have always intrigued me. It brings a story to life. In my family saga series, I have set my story in Paris, Idaho…the place that my ancestors settled in 1863.

My great grandmother, Sarah Eckersley Robinson, was my inspiration for David and the Bear Lake Monster. Sarah lost her hearing as a child but she never let her deafness stop her from developing her talents. I took a lot of her experiences from her biography and gave them to my heroine to bring some reality into my story. Sarah was known as one of the most graceful dancers in town. She was known for gliding across the floor with ease, with just a touch of her partner’s hand. Sarah had such agility and gracefulness while swimming, that people would actually throw coins in the water so they could watch her dive after them. Once an intruder hid in her bedroom under her bed, thinking he could take advantage of her since she was deaf. He must have thought she was an easy victim but was sadly mistaken. She swatted him out from under her bed with a broom, and all the way out of the house, and down the street for a couple blocks, whacking him as she ran. What a courageous woman!

As for the “present,” the last book in this series was just released. Elena, Woman of Courage. It’s about a “Happy-go-lucky Bachelor” who is completely fascinated with a woman doctor: Elena Yeates. Of course, women weren’t encouraged to go to college back then, let alone become a doctor, and this fascinates him to no end. With the 1920’s rise of women’s rights, this novel gives you an insight at the struggles women had to go through, while watching a young love blossom! To read an excerpt, visit my website at http://www.lindaweaverclarke.com/samplechapters.html.

As for the “future,” I’ve started a new mystery series. You can check it out on my website.


Jennifer Walker: How did you first get published? Has the process become easier with experience? How?

Linda Weaver Clarke: First, there’s a book called Writer’s Market. It’s full of publishers and it tells you exactly what each publisher expects. Remember, do exactly what is written for each publisher. If it says to send a query letter or a synopsis, only do that and nothing more or they’ll trash it. If it says to send the first three chapters, do it. Don’t send the whole manuscript. Publishers are sticklers and won’t give you the time of day if you don’t do as requested. The Writer’s Market will teach you how to write a query letter and a synopsis. It’s a very good book. If the publisher likes your work, then they’ll send you a contract to sign and you pretty much remain with that publisher unless you’re unhappy with them and want to move on. For me, I’m quite happy with my publisher. They assign me an excellent editor and I get to request what kind of book cover I want from the design department.

(Note from Jennifer: there is a lot of good resources on the website, www.writersmarket.com, but I found the print copy of the book itself to be highly educational!)


Jennifer Walker: Tell us about your family. Are they supportive of your work? Do they have similar interests?

Linda Weaver Clarke: My family is very supportive. My husband and I are now empty nesters but when I have to travel somewhere, I just ask one of my daughters if they would like to go with me. I don’t like going alone. Out of my six daughters, I’ve taken four with me on tour. I have two married daughters with children so they can’t come. My husband loves going with me, too, but he only gets three weeks off work in a year.

As for similar interests, I have one daughter who loves writing. She’s written several stories that are really good but she isn’t interested in becoming published. She writes them for her own enjoyment and then gives them to her sisters to read. She’s a graphics designer and is also attending college so she can get a degree in graphics design.


Jennifer Walker How much time, on average, do you spend on research before writing each piece?

Linda Weaver Clarke: I love research. I usually do about a month’s worth before writing my story. Each book was fun to research but Elena, Woman of Courage was a blast to write because of all the fantastic words in that era. For example: It’s set in 1925. I found words that I didn’t even know such as: Cat’s pajamas! Ah, horsefeathers! Attaboy! Baloney! You slay me! When referring to a woman, they used doll, tomato, and bearcat. When a person was in love, he was goofy. If a person was a fool, he was a sap. And when a woman wasn’t in the mood for kissing, she would say, “The bank’s closed.” I was able to use all these words and much more in my book. The language was great!

In my research for David and the Bear Lake Monster: A Family Saga in Bear Lake, Idaho
, I found that people really believe in this legend. The mystery of the Bear Lake Monster has been an exciting part of Idaho history ever since the early pioneers. Some people claimed to have seen it and gave descriptions of it. The monster’s eyes were flaming red and its ears stuck out from the sides of its skinny head. Its body was long, resembling a gigantic alligator, and it could swim faster than a galloping horse. Of course, it only came out in the evening or at dusk. Throughout the years, no one has ever disproved the Bear Lake Monster. A bunch of scientists tried to discredit the monster and said it was a huge codfish that was shipped in from the East but could not prove this theory. Does the Bear Lake Monster exist? Whatever conclusion is drawn, the legend still lives on and brings a great deal of mystery and excitement to the community.


Jennifer Walker What is your favorite pastime--besides research and writing?

