Entertaining 101: Everything You Need to Know to Entertain with Style and Grace - Hardcover

Eckhardt, Linda West; Defoyd, Katherine West

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385485425 ISBN 13: 9780385485425

Publisher: Doubleday, 1997

Synopsis

Dinner parties are back.  Cocktail parties are back.  Cigars and martinis are back.  Before you know it, even pillbox hats may be back!  But some things have changed forever.  There was a time when celebration meant days of planning, days of cooking, and days of recuperation.  But no more!  Today, the very thought of preparing one of those sumptuous multicourse extravaganzas has become no more than a fleeting nightmare.

For special events, however, there is still nothing quite so welcome as a home-cooked meal.  In Entertaining 101, mother and daughter Linda West Eckhardt and Katherine West DeFoyd provide all the information anyone will need to throw a terrific party at home.  Each of the recipes has been tested not only by the authors but also by less experienced cooks.  Each one has been simplified to eliminate all unnecessary steps.  Each menu is accompanied by a carefully worked-out timetable so that every dish will be ready when it should be.  And no menu requires more than an hour's preparation time in the kitchen, although some dishes may cook longer unattended--while you set the table or enjoy a cocktail with your guests.

The fifty-two seasonal menus--from a Winter Solstice Formal Sage Chicken Dinner to a Summer Supper from the Farmer's Market--will allow anyone to entertain "with style and grace" every week of the year.  Each menu includes wine suggestions and useful tips for serving and decorating (although the authors emphasize that there are no absolute rights or wrongs).  This may not be the age of Aquarius, but it is certainly the age of liberation--in the kitchen as well as everywhere else.

About this title

Review:

To make your life easy, Linda West Eckhardt and her daughter, Katherine West DeFoyd, provide 54 menus for all kinds of occasions in Entertaining 101. Beyond creative and easy holiday meals, look for a sensibly elegant wedding shower, "Yearning for Summer February Tropical Dinner," "Raving Summer Weekend Paella Supper," and "Born in the USA Backyard Grilled Pizza Birthday Party." Recipes, including Roast Sage Chicken in a Nest (of braised greens and beets), Romaine Salad in Three-Citrus Dressing, and Shortbread Cookies with Mixed Berries, are distinctive yet accessible. Entertaining 101 also covers other important elements of entertaining: you'll find sketches for napkin folding, a table telling how much liquor is needed for parties, advice on when to send out invitations before an event, and decorating ideas to accompany the menu selections. Every menu in Entertaining 101 is a good guide for hosting events with style and without stress.

From the Publisher:

Early Praise for Entertaining 101:

"R.S.V.P. at once to this generous-hearted, relaxed party of a book."
--Crescent Dragonwagon, author of The Dairy Hollow House Cookbook and Dairy Hollow House Soup and Bread

"Read and Heed! This book tells the tricks and techniques of throwing a good party easily and nicely. Even if you don't entertain, the text is full of recipes with twists, tips, and tricks for exciting daily meals."
--Jeanne Voltz, author of Barbecued Ribs, Smoked Butts, and Other Great Feeds

"Full of down-to-earth, tell-it-like-it-is, no-frills advice and spunky style. A must-have for fresh entertaining ideas."
--Jill Melton, senior food editor, Cooking Light magazine

"With cool-as-a-cucumber confidence, Linda Eckhardt and Katherine DeFoyd lead you by the hand as you entertain with delicious grace and ease. Sign me up for Entertaining 102."
--Jim Fobel, author of Jim Fobel's Big Flavors and Jim Fobel's Casseroles

"Novices will find Linda and Katherine's clear instructions the ultimate in culinary hand-holding, and old party hands will discover new inspiration in their fabulous, easy-to-make recipes."
--Rick Rodgers, author of On Rice and 365 Ways to Cook Hamburger

About this edition

• Publisher: Doubleday
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0385485425
• ISBN 13: 9780385485425
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320