Heloise Hints for All Occasions

Offering suggestions for several different kinds of celebrations, including weddings, family reunions, and holidays, a planning guide provides guidelines for calculating food quantity, creating invitations, entertaining, and cleaning up. Original. Tour.

Heloise's daughter here continues the tradition of providing practical, savvy, entertaining ideas for hosts and hostesses. Her excellent party-planning section has a "Party-Time Line," checklists, pertinent tips, food lists, and measurements. Another section contains ingredient substitutions, "kitcheneering" tricks, and safety ideas, while the remaining sections address holidays, special events, and decorating. Recipes comprise the final chapter, and many sound irresistible-tomato basil soup, classic fudge, sweet potato pone, salmonettes, angel biscuits, etc. The tone is breezy, informal, and, unfortunately, rather wordy; dated slang phrases, a too-liberal use of exclamation marks (it seems as if the author is shouting), and obvious "tips" (e.g., read directions when using a new recipe) could be eliminated. Surprisingly, there is no mention of the cautions needed when using supermarket salad bars, and vegetarians and diabetics will find only a few pertinent areas. Recommended but not a priority purchase.
Catherine Greene, Bethesda Memorial Hosp. Lib., Boynton Beach, Fla.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Heloise learned many tricks from her mother, who started the original "Heloise" column in 1959. She also credits readers of her syndicated newspaper and Good Housekeeping columns with some of the tips she assembles here. The book is divided into sections on planning parties and hosting them; kitchen magic; decorating and cleaning (both pre- and post-party); special events, holidays, and celebrations; and recipes for all occasions. She includes several checklists to cover all aspects of a successful party. Kitchen magic offers suggestions about food repair, cooking and kitchen safety, and "kitcheneering" tricks. Looking for a reason to hold a get-together? She provides several pages' worth, including Kwanza, Elvis Presley's birthday, Income Tax Payday, and Mother Goose Day. The last section contains "Heloise Classic" recipes, with handy tips for making meatballs, topping ice cream, and adding flair to popcorn. For Festive Tricolor Popcorn, she uses three packages of different colored gelatin, making a snack that might brighten any occasion. Jennifer Henderson