Linda Weaver Clarke: I love camping in the mountains and breathing in the fresh air, the scent of pine trees, listening to the sounds of nature, hearing a stream of water bubbling over rocks. Just talking about it makes me want to leave this second, although I can do without the mosquitoes, but I usually take along enough “Skin-so-soft” oil to protect me. Of course, my husband doesn’t care for it because he thinks it smells like a woman so he has his own mosquito repellent.


Jennifer Walker: Where is your favorite place in the world besides home?

Linda Weaver Clarke: Southern Idaho, where I grew up! I miss it and long to go back for a visit but my parent’s home isn’t there anymore. When my father passed away, it was sold. But my brother owns our grandparents’ home and all the farmland so when I do visit we stay with him. It’s a day’s drive from here so we try to stay for a few days before leaving. The land is so beautiful and green. I love it.

Thank you, Linda, for dropping by!

Guest blog: Food Writing with Dina Guillen

Dina Guillen, author of Cooking Club: Great Ideas and Delicious Recipes for Fabulous Get-Togethers,stopped by to share her thoughts on food writing. Read on!


Food writing, like any writing, involves passion. If you are not passionate about it, don’t do it. It can be really hard, day after day, coming up with something to say and finding the right words to say it. But if you are sincerely passionate about it, the excitement and joy you feel jumps off the page and everyone feels it.

That being said, the next thing I would recommend is that no matter how passionate you are, you’ve got to ask yourself “why would a stranger read my book/blog/article?” Michael Ruhlman wrote an essay on food writing, and in it he said “Writing is not about the ‘me,’ it’s about the ‘not me.’ This is always true, even in personal essay and memoir.” I couldn’t agree more. People don’t care about my opinion, no matter how passionate I am about it. But if I include facts and information and data – then I’ve got an audience.

We received really nice feedback and reviews from readers of our latest book, Cooking Club: Great Ideas and Delicious Recipes for Fabulous Get-togethers. Everyone appreciated that we took the time to profile other cooking clubs around the country and put their advice in the book, plus we included pages of cooking club tips and guidelines, and entertaining tips for each themed menu. When you seek out advice and expert opinion and include it in your writing, it is much more valuable to the reader.

If you are looking to get published,the one tip I can give you is do your homework. While we were writing our first cookbook, The Plank Grilling Cookbook, I spent a lot of time in the bookstore and in the library researching book publishers who had published similar cookbooks to the one my friends and I were writing. I also bought a book called, How to Publish Your Nonfiction Book: A Complete Guide to Making the Right Publisher Say Yes, by Rudy Shur. We followed his advice every step of the way and it proved to be invaluable.

We prepared a proposal that described what our book was about and we were very strategic in explaining how it was different then anything out there, but not too different to scare people away from the topic entirely. It was important to communicate to the publisher how they were going to make money if they published our book. We wrote about our target audience, and some marketing strategies to sell the book. We had already written over half the cookbook, so we included two or three recipe chapters, as well as a table of contents. We packaged the proposal with a grilling plank, and mailed it to almost a dozen publishers that we had researched – hoping the grilling plank would get their attention since we didn’t have an agent to do that.

Shortly thereafter, we received four offers from publishers. That was incredibly exciting for us!

And finally, when it comes to food writing, it helps to be organized and detail oriented, especially when you are creating recipes. There is a big difference between a teaspoon and a tablespoon, ¼ cup and ¾ cup, baking soda and baking powder. It is so easy to type in the wrong amount, or wrong ingredient, and there are so many little details with writing a recipe. Testing the recipes before they make it in your cookbook will eliminate those mistakes. And if you don’t get overwhelmed by the details, then it is a really enjoyable experience. People will trust you, know that you took the time to get it right, and hopefully want to come back and buy your next book!

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Thank you again to Dina Guillen for stopping by!

Author Interview: Dina Guillen and Michelle Lowrey

Today, I had the chance to chat a little with Dina Guillen and Michelle Lowrey, authors of Cooking Club: Great Ideas and Delicious Recipes for Fabulous Get-Togethers. Be sure to read my review of the book!

Jennifer Walker: Tell us about other writing/book projects you have--past, present and future.

Dina and Michelle: Past would be our first book, The Plank Grilling Cookbook. It was published in 2006 and it has done extremely well, with over 30,000 books sold to date. Cooking Club: Great Ideas and Delicious Recipes for Fabulous Get-Togethers just came out this year, and we are also trying to build an online cooking club community, so we started writing a food blog, www.cookingclubconfidential.wordpress.com that focuses on cooking club stories, advice, tips, profiles, etc.


Jennifer Walker: Out of all of your cooking club members, how were you two elected to write this book? Did the other members contribute?

