Note: DCCC is not currently taking new members or functioning as a cookbook club. In the hope that the guidelines I developed for DCCC might be of use to anyone thinking of starting up their own club, I have left the following in place as a resource.

Members are free to make whatever they want from each cookbook, but each member should bring a different dish to the potluck to avoid duplication.

When you find the dish you’d like to bring, please let the other members in your club know—it’s on a first come first serve basis. If you’ve decided on a dish to bring, and then try another recipe from the cookbook that you like even better, you can always change your mind and switch to the new dish—just so no one else has already claimed it. Simply let everyone in your club know of the change.

Recipe Selection Tips

• Avoid recipes for the potluck meeting that do not travel well, like a soufflé.
• Try to pick recipes that require minimal last minute preparations before being served. (Imagine eight club members trying to chop, fry, or roast all in the same home kitchen.)
• If a cookbook is not a single subject book, like one on soups or stews, but is arranged in courses and/or major food categories, like “salads, “soups,” “chicken,” “meat,” or “vegetables,” try to bring a dish that complements what other members are bringing so that there is a nice spread of types of recipes at the potluck, from salad to dessert.