Showing posts with label party planning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label party planning. Show all posts

Fine Cooking Appetizers: 200 Recipes for Small Bites with Big Flavor Review

Fine Cooking Appetizers: 200 Recipes for Small Bites with Big Flavor
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Fine Cooking Appetizers / 978-1-600-85330-2
I don't entertain much, so I'm not one for cooking lots of appetizers for parties, but I do like "bite size" recipes for storing and packing into family lunches and the like. If you're looking for an appetizer cookbook, this one definitely has a lot to offer: the recipes are intuitively organized, easy to understand, and well-formatted, and most of the recipes on offer show a corresponding finished picture. The ingredients lists are well-organized, and in multi-step recipes it's always clear which ingredients are used for each step of the process.
Of the 200 recipes on offer, a lot of them are multi-ingredient dishes that are sure to impress. I suppose this is a good thing if you are looking for new things to try and don't want more of the same old obvious stuff, but I can imagine that some of these dishes might be complicated enough to put off a lot of home chefs, and may be exotic-tasting enough to put off some of the guests. There's a strong overlap of traditional comfort food, though, such as the creamy fudge (with multiple flavor variations) and the triple-shot eggnog. The pictures themselves all look absolutely delicious, and combined with the stellar formatting, this cookbook is a joy to browse through.
As an appetizer cookbook, this one really stands out for variety - among the expected savory and tart fare, there are a lot of sweet flavors as well. I think a regular entertainer would get a great deal of use out of this book. For my purposes (lunch packings and varied dinner sides), the book is slightly less useful, but I was still able to find a lot of valuable recipes here, and I do recommend this highly to others.
NOTE: This review is based on a free Advance Review Copy of this book provided through NetGalley.
~ Ana Mardoll

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From simple to sophisticated, the 200 recipes in Fine Cooking Appetizers will get any party started. This latest collection of recipes from Fine Cooking features the best starters and small bites for any occasion, from holiday party to weeknight noshing. Like each issue of Fine Cooking, the delicious recipes are accompanied by time-saving tips, step-by-step techniques, and handy kitchen advice. In addition, fun cocktails, party menus, and entertaining tips will make this the only guide you need for year-round celebrations and get-togethers.

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Perfect Party Food: All the Recipes and Tips You'll Ever Need for Stress-Free Entertaining from the Diva of Do-Ahead Review

Perfect Party Food: All the Recipes and Tips You'll Ever Need for Stress-Free Entertaining from the Diva of Do-Ahead
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It's not necessary to read Phillips' party-planner introduction, but you may find it steadying, even reassuring with its calm, well-organized timeline, lists and tips. The book's easy-on-the-eyes graphic design allows for quick browsing and the color-coded highlights and eye-catching symbols continue on through the recipes. An appendix includes mail-order sources and "stress-free" menus for all occasions.
Recipes provide 10 to 12 servings, and all have at least some elements (even if it's only salad dressing or sauce) to prepare in advance. Phillips provides a table for multiplying recipes for larger parties, a list of essential tools and pantry items and an entertaining primer for rescuing disasters, from lumpy sauce to too many guests. She even gives her email for last minute disaster aversion.
Brief intros to each dish suggest variations and describe the dish's character. Step-by-step instructions pause at "do-ahead" points, and give instructions for how, and how long, to store, be it a few hours, days, or even months.

From drinks (Mulled Wine, Margaritas) through appetizers (Marinated Shrimp, Pigs in a Blanket) salads (Marinated Orange, Chicken Waldorf), sides (Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta, Wild Mushroom Rice), poultry (Tarragon Sesame, Oven Fried, French Farmhouse), seafood (Pesto-Crusted Fillets, New England Clam Pie, Seafood Gumbo), meat (Braised Beef in Cabernet Sauvignon, Swedish Meatballs, Pulled Pork Barbecue), to dessert (Strawberry Shortcake Layer Cake, Chocolate Truffles), Phillips emphasizes accessibility, be it sit-down elegant or grazing casual.
A versatile sauce chapter, from Cilantro Pesto to Quick Berry, offers a choice of serving suggestions and Phillips ("The Perfect Mix") also includes chapters for breakfast and lunch. Thoroughly unintimidating and full of useful advice beyond food preparation, this is a practical, comforting guide to making entertaining a pleasure.
- Portsmouth Herald

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Bartender's Black Book, 7th Edition: 2,700 New and Classic Recipes Review

Bartender's Black Book, 7th Edition: 2,700 New and Classic Recipes
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I'm a bartender and there is always one customer who comes along and orders a drink you dont know how to make. Behind the bar we keep several drink books, but this is the only one that actually gets used. Easy to read recipies, non-coded names for liquors, short, sweet, and to the point. Spiral binded so the book will not close while you are mixing. Contains the most variety of drinks I've seen from Vodka Collins for beginners (which most books don't have) through Long Islands all the way to a Mongolian Mother for the more adverse. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to shake, stir, or blend.

