Binding Agents Presents: August Cookbook Club ft. COOKING THE BORDERLANDS

Join us for August Cookbook Club, when we'll be exploring Cooking the Borderlands: Spice and Smoke Between Mexico and the States. A child of the border, author and Top Chef contestant Claudette Zepeda grew up in both California and Mexico and sees the region as a vibrant, vital, and unique cultural and culinary place.

This month's event will be held at the Philadelphia Ethical Society on Rittenhouse Square. We are so grateful for their generous partnership and access to their beautiful space, and look forward to learning more about their work!

We're also pleased to welcome The Neighbors Trust to share about their work pooling community funds to provide direct cash support to immigrant neighbors with urgent needs. They'll talk about their direct cash support model, why it works, and how we can help.

Cookbook Club is an potluck event where everyone contributes a dish from the selected book. Here's how it works:

1. You purchase your ticket(s) from this page, with or without a copy of the book.* (We highly encourage book sharing and use of libraries! You can also buy from [Bookshop.org](http://bookshop.org/), which supports the shop and ships to your door.)
   *To include a book for shop pickup with your purchase, select the discounted "Ticket + Book" option. You can then add the book to your cart after clicking "Checkout." Books will be available for pickup at Binding Agents right away.
2. One week before the event, we'll send out a Google Doc with a set number of slots per category by which the book is organized. Each person will claim a slot with the recipe of their choice. This ensures a good spread and a cross-section of all the book has to offer.
3. On event day, you'll bring your dish to the venue, prepared to feast. We'll talk about our experience cooking and eating from the book, and leave with lots of great tips and new friends.
   Space is limited! If the event sells out, please add yourself to the waitlist. You'll be the first to know if spots become available. To receive updates about future Cookbook Clubs (hosted monthly)—make sure you're on our mailing list.
   About Cooking the Borderlands
   The Mexican American border has been an inflamed political focal point within the US; at the same time, Mexican food has long been the most popular “ethnic” cuisine in America. A child of the border herself, Claudette Zepeda grew up in both California and Mexico and sees the border as a vibrant, vital, and unique cultural and culinary place. A gifted storyteller and chef, Claudette’s recipes and ruminations humanize border culture through 100 accessible and beloved dishes such as:
   • Coahuila’s Esquites (Street Corn)
   • Las Calandrias Caballitos (Chicken Sopes)
   • Arroz Poblano (Poblano Pepper Creamy Rice)
   • Camarones al Ajillo (Baja Style Garlic Shrimp)
   • Capirotada (Bread Pudding)

This is a story of a personal and culinary identity that formed betwixt two cultures, told through recipes, anecdotes, and an irreverent sense of humor. Borderlands details the Mexican dishes Claudette grew up eating and loves, their American counterparts, and how the fluidity and flexibility between the two nations shows us a way of being in the world. With her sophisticated, first-hand perspective of the Mexican American border, immigration, and the feet-in-many-worlds attitude of Border Kid culture, Claudette shines a human light on the imaginary line stretching from California through Texas and shows how vital this place is in American culture.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Claudette Zepeda is an award-winning, San Diego-based celebrity chef and culinary entrepreneur known for her fearless style and bold approach to regional Mexican cuisine. Zepeda’s multi-faceted expertise is showcased in her role overseeing the creative vision as Founder of Chispa Hospitality with projects in San Diego, Nashville, Australia and México. Her latest project, Novecientos Grados, a Mexican food restaurant in partnership with Tony Hawk located in the San Diego airport, celebrates both the border and skater culture through delicious food.
ABOUT THE NEIGHBORS TRUST
The Neighbors Trust was founded to fill gaps where systems fail with a vision to grow a genuine community that supports financial dignity and stability for all our neighbors. We bring neighbors together to provide much-needed financial support to pregnant immigrant women, no strings attached. Our support comes at a critical moment - during and after pregnancy - when a relatively small cash infusion can have outsized impact, stabilizing lives and reducing stressors for particularly vulnerable pregnant women and for their new babies.