Cookbook Club members cook up a storm at monthly West Pittston Library meet-up

“I was gonna hand-make the dough,” Matthew Gonzalez said, talking about the fettuccini Alfredo he brought to the West Pittston Library on Tuesday evening. “But I thought this (potluck supper) was next week. When I found out it was this week, I only had an hour to go.”

Even though Gonzalez, a Wyoming Area football player who loves to cook, had to resort to using store-bought pasta, fellow members of the library’s Cookbook Book Club assured him it was delicious.

So was the zucchini brought by Traci Dale of Old Forge, fresh from her garden and served with her homemade marinara sauce.

And the spicy cauliflower bites that appeared on the table, courtesy of Missy Fahey of Pittston.

And the smashed potatoes contributed by Michael-Ann Mahone, who just moved to West Pittston from South Carolina and said she attends library events to meet new people.

Mahone seems to have made a good choice, as 18 home cooks gathered around long tables at the library.

Here, they commiserated about some consequences of cooking. “My kitchen looked like a bomb went off,” Dale said.

They admired the “youngest Cookbook Book Club member,” 1-month-old Eliana, who accompanied her mom, Lisa Sweeney of Jenkins Township.

People who had remembered to bring parsley to garnish their serving dishes offered to share the herb with people who had forgotten to bring a garnish.

And the group talked in friendly fashion about dishes they had made and brought to share.

The way the Cookbook Book Club operates, each participant chooses a different recipe from the cookbook of the month, with the latest being “Dig In!” by Erin O’Brien. The author is not to be confused with former library staffer Kendra O’Brien, who organized the Cookbook Book Club at the library for the past several months.

Tuesday’s meeting marked a transition, because Kendra O’Brien has left the library staff for a full-time job as West Pittston Borough Manager, and Ava Smith is stepping into O’Brien’s former role as adult program coordinator at the library.

O’Brien, incidentally, brought a curry to the potluck, explaining she had toned down the spices for the group even though she would prefer more heat.

And Smith made Loaded Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, which were full of chocolate chips, toffee pieces and pretzel pieces. “I felt it was a little fussy,” she said of the recipe, noting that might mean she wouldn’t make the cookies again (although they were melt-in-your-mouth tasty).

Ava Smith had brought her two grandmothers to the Cookbook Book Club, with Marianne Smith of Exeter making lasagna and Mary Ann Faust of West Pittston making a chicken recipe that was so complicated, she said, “I’ll never make it again.”

Among the home cooks who were happier with the recipes they had tried, Diane Broda of Exeter said she likely would make the meatballs again, new technique and all.

“I’ve always used bread crumbs for meatballs, but she (the cookbook author) has you ripping up bread,” Broda said.

The cookbook for next month is called “SkinnyTaste, One & Done” by Gina Homolka. and features recipes ideal for a slow cooker, air fryer, sheet pan, skillet, Dutch oven or Instant Pot. The next meeting/potluck is set for 6 p.m. Sept. 1, at the West Pittston Library, 200 Exeter Ave., West Pittston. You can register and/or select a recipe to make in person at the library, over the phone at 570-654-9847, or online at the library’s website.

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