2025 is the year I officially entered my hostess era. After reading Ina Garten’s memoir last fall, I was inspired to start cooking for myself, hosting dinner parties, and inviting my friends over more often, and I’ve loved it. I’ve hosted a party every month so far this year! Keeping it real though: Dinner parties can get expensive. If you’ve been wanting to host your friends but have been held back by budget, there’s a cute solution that gets everyone on your guest list involved, and it’s called cookbook club.
With the release of The Wishbone Kitchen Cookbook earlier this year (Meredith, I love your work), I knew I had to give cookbook club a go. The whole cookbook just screams summer dinner party, and it’s full of recipes I’ve been dying to try. I gathered a few friends, and cookbook club was born! Curious to know more? Read on for all the cookbook club deets and how to start your own!
How does cookbook club work?
Essentially a themed potluck, cookbook club is a dinner party featuring recipes from a specific cookbook, which is chosen ahead of time. Each guest brings a dish from the cookbook, taking pressure off the host to cook for everyone. It’s a fun way for everyone to try out new cooking techniques and enjoy some delicious food. Plus, it ends up being way more economical since the costs are spread out among all the guests.
If you’d like to host your own cookbook club, first decide who you’d like to invite. You get to decide the vibe, whether you want to have a big group gathering or an intimate dinner with just a few others. The key question is: Who do you think would be game to bring a dish to share? Once you decide on your guest list, pick a date, then pick a cookbook. I’ve seen cookbook clubs handle this in a few different ways. You can decide as a group which cookbook you’d like to try, or the host can decide for the group. If you want to make cookbook club a repeat thing, rotate through different cookbooks and switch up who hosts the gathering each time.
My experience with cookbook club
I love keeping my gatherings cozy and intimate, so my cookbook club consisted of myself and two girlfriends. I brought up the idea of using The Wishbone Kitchen Cookbook, and after they each took a peek, they both agreed. For the menu, the three of us decided to do a pasta night. The Wishbone Kitchen Cookbook has dinner party menus at the back, which made deciding on the vibe a little easier. Since our group was small, divvying up recipes and planning a menu was pretty simple. We all decided together! For a larger party, I would probably decide on the menu beforehand and put all the recipe options in a Google Doc for people to sign up for, first-come, first-served. Either way works, whether the host picks recipes to assign or each guest volunteers a dish to make.
Since one of my friends had recently moved, we gathered at her home and made cookbook club into a mini housewarming party. I made pink lemon pasta and boozy blueberry lemonade, while my friends supplied the ricotta with hot honey and fried garlic, Italian chopped salad with buffalo mozzarella, and olive oil cake with peaches and cream.
What worked:
All in all, cookbook club was a total hit. I loved the challenge of preparing my own dishes and had fun sampling everyone else’s. Since everyone contributed to the menu, it made the evening even more special. It was also a great opportunity to try dishes we normally wouldn’t make on our own. We definitely wouldn’t have had an excuse to smear ricotta in a bowl to scoop up with bread if it hadn’t been for our dinner party, and even I would have hesitated making a big batch of pasta for just my husband and me.
Everything was completely delicious, but the starter stole the show. If you have The Wishbone Kitchen Cookbook and haven’t made the ricotta with hot honey and fried garlic, do so immediately! It got a 10/10 from all of us. The olive oil cake lived up to the hype as well, and after eating leftovers the day after, I’d argue the cake was even better on day two. Just a sign that if you want to save time by baking your cake the day before, go for it! You can assemble it with peaches and cream right before serving.
What I’d do differently:
My one regret? Not putting more thought into how well each dish traveled. I offered to bring the main dish, and let me tell you: The pink lemon pasta straight out of the pan was heavenly. I even texted my friends ahead of time to say how excited I was to share it! But pasta, as it turns out, doesn’t travel well. It dried up en route, and although we tried to bring it back to life once I arrived at my friend’s house, it wasn’t as creamy as it was right out of the pan. If I had thought ahead, I would have offered to make something that’s easier to transport (like a salad or an appetizer), and I now know that the host should handle the main dishes. Alternatively, I could have brought some of the pasta water with me—it’s magic for making your pasta creamy again.
Should you try a cookbook club?
With one cookbook club under my belt, I’m so excited to keep going. Hosting this year has been such a joy, and getting guests more involved and sharing good food together was so fun. I’m grateful for the opportunity to try something new and make some fun recipes I normally wouldn’t have tried! I highly recommend you try it—I’m planning on hosting an Ina Garten cookbook club next!
Cookbook recommendations for cookbook club:
Kristen Garaffo, Contributing Home & Living Writer
Kristen Garaffo is a Washington DC-area-based freelance writer. She specializes in home and lifestyle content and loves helping others live their best lives at home and beyond.
