Friends, food & fun - The Best Recipe

Shape, Sept, 2003

Meet and Eat

Even if you're not a great cook, you might consider starting a cooking club with some of your friends. It's been such a positive experience for the six women behind The Cooking Club Cookbook that they've been meeting and eating once a month for six years now. In fact, one of the dub's members, Sharon Cohen Fredman, firmly believes that the way to her husband's heart is to leave him sitting alone and hungry on the first Sunday of each month, the set-in-stone date for her Cooking Club meeting.

The Dish

Each member prepares one dish for the group dinner and takes it to the host's home. "When we first received a box of Press'n Seal, we didn't believe all the uses it has in the kitchen. So, we each put it to the test," said Katherine Fausset, member of The Cooking Club and co-author of the soon-to-be released The Cooking Club Party Cookbook. "I sealed a big bowl of tortilla soup and carried it on the subway to our Mexican Fiesta. It really worked! I didn't spill a single drop!"

Balancing Act

For Cynthia, Becky, Sharon, Katherine, Lisa and Lucia, there was never a problem of too many cooks in the kitchen. They've been good sports about sampling new dishes and good listeners for one another's problems. They say balancing their menus and personalities has been like perfecting a great but tricky recipe with results more satisfying than they ever could have imagined.

WHAT'S NEW

A Wrap That Really Works

Glad Press'n Seal is the world's first plastic wrap that actually seals. Press it around the edge or lip of a container, and it forms a spill-proof seal. It can be used on plastic, wood, paper and even a Styrofoam cup. The suggested retail price is $2.99 for a 75 square-foot roll. Press 'n Seal is available at Target.

STARTING YOUR OWN COOKING CLUB

Ingredients

* Six or so members

* One day a month for meeting

* Glad Press 'n Seal for carting dishes

* Sense of humor, plus extra for garnish

* The Cooking Club Cookbook and new this fall The Cooking Club Party Cookbook (available October 21, 2003)