Potluck at Midnight Farm: Celebrating Food, Family, and Friends on Martha's Vineyard - Hardcover

Weiss, Tamara

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0609609092 ISBN 13: 9780609609095

Publisher: Clarkson Potter, 2002

Synopsis

Potlucks are the friendliest of gatherings. As guests take part in the festivities, sharing their contributions—a dish of pasta, a bottle of wine, a bunch of wildflowers—they share a bit of themselves. Author Tamara Weiss knows this well. A self-described “organizer, assembler, and table setter,” she has all the qualities of the consummate host, as well as years of experience attending and planning potlucks. In Potluck at Midnight Farm, Tamara has captured a year of potlucks on Martha’s Vineyard, from brunches in a backyard garden to grill fests at twilight beside the sea. Each season brings together new faces, old friends, beautiful settings, and great food.

Collected here are more than a hundred recipes from Tamara and her guests, plus gorgeous photographs of the parties, so you too can share in the celebrations and garner ideas to create your own inspired gatherings. These dishes, at once lovely and hearty, are offered by people from all walks of life, from the island teacher to the world-famous celebrity. Each recipe is personalized with a brief anecdote of how the dish came about or why it has become such a party staple. All are wonderfully delicious. There are foods for every season and occasion: Mary Steenburgen’s Corn Spoon Pudding, Daphne’s Fried Chicken (which Bill Styron has served to Bill Clinton), and Grilled Corn Guacamole. Plus superb salads, like Tamara’s Summer Salad, with greens, sugar snap peas, mangoes, and sunflower seeds, and desserts to rave about: Lambert’s Cove Lemon Tea Cake, Judy Belushi Pisano’s Georgia Peaches with Raspberry Sauce, and the ultimate Butterscotch Brownies.

Potluck at Midