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Moms' cooking club

Better Homes and Gardens[R] will show you how to start your own Moms' Cooking Club and create delicious readymade meals to tote home and tuck into the refrigerator or freezer. We know morns are taking advantage of cooking get-togethers, and we've worked out a system that delivers fun-filled hours of chatting, chopping, simmering, and sharing. Our plan gives you simple-to-prepare, family-tested recipes that you'll make again and again. We'll show you how to get started, tell you what tools you'll need, and even provide the grocery list.

Starting out ...

Cooking groups form for lots of reasons. Many are made up of busy moms looking to jazz up the routine of feeding the family and create dinners more efficiently.

In Iowa, a group of moms with young children started cooking together to lower their stress level at mealtime. "We were just swapping recipes one day, talking typical mom's talk about the chore of making dinner every night," says Michelle Millman, an Iowa mother of three. "A cooking group was a logical way to try new things and not have to slave away in the kitchen every night of the week."

In San Francisco, Ellie Rossiter brought her group together to experiment with cooking and explore new recipes. "We are good friends and have done lots of things together, but never cooking," she says.

Evenings full of kids' classes, rehearsals, and meetings were the catalyst for the moms of Amherst, New Hampshire, to get together. It began as neighbors driving each others' kids to choir. "Then we started delivering meals to our friends when they needed help. Then we started cooking together, and now we do it often," says Aimee Chester, mother of two girls.

Neighbors, people with children the same age, and those who share your taste in food are all great candidates for membership in a cooking club.

Our Better Homes and Gardens[R] Moms' Cooking Club strategy allows cooks to share ingredients and enjoy cooking together. The recipes are grouped in threes; each trio is built on similar ingredients and uses different appliances. Three are based on chicken, three on ground beef, and three are meatless. Our recipe suggestions are only a starting point, however. Prepare one of the recipes from the trio, all three, or adopt the ideas and strategies for other recipes your group has chosen.

We suggest setting a standing date for your group to meet, then e-mail or deliver copies of each recipe to all members and figure out what equipment to bring. You'll need at least two or three of several basic cooking tools on hand, including vegetable peelers, kitchen knives, cutting boards, and measuring spoons. Extra Dutch ovens and 12-inch frying pans are helpful too, as are pot holders and trivets. Also have plenty of plastic wrap and plastic bags for storing chopped vegetables and other ingredients before they're cooked.

Cooking together ...

It's best to shop the day before the actual cooking day. One strategy is for each club member to buy her own groceries, with the host of the day providing milk, eggs, and spices. Other groups may prefer to have one person shop and then to reimburse the shopper. When one person shops for all, she should multiply the amount of the ingredients in each recipe by the number of people in the group, as each of our recipes accommodates one family.

To limit distractions and to keep from crowding, children and spouses should have somewhere else to go while the cooking is going on. "When I see kids and husbands head out the door, I think my time has arrived," says Michelle Millman of Des Moines.

You'll make the most of your time when everyone pitches in and does most of the chopping, cutting, and measuring first. That way, the cooking doesn't have to stop while someone chops the onions. Keep in mind that, when cooking multiple recipes, it's more efficient to finish one dish before starting the next. Also consider dividing up the frying, boiling, baking, and other tasks based on who likes to do which jobs.

How To Start A Moms' Cooking Club

If you're tired of eating the same old meals and ready to sink your teeth into something new, start a cooking club--a group that meets regularly to try out new recipes and become better chefs. Recruit your members (five to eight people ensures a good time without too many cooks in the kitchen), then decide on a regular meeting time and a structure. For example, whoever hosts selects a menu and theme (lowfat, Spanish, fruit) and buys the ingredients; members arrive and cook the entire meal together. Some groups operate more like a potluck and bring items they've prepared at home. "Old El Paso tacos were my idea of gourmet food when we started two years ago," says 34-year-old Kristina Sweet of Newton, Mass., "but last year I cooked an Ethiopian meal." However you slice it, make sure you don't leave out the key ingredient: fun!

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