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Around the Table: Easy Menus for Cozy Entertaining at Home (Non) Review

Around the Table: Easy Menus for Cozy Entertaining at Home (Non)
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I was expecting a sophisticated collection of easy recipes, more in the vein of the Barefoot Contessa books, but this is merely a rehash of 70's suburban-housewife buffet food. Do we really need a recipe for franks and beans? And scrambled eggs with Velveeta? Also surprised that the apparently talented photographer took on this book...some of the food looks truly unappetizing, for instance the creamed spinach on page 121. Very disappointing book.

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Easy and Stylish Menus for Cozy Entertaining at Home - in full color

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Budget Celebrations: The Hostess Guide to Year-Round Entertaining on a Dime Review

Budget Celebrations: The Hostess Guide to Year-Round Entertaining on a Dime
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This is a book with 143 pages to give you some entertaining ideas. It is titled budget, but the first celebration shown is Halloween with a walk and porch lined with 24 large pumpkins. Unless Shelly Wolson knows of a place to get pumpkins at ¼ the cost of what I have seen them for, this is no budget decoration. There are some ideas, such as using garbage bags and cutting it into streamers, but many of her thoughts will take more money than what is normally defined as `budget'. Many of the decorations shown are store bought. The ideas are good, as are the recipes for many of the celebrations.
As for recipes, there are 5 for Halloween, 14 for Thanksgiving - a dinner, except her pumpkin pie recipe hardly has any spice in it (at least to my family's taste), 9 cookie and appetizers for Christmas, New Year's and Valentines- 15, 7 for Easter.
There are a few good ideas for Christmas; but she does not advise light weight rubber gloves to make decorations with red pistachio nuts, and unless you want to run around with celebratory red fingers, that is an omission. The Christmas pecan-jam stars (cookies) are wonderful.
There are really only a few celebrations contained here, they are: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's and Valentines Day share the same chapter, Easter, then 4th of July and special occasions. This is really not an all encompassing budget decorating, entertaining book. There are some good ideas, but one finds themselves looking at Easter with only one decorating idea?
The ideas are strangely uneven at times - between decorations and recipes, and it is almost as if plans for decorating run out of steam by the end of the book. There are 5 recipes for summer but no decoration? There are detailed how to instructions at the end, but they are really focused on Halloween and Christmas. There are some good ideas in here, but many are certainly not budget.

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Best of the Best from Big Sky Cookbook: Selected Recipes from the Favorite Cookbooks of Montana and Wyoming (Best of the Best Cookbook Series) Review

Best of the Best from Big Sky Cookbook: Selected Recipes from the Favorite Cookbooks of Montana and Wyoming (Best of the Best Cookbook Series)
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Interesting and nostalgic. I love to look at cookbooks and found this book worth keeping. Good idea to preserve recipes from across our country. I appreciate the number of cookbooks it took to make the selections.

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Simple Stunning Parties at Home: Recipes, Ideas, and Inspirations for Creative Entertaining Review

Simple Stunning Parties at Home: Recipes, Ideas, and Inspirations for Creative Entertaining
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This book is one of my favorites in Bussen's Simple Stunning series. I have almost all of them but this parties book is the best! The recipes are easy and the ones I've tried are delicious and each party idea is original and so creative. And the book itself is just beautiful to have on your shelf or coffee table. Highly recommend it!

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Fast & Fabulous Party Foods and Appetizers (Best of the Best) (Best of the Best Cookbook) Review

Fast and Fabulous Party Foods and Appetizers (Best of the Best) (Best of the Best Cookbook)
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This book contains hundreds of good party and appetizer ideas. I love how it has pre-planned menus for baby showers, birthdays, superbowl, ect. Great recipe book for the price. The only thing I would add is color photos of some of the dishes.

