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A spirit that is not afraid

Who said college students can't cook? The Cooking and Baking Club begs to differ

<p>Nutella cookies are a type of cookie people can make for the holidays.&nbsp;</p>

Nutella cookies are a type of cookie people can make for the holidays. 

College students can sometimes get a reputation of always resorting to the cheapest, quickest meal whether it’s Chick-fil-A three times a day or the closest fast-food spot. The Cooking and Baking Club offers a solution to the monotonous cycle of college students’ food choices. 

Molly Swanson became president as a rising sophomore after her first year in the club. Though she has since graduated, she participated in the cooking and baking club for four years. 

“Each person has different hobbies and skill sets, and I think people get really excited when they find other people with similar interests,” Swanson said. “CBC is important because, like every organization at Auburn, it’s a venue for people to be creative, work toward something they enjoy, and share that experience with others.”

The monthly meetings have different themes for each gathering, Swanson said. Each member prepares a dish ahead of time so the meeting feels more like a potluck. 

“Everyone shows up, talks about how they made their dish, where they got their recipe, then we eat and hangout,” Swanson said. “Something else that we started doing was voting on everyone’s favorite recipe. Then, the winning recipe became CBC’s recipe of the month.” 

Some of the themes include food like breakfast, farmer’s market, healthy recipes or holiday-related food. 

Swanson always found setting up for the meetings - cooking or baking - a fun part of her busy schedule. 

“My favorite opportunity from CBC actually came in the form of new friendships,” Swanson said. “I got to meet international students, and those friendships actually carried on past just CBC meetings.”

When Swanson first took over as president during her sophomore year, she said she remembers being excited for the meeting and for everyone to enjoy themselves. 

“I remember my friends being so sweet and coming down from the hall to join the meeting,” Swanson said. “It was also exciting because there were a ton of new faces, which I didn’t expect. It ended up being this awesome melting pot of all different kinds of students who all loved to cook and eat.” 

Swanson said that a friend of hers, who is from China, came to a meeting once and taught all the members how to make authentic Chinese dumplings. The Cooking and Baking Club is not just a place for food, though, but it also allows students to socialize and familiarize themselves with other cultures.


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