Dina and Michelle: We co-wrote The Plank Grilling cookbook with our other cooking club members, Maria Everly and Gretchen Bernsdorff. When the opportunity to write the second book was offered to the four of us, both Gretchen and Maria decided that that the time commitment was too great, and they opted out of the project. Gretchen has since moved, and is not part of our cooking club anymore, but the support and enthusiasm for the project by both of them has been so gracious. In fact, everyone from our cooking club has been so supportive. It’s been so fun writing about our dear cooking club friends, and letting the public “in” on our fabulous group!


Jennifer Walker: Did anything fun or interesting or unusual or otherwise noteworthy happen during the course of writing Cooking Club?

Dina and Michelle:If you asked us about the Plank Grilling Cookbook, we would regale you with stories about all the fires we started while grilling on those pieces of wood. But this book was pretty non-eventful. We are incredibly organized. We prepared an outline for the book, set a timeline, and turned in our manuscript to our editor on time.


Jennifer Walker: How did you get started as published authors?

Dina and Michelle: We are very proud of how these books came to fruition. When Dina came up with the idea for writing The Plank Grilling book, we did not have an agent, a lawyer, or anyone else helping us along. We did everything ourselves, and shopped the book around to different publishers. We were so pleasantly surprised that even more than one publishing house wanted to publish the book. Plank Grilling was a new phenomenon back then, and hey, we were on to something! Once we settled on a publisher, we did the negotiating ourselves with the help of a mutual friend Suzanne Nielson. Yes, we were green, and had very little knowledge of what we were doing, but we learned a lot. The Cooking Club book came next, and was offered to us by Sasquatch books (the publishers of our first book.) We had a nice opportunity to sit down with Biba Caggiano from Biba’s restaurant, here in Sacramento. She was so kind and gracious, and gave us great advice on how to negotiate a book contract. We actually thanked her in the book! Michelle had the opportunity to give her a copy of our book, and she was so impressed by it. That was such a nice compliment, coming from such a well know Sacramento institution such as Biba.


Jennifer Walker: Tell us about your families. How supportive are they of your writing...and of cooking club?

Dina Guillen: I have an incredibly supportive husband, Roland, and a wonderful 9-year-old son, Andrew. They encourage me to try new dishes, and experiment with exotic flavors and cuisines. Since they are not picky eaters and will try practically anything, I have the flexibility and freedom to go crazy in the kitchen and have an appreciative audience at the same time. When you are in a cooking club, and writing cookbooks, you need honest taste testers with good palates, and I have that in my own home. It doesn’t get better then that!

Michelle Lowrey: They are of course, very supportive. My Mom is an amazing chef, and I grew up eating beautiful food. My Mom was always cooking something delicious, and that love of food was fostered in me from a very young age. The fact that I have written two cookbooks just tickles my parents to no end!


Jennifer Walker: Have you had any mentors or influences in your writing career?

Dina Guillen: I was a Journalism major in college, and one of my journalism professors, Dr. Art Margosian, encouraged my writing abilities, mentored me, and gave me the confidence to pursue a career in writing. I have had a love of food and cooking from a very young age, and it comes from having a very large family who loved food. Every occasion was celebrated w ith a feast, whether it was a graduation, a baptism, or simply losing your 8th tooth – it was always about the food. One of my aunts, Aunt Vera, would ask me to smell or eat a fruit at its peak of ripeness, roll her eyes and groan in ecstasy as she was enjoying it herself, and go on and on about how delicious it was. How was I going to grown up not loving food? With the combined influences of Dr. Margosian and my Aunt Vera, it seems I was destined to be a food writer.

Michelle Lowrey: Well, my Mom is my biggest mentor. But, a very happy memory of my childhood is sitting down with my Mom and religiously watching The French Chef with Julia Child. We both loved that show, and I think back on that with such happy memories. When the movie Julie and Julia came out this summer, I couldn’t help but think of my Mom, but also how much Julia Child influenced so many people. There’s not many chefs out there that won’t say that Julia didn't influence them in some way or the other. She really was a fascinating woman.


Jennifer Walker: Do you have a "day job"?

Dina Guillen: I am a marketing director at Wiley Design Communications, Inc., a brand development and marketing firm in mid-town Sacramento.

Michelle Lowrey: I actually went to culinary school in San Francisco, and worked as a pastry chef for 5 years before I left the food industry to stay at home and raise my two kids. The writing of the two books has been so much fun for me because I got the opportunity to write about something I loved…food! These days, I work at my children’s school three days a week. Something I really enjoy.


Jennifer Walker: Do you have hobbies outside of writing and cooking? What are they?

Dina Guillen: I love to read, and could spend hours on a sofa reading with contentment. I also love to go hiking with my friends and family. I’ve never hiked outside of California, and I would love to plan a vacation hiking (and eating) my way through the trip.