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Small Parties: More than 100 Recipes for Intimate Gatherings Review

Small Parties: More than 100 Recipes for Intimate Gatherings
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I LOVE this book! I had a small party last night and made dishes exclusively from "Small Parties". It was a huge hit! I made the baby potatoes w/crab meat stuffing appetizer, tortellini in asparagus gorgonzola cream sauce, chicken under a brick w/garlic caper sauce and the wild mushroom, sage and red wine risotto with the coconut-dusted white chocolate strawberries and berry napoleans for dessert. Everything was delicious! Biggest accomplishment- even the kids enjoyed each dish, especially the coconut dusted strawberries eating all of them. I'd never cooked with a brick before (chicken under a brick w/garlic caper sauce), it worked beautifully! I throw parties often and I'll use this book again and again.

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Williams-Sonoma Entertaining: Inspired menus for cooking with family and friends Review

Williams-Sonoma Entertaining: Inspired menus for cooking with family and friends
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Thank you for a wonderful book that gives us outside of North America an opportunity to create awesome menus and by extension meals with what we have. I live in Jamaica and was inspired by each menu. It is summer but I follwed the Easter Brunch menu slavishly. I enjoyed the Wine Lovers Evening and was delighted to find a things to do with all the wine corks I have been saving.
I believe a strength of this book is the instructions which feel more like suggestions which you just fall into and you do and they make the entire evening a success. There may well be other books that do this but I would say that this book is moving to the head of my class of my over 60 cook books.


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Packed with clever ideas, delicious recipes, and gorgeous color photography, Williams-Sonoma Entertaining is the ultimate guide to a successful party. The secrets of easy entertaining are demystified with helpful sections such as planning menus, buying quality ingredients, coaxing the best flavors out of food, and stocking a bar. Organized by season, each themed menu features accessible recipes driven by fresh ingredients; an easy-to-follow work plan; and detailed how-to photos depicting styling ideas. Key Features:* Sixteen seasonal menus with more than 100 simple, delicious recipes* Beautiful full-color photography shows every recipe as a finished dish, plus key preparation, cooking, and serving techniques* Inspiring photos show creative ideas for table settings, flower arranging, and party favors* Dozens of ideas for successful parties, from planning a menu to mixing creative cocktails to shortcuts for preparing the meal

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Mr. Boston: Official Bartender's Guide Review

Mr. Boston: Official Bartender's Guide
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The new updated version now shows the full influence of the resurgence of the great American cocktail. The author hits all the right marks in how to prepare a cocktail properly, such as insisting one only use fresh-squeezed lemon, lime, orange and grapefruit juices.
There are a few peculiarities that are shocking - the author states Old Tom gin is no longer available, which is just bizarre; it is available all over the country and is indeed still produced. Hayman's Old Tom Gin is one. There is also a Manhatta recipe that appears to be a mis-print. Surely the author doesn't intend for a Manhattan of 1 1/2 oz whiskey, 1/2 vermouth, and agostura bitters. It most likely is meant to read 2 1/2oz rye or bourbon, 1oz sweet vermouth, 2 dashes Angostura bitters... Unless he just likes a 2 oz manhattan.
The organization by alcohol is a little strange too. Where does one put a drink that contains equal parts gin, vermouth and campari? Organization alphabetically or by drink classification would work better.
The recipes are good & one can use them knowing he or she will enjoy the outcome.
It may not be the standard it was in the heyday of the cocktail, but it's making it's way back. I look forward to better organized, more accurate versions in the future! Better proofreading & more attention to detail will make it the standard it used to be.

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The new updated edition of America's bestselling drink-mixing guide
America's favorite drink-mixing guide since 1935, Mr. Boston: Official Bartender's Guide has been the resource of choice for generations of professionals and amateurs alike. Now this classic is better than ever, with updated information, 200 new drink recipes, and new photography. More than 1,400 recipes range from classic cocktails to today's trendiest drinks, all presented alphabetically with clear, easy-to-follow instructions. With the latest lowdown on liquors, beers, and wines, plus savvy advice on equipment, bar setup, and more, Mr. Boston has it all.
Mr. Boston, part of the Barton Brands group, has been a widely recognized name in the bartending world for more than 70 years. The Mr. Boston brand includes a range of liquors and prepared cocktails as well as this 67th printing of The Official Bartender's Guide.

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