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#CookClub celebrates first anniversary

 
@laurareiley
@laurareiley
Published Sept. 15, 2014

Wow, has it been a year?

#CookClub, our online community cooking project, celebrates its first birthday this month, and I have to say this toddler is quite advanced. Walking? Running is more like it. This year, #CookClub won awards for digital innovation from the Association of Food Journalists and the Florida Society of News Editors.

But I really gauge its success by the growing number of participants, some from as far away as Canada, Australia and England. Yes, #CookClub is global but it's uber local, too. Readers of the Tampa Bay Times and tampabay.com have joined the group, participating in a number of ways. If you haven't taken the plunge, consider this your formal invitation to join our exceedingly informal and fun group of home cooks. (See more instructions accompanying this story.)

The concept is simple. Operating under the same premise as a book club, we make one recipe and share our thoughts about it on social media. That includes photos on Instagram and Pinterest, plus in our weekly Twitter chat.

And, also like a book club in which not everyone reads the book, not everyone makes the recipe. Some just like to come to the weekly chat to join in as we dish about everything from grocery store pet peeves to cooking lessons learned from Dad. (Our top two topics seem to be mayonnaise and how to season cast iron skillets.)

A recent #CookClub chat about football food turned into the Great Mayonnaise Debate — again. The main question: Which is better, Duke's or Hellmann's? That's not the first time we've gone there, and usually food blogger Jackie Garvin (@syrupnbiscuits) of Valrico is at the center of that discussion. She's a Duke's lover all the way.

That's the beauty of #CookClub. There aren't many rules, and there are no dues. Also, you can join in from home wearing your PJs.

My goal with #CookClub was to gather cooks to talk about cooking. What I didn't know is that I would foster long-distance relationships, too. For a year, many of the same people have been attending the weekly online chat. Brenda Leering (@londongirl52) of London, Ontario, Marjorie Stout (@blistzstout) of Pinellas Park and Tania Currier of New Port Richey are among the original chatters. They are so passionate that they, among others, often let me know when they won't be able to make it. I love that.

"It's not just great food chatting, but great friendships are cookin'," Stout tweeted recently. She says her kids know not to bother her on Thursdays between 7 and 8 p.m.

We've shared news about vacations, family trouble, kitchen rehabs and more of life's milestones (and millstones!). Amy Kim (@kimchimom) joins us from New Jersey; Janet Cassidy (@janetcassidy) is from Ohio and Sheila Myjo (@sheilamyjo) tweets from Los Angeles, where she's an actor and a food blogger.

Some #CookClub participants, like Joy Harris of St. Petersburg (@joyharriscooks), come to the chat occasionally but faithfully prepare the recipes and post photos on Instagram. I can count on Harris for clever experimentation. Kathy Capabianco (@mabook) of Palm Harbor is another regular recipe tester who likes to switch things up a lot. She often joins the chat, too.

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I've been a food writer for 14 years, and the experiences of #CookClub cement what I've long thought about recipes. They are just guidelines and can be tailored to suit individual tastes. #CookClub recipe No. 13, Olive Oil Granola, proved that. The recipe is sweetened by maple syrup and brown sugar, but plenty of cooks added peanut butter, too. As for the crunchy additions? Banana chips and sunflower seeds were used instead of pumpkin seeds and pistachios. Some #CookClub fiddlers don't like — make that hate — coconut, so they used dried fruit instead.

That's just one of the recipes that got the #CookClub treatment.

For all our strides this year — a Pinterest board, chats on Storify and how-to videos at tampabay.com/cooking — we've still got room to grow.

On our off weeks, we feature recipes from food bloggers online, and we hope to have more food experts and cookbook authors as guests on the weekly chat. We will also be focusing our efforts on the holidays with some special programs.

But what we really need is you. The more the merrier in this club!

Contact Janet K. Keeler at jkeeler@tampabay.com. Follow @RoadEats.