BAKE! Cookbook Club

We're so excited to launch our BAKE! Cookbook Club, and we hope you'll join us. We ran a club back in the winter of 2019, and we had a second season all planned for 2020 — then, well, you know what happened. We're finally ready to try again, and this version has a few changes we think you'll love.

We’ll be meeting for 5 sessions, all on Wednesday nights from 6:00pm to 8:00pm. The dates of the sessions are January 6, January 20, February 24, March 17, April 14. This is a series with the intention of members attending all of the sessions.

We're Cookbook Lovers. Are You?

If you've ever read a cookbook cover to cover, argued with a friend about whether a headnote was actually helpful, or judged a book by its font, this club is for you. 

Five times this winter and spring, we'll gather in person (we’re going to be a small group of fewer than 20) for a two-hour deep dive into one exceptional cookbook. Your hosts, Sue Chagas and Amy Emberling, will lead a lively discussion built around questions like: Who is the author and why did they choose to write this particular book? What does this book add to our understanding of food and baking? What style of recipe writing did they choose and what do we like about it? What do the head notes bring to the recipes? What do we think about the photos? And does it make us want to run to the kitchen? After we all talk we’ll meet the authors over Zoom and have a chance to hear their perspective on the book.

For the Cookbook Club’s first session on January 6th, we'll eat a meal prepared by the BAKE! Staff, distribute the books you purchased, introduce ourselves to each other, and get ready for the next session. Amy and Sue will kick off our discussion of books by interviewing Zingerman’s Founder Ari Weinzweig about his recent pamphlet,  A Taste of Zingerman’s Food Philosophy: Forty Years of Mindful Cooking and Eating (Zingerman’s Press, 2023). Then we’ll discuss, ask questions, and offer comments.

How a Club Evening Works

First of all, we’ll hold each club evening on a Wednesday night from 6:00pm to 8:00pm in the warm and comfy atmosphere of Zingerman’s Coffee Company, just two doors down from BAKE! 

Each evening we’ll have a relaxing start with food and drink – the BAKE! team will cook and bake at least three recipes from that month's book, accompanied by wine, water, and coffee. We’ll be taking input from all of you on which recipes to make for each session during the previous one. Take a plate, get comfortable, chat with fellow cookbook members, and enjoy the food for the first half hour.

Then we talk. Sue and Amy will provide prompts and questions to get us going and will facilitate the conversation. Next we’ll generate questions to ask the author who we’ll engage with over Zoom. After that, it's free time to mingle, keep talking, and get to know your fellow cookbook lovers — because this is one group meeting together all season, and part of the fun is watching the conversation about cookbooks build from month to month.

Before the club evening ends, we'll discuss what to cook from the next month's book!

This Season's Books*

We chose this season's books because they each bring something different to the table — a philosophy, teaching-oriented, cuisine-specific, all about baking, and grains! All of them are books we think are exceptional, and expand how we think about food. We look forward to a lively discussion of whether or not you agree.

• A Taste of Zingerman’s Food Philosophy: Forty Years of Mindful Cooking and Eating by Ari Weinzweg (2023).

• Grains for Every Season: Rethinking Our Way with Grains by Joshua McFadden (2021)

• The Dessert Table: 100 Joyful Jewish Sweets by Leah Koenig  (2026)

• Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza by Ken Forkish (2012) 

• Sift: The Elements of Great Baking by Nicola Lamb (2024)

Join us!

*Books sold separately.