STILLWATER OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE / 15
Stillwater Public Library ’ s Cookbook Club shares the love of food and reading
There ’ s a hum of excitement in the air as the smell of homemade food fills the room .
Crockpots full of soup line one end of the table against the wall . On the other end , three or four chocolate cakes and chocolate sandwich cookies sit in neat rows .
The members of this small club greet each other with smiles and queue up to fill their plates and bowls . It ’ s 6 p . m . on a Tuesday night , and delicious homemade food is on the menu for the Stillwater Public Library ’ s Cookbook Club .
The Cookbook Club isn ’ t large – only about 20 members are on the roster and typically , only 12-15 come regularly . Any larger , and it becomes too difficult to make enough servings for the group and also diminishes the “ conversational club ” aspect , Adult Services Supervisor Emily States said . If others want to join , most likely there would be a waiting list .
In this almost exclusive club , members decide as a group what they want to do and take turns picking out specific meals . They eat , talk about the recipe – what worked and what didn ’ t work – and share tips about restaurants or the new recipes they tried .
“( It ) starts with the recipes ,” States said . “ It ’ s like having really good Thanksgiving food , but once a month . It definitely inspires me to make things I wouldn ’ t necessarily try on my own .”
States and coworker Adult Services Librarian Lisa O ’ Donnell take turns hosting the club every month . States said other libraries also have cookbook clubs , which are a “ different spin on doing a book club .”
“ There ’ s a nice intimacy that comes with sharing food with someone ,” States said .
Sometimes it ’ s hard to find 10 copies of a cookbook , so the members choose a specific cookbook author they like or a specific country or cuisine . So far , they ’ ve tried Greek , Korean , African , Chinese , Afghani and Jewish food .
And sometimes , they hold cooking demos or cook together using the kitchen at the Prairie Arts Center .
Occasionally , they have guests visit for workshops , such as Big Creek Bakery who led a baking workshop . Members brought their own ingredients , and learned how to make challah or babka bread – mixing and prepping it , then taking it home to bake .
One member ’ s daughter-in-law is a cheese expert and hosted a cheese pairing for the club . At their next meeting , the club made cheese recipes . At another meeting , O ’ Donnell made pizza dough and everyone brought toppings . States made homemade ice cream , one member brought a salad and the whole club made the pizzas at Prairie Arts .
Last year , the Cookbook Club also partnered with Oklahoma State University Professor Sarah Foss , whose focus is teaching Latin America , race and ethnicity and Indigenous history . Foss chose the memoir “ Solito ” by Javier Zamora , where the author writes about his life as a child coming to America from El Salva-
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There ’ s a nice intimacy that comes with sharing food with someone ," States said .
Chocolate sandwich cookies sit in neat rows on a pan . PHOTO by Jessica Marshall
STILLWATER OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE / 15