It’s not always easy cooking potatoes.
Boiled, baked, scalloped, or fried, it takes some effort. Especially when they’re mixed with beets.
Capilano librarian Carys Brown learned that the hard way recently after experiencing a major recipe fail when she attempted a Martha Stewart one-pot recipe that called for a combination of potatoes and beets.
“The potatoes just totally fell apart before the beets were done cooking,” she recalls with a laugh.
She blames the disappointing result on using the wrong type of potato. When she was shopping for ingredients, the store didn’t have the kind of potato the recipe called for so she substituted a different variety. She thought it wouldn’t make a difference. Apparently it did.
“They can react really differently in a recipe,” she notes of different potato varieties.
This month, Brown dared to venture back into the kitchen to create some holiday treats. With no potatoes in sight, she successfully tried two seasonal desserts: dried apricots dipped in white chocolate and covered with crushed pistachios, and a blended Oreo cookie and cream cheese ball with a candy coating.
“They were very, very tasty,” she reports. “They are just decedent, so delicious.”
Brown was inspired to try the Christmas confections as part of a cooking club at the Capilano branch library. The free club, which currently has a dedicated group of 12 regulars, meets once a month to peruse a cookbook from the library’s collection.
It was started in October and is open to anyone on a drop-in basis, no membership or registration required. Each month, Brown chooses a cookbook from the library’s collection and leaves it behind the information desk. Participants peruse the book and choose one or two recipes to try, which are photocopied for them to take home. They then present their cooking experience at the next group meeting.
For December, the cooking club is trying recipes from 4 Ingredients Christmas by Kim McCosker. The book contains seasonal recipes for appetizers, mains, desserts, and drinks, all made with four ingredients or less.
Brown picked this book for the December meeting of the group because it suits the busy holiday season.
“I was kind of interested to see what people could actually do with four ingredients,” she adds.
The Capilano cooking club is not just for good cooks. Brown chooses books that have a variety of recipes so participants can find a dish that meets their skill level or try something completely different than what they’re used to. Similar to a book club that may inspire someone to read a book they wouldn’t have otherwise chosen, Brown says the cooking club encourages particpants to try something new in the kitchen.
“It kind of pushes you outside of your comfort zone, that same recipe you go to again and again because you’re hungry,” she says.
Also similar to a book club, the group starts each meeting with a general discussion of the book itself, focusing on details including presentation, format, photos, and readability.
Then each participant reports on their experience with the recipes they chose to make. Among other things, they talk about how difficult or easy it was and how it turned out.
Sometimes they bring a sample of the finished product or a photo of what they created.
It’s a time to share tips, laugh about fallen soufflés or undercooked potatoes, and tell kitchen tales. Brown says it is a fun and friendly time, but there are other benefits too.
“We just kind of educate each other on what we discover,” she explains. “Everybody can learn something new.”
This month the cooking club at Capilano library meets Wednesday of next week due to the holiday season, but usually meetings are held on the fourth Wednesday of each month in the afternoon.
Anyone is welcome to join in or drop by to check it out. Information is available on the library website, or by calling or dropping by in person.
