How It Works

How it works
Every month we will meet twice. The first meeting of the month is the recipe meeting. This will be a meeting on the 2nd Wednesday evening of the month, in which a hostess chooses the cookbook and brings it to the meeting. She will hostess both the recipe meeting and the subsequent eating meeting which will happen on the last Saturday of the same month.

Recipe meeting: the hostess can have this meeting at her home or at the party room – talk to Tracy to arrange the party room. The hostess will serve beverages and each participant will bring an appetizer of their choice. The hostess will bring the cookbook of her choice and will pass it around for everyone to choose their respective recipes.

Side dishes, beverage and dessert assignments will always be random: names pulled out of a bowl at the start of the recipe meeting. If you get something you don't like, you may trade with another group member. Hopefully there is a copier/printer in the home where we meet. If not, bring a pad of paper and pencil!

Eating meeting: this meeting will take place in the party room or home of the hostess on a weekend evening – Saturday – and will begin at 4pm. The hostess can choose the location but if using the party room she must make arrangements with Tracy 1 month in advance so she can secure the room. The hostess will direct the evening and she will bring and serve the main dish. NOTE: you can make your dish ahead of time or you can cook it at the meeting – your choice!

Hostess assignments will be alphabetical so everyone gets a chance to choose the cookbook and be the hostess with the mostess. If you can’t muster “mostess” just hostess is fine too. We love you regardless.

Yes, the hostess has a bigger job but when it’s over you get to bask in all the glory of the evening – Bri VanDeCamp would be so proud!

Responsibilities
Hostess
· Chooses cookbook and hostesses recipe meeting
· Provides beverages for recipe meeting
· Cooks Main Dish for eating meeting – bring proper utensils
Side Dish
· Cooks Side Dish for eating meeting – bring proper utensils
Dessert
· Cooks Dessert for eating meeting – bring proper utensils
Beverage
· Brings beverage and glasses and ice for eating meeting
· Provides silverware and dishes for eating meeting

Do you have commitment issues?
We'd like full commitment in our little group. This means attending both meetings in the month. If you can't commit to cooking every month - please reconsider your involvement. We're serious foodies here and feel that commitment will make our little group successful. No group like this is very fun when members only attend once in a while.

I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out!
Keep serving sizes to the size of the group - I'd hate to break up the fist fight between the two ladies fighting over the last three bites of something, let's be sensible. You should also plan to bring the proper serving utensils for your dish/drink.

Mint Juleps a Go-Go!
Each meal will be accompanied by a beverage. Either alcoholic or other, doesn't matter. This will be a fun time to research and learn new beverages too! Think about learning more about wine pairings, sodas or juices. Remember, water is a beverage as well. Cooks don’t let other cooks drive drunk – let’s be responsible ladies. Ok?

I’m allergic to fried Yak, what do I do?
We all agree to do what we can to accommodate you but you will ultimately be responsible for your own well-being. Maybe take the anti-yak meds before coming?

Cookbook Snobs we are NOT!
Any and all cookbooks are fare game for Girls + Kitchen. And, don’t forget the library has some great cookbooks too!! Bring it!

No Dough?
There is no budget for your dish - but we ask that you work within your means so you can participate each time. Wanna go over the top one time but not the next? Be our guest! You can regulate this for yourself by choosing recipes that will be best for you.

Cleanliness is next to Godliness don’t ‘cha know!
All members agree to clean up after themselves and take home any dishes or serving utensils they bring. There is a dishwasher in the party room for your use. Remember – you will need to stay until the cycle is complete.

Don’t be a big cheater!
Stick to the recipe you chose. Don’t change your mind and don’t buy it at Byerly’s. This is a cooking group. Don’t like the way it turned out? That’s part of the gig. Someone else might love it!

Save the science projects for your family!
Again, stick to the recipe. If it calls for mint, don’t substitute sage – because, well, Ick!

Maybe… Maybe Not…
There will be a blog on the WWW. In fact, we already have space at girlspluskitchen.blogspot.com. At our events we’ll be taking a few photos here and there. Your mug may or may not show up on the blog. Face it, you can run but you can’t hide. Let’s cook with pride and show off our food! The world will want to know all about our little group and will more than likely want to join… well, maybe just our mom’s will read it but who cares! Blogs are fun and nifty!