Supper Club guidelines

[PattyLou]

A couple of friends want to start a Supper Club and want to know how to come up with guidelines so that everyone knows what is expected of them. Thank you.

[golden1225]

Hi Pattylou!
Our club started almost two years ago. We didn't have any "strict" guidelines at the time; just that we would meet each month, pick a theme ahead of time and post our menu via email so we'd all know what to bring. We tried being formal and requesting the name and date of the publication their recipe came from, as well as a formal rating session after the meal where the host recorded the details and then posted the reviews here. That wasn't a big success. Trying to pick a date by sending out emails a few weeks ahead also was a flop. So now, we meet the second Saturday of the month. We volunteer/choose our months ahead of time, and the host gets to choose the theme. Someone (usually me) is the photojournalist and records our event with digital photos and distributes them after the evening.

While we try to cook light, we don't always stick to that rule. This time we also played a game of Cranium after supper. It's great fun!

Good luck, and just have a good time!

[PattyLou]

Thank you, Lynne. Friends are setting this up, but I may not join (distance issues). They appreciate your advice, and you brought up some things that they hadn't thought of.

[luv2cook64]

Hi Ladies,

I am starting a club and appreciate your input. My question is how you split the expense within your club?

[golden1225]

We don't split expenses; we each just pay for whatever we make.

[Sarah428]

Our group meets every other month and the host mails out the theme via e-mail. At that meeting someone volunteers to host the next one in 2 months. We also don't split expenses but the host supplies the drinks for the evening. We've been pretty informal as well, but lots of great food and I really enjoy the group!

Good luck!

[KirstenL]

We have a CL supper club which started up about 2 years ago (through the CL BB) in the Ottawa region, just at the border of the provinces of Quebec and Ontario. Our club is bilingual, with French- and English-speakers welcome. We like to limit the size to no more than eight members, to keep it manageable. When we meet, it's just us members; our spouses, families, and SO's are on their own for supper. This is our brand of girls' night out.

When we first started out, I posted a notice on the CL BB, and two other women responded. We held our first meeting at a Starbuck's coffee house one morning, to get to know each other and to talk about what we wanted out of the club. We set up some general rules and guidelines, and decided on the format. Over time we've made a few adjustments, such as figuring out how to deal with someone who joined us later and was a bit flaky, but overall the original decisions we made have served us well.

We try to have meetings about once a month, usually on a Sunday evening. Each month, a different member is responsible for hosting the event. This means she plans the menu (using Cooking Light recipes) and sends it out two weeks ahead of time. (If the hostess wants help with the menu, she can ask for suggestions, or choose a menu from the CL BB.) The hostess buys the groceries, and maybe a bottle or two of moderately priced wine. Then we all meet at her place at the designated time and cook a fabulous meal together--and then we eat it, of course! We don't bother splitting the costs up for each meal. Since each person takes a turn hosting (and buying everything), then we assume it all equals out in the end, more or less.

Sometimes not all the members can make it, but there is the potential to have as many as eight people together at once, so it really helps to have a place to hold that many people.

At each meeting, we try to pick the date for the next one. If that doesn't work, we sort it out through e-mails. The hostess sends out a reminder to confirm the time and provide directions to her place about a week in advance.

This is what works for us, but I think each group is different. It really helps to discuss things at the beginning, and then to continue to do "status checks" every once in a while. We have a great group of people, and we all have a wonderful time when we get together. This has been a great opportunity for many of us to come together and share our love of cooking, and I recommend it to anyone else who loves to cook.

Good luck, and bon appetit!
Kirsten

[Cookin'Mom]

We just started our cooking club. We had our 1st meeting which went well. We have our 2nd get-together planned for a local wine bar for a wine tasting and appetizers in the beginning of November.

To make it easier to stay in touch I started a Yahoo Group for our cooking club.

On the calendar we post days we are not available. It worked out great when I planned the wine tasting. I just planned it on a blank day.

We post contact information, birthdays, favorite recipe links, and keep in touch with each other using the message board. We have ours set up to be private and only accessible by us. (For safety)

After we actually begin cooking we will add our recipes to the file section for distribution. There is even a section for pictures to be downloaded and a section for a group chat.

Yahoo groups are very easy to set up. Go to … http://groups.yahoo.com/start and start clicking away.

-Sue
Cookin’Mom
Chandler, AZ