Michelle Lowrey: It’s funny, because when I started thinking about my hobbies, they all seemed food related somehow! I mean, I love reading, but they are always books on food or chefs, and I love to entertain, but that involves cooking! I do love to hike, and my husband and I love living here in this area because of the closeness to the Sierra’s and all the great hiking trails. I love yoga, and have been doing bikram yoga for a few years now. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but my husband Corey has just gotten into running, and I have started running a little myself.


Jennifer Walker: What is your favorite restaurant, and why?

Dina Guillen: Locally, my favorite restaurant is Mulvaney’s in Sacramento, because I am a huge fan of lamb and no one prepares it better then Partick Mulvaney. But if I were to choose anyplace in the world, I would travel to New Orleans and eat at Chef Susan Spicer’s restaurant, Bayona. Each time I’ve had a meal there, it is consistently amazing. And she makes the best sweet breads.

Michelle Lowrey: This question, I really thought about a lot. I love food, and think about it all the time, and my answer to this questions changes every time I answer it depending on my mood! Right now, at this very moment, I’ve been obsessing over this tiny little place in New York City called S’mac, where the only thing they serve is macaroni and cheese. I’m a comfort food love r, and this place is where you need to go to get your fix. They serve every flavor combination imaginable, but my favorite is the gruyere cheese with slab bacon. They even make their own noodles. Seems silly, but to say that this place is my FAVORITE restaurant, when I’ve eaten at so many amazing places, but this is no ordinary macaroni and cheese let me tell you!


Jennifer Walker: If you had to pick one type of cuisine to make and eat for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Dina Guillen: Middle Eastern food.

Michelle Lowrey: I love Cajun/Creole food more than any other. In our book, we did a chapter on food from New Orleans, and testing those recipes was so much fun! I love having a pot of homemade gumbo cooking on the stove. It just makes me happy!

Thank you to Dina and Michelle for stopping by...it was so fun getting to learn a little more about you!

Stay tuned for their guest post on food writing.

Book Review: Cooking Club, by Dina Guillen and Michelle Lowrey

Cooking Club: Great Ideas and Delicious Recipes for Fabulous Get-Togethers
by Dina Guillen and Michelle Lowrey

Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Sasquatch Books (May 5, 2009)
ISBN-10: 1570615608
Rating (1 to 5*): *****



Review

Cooking Club: Great Ideas & Delicious Recipes for Fabulous Get-Togethers is three books in one: it’s a how-to/idea book, a cookbook and a getting-to-know-some-great-people book! This book tells you everything you need to know about starting your own cooking club or spicing up your current one.

A cooking club, in a nutshell, is a club that gets together to enjoy good food and good company—food that is cooked either by the host or by the guests. Clubs generally meet periodically, such as once per month, trading off duties so everyone gets a chance to cook and host.

There are many different formats and themes for cooking clubs, and Cooking Club gives you plenty of examples of not only how the authors’ club, The Kitchen Table Cooking Club, works, but how other clubs work across the country. It is also packed full of advice for recruiting members, keeping people interested, and generally having a great time.

In addition to all of the useful information on how to start a cooking club and keep it going, Cooking Club gives 12 monthly theme ideas, each with eight interesting recipes for an evening of fun and delicious food—starting with a cocktail and ending with dessert. While some are fairly traditional, most have The Kitchen Table’s own twists that either make them special or just a little easier or faster to make than the original version.

Each recipe is accompanied by a short, but invariably charming, account of how the recipe found its way into The Kitchen Table’s list of favorites. In addition, each recipe’s introduction explains where to get unusual ingredients, gives warnings about long cooking or prep times and includes tips for success when preparing the dish for cooking club. As someone who is likely to plan to make a recipe without thoroughly reading it first (and then finding out too late that you’re supposed to marinate the meat for three days or something), I appreciated having this important information up front where I was less likely to miss it! Each recipe is cooking club tested and approved, and each is well written and easy to follow. The recipes looked so good that I want to try some of them at home, even if I never join a cooking club.

Each theme includes a list of tips for hosting the party, including ideas for decorating, ambiance and favors for the guests. Even if the reader chooses not to follow the book to the letter, there are so many ideas that it is easy to use them as a launching pad to come up with your own.

Throughout Cooking Club, the reader learns about some fun people, both in The Kitchen Table Cooking Club and in cooking clubs around the country. They are such charming people that you might want to start your own cooking club and invite them over! You also see how they have grown and changed through their adventures in the cooking club. I found it so inspiring that I’m already trying to figure out how I can fit a cooking club into my busy schedule!

Check back over the next few days—I’ll have an interview with the authors of Cooking Club, Dina Guillen and Michelle Lowrey. They will also be making a guest post about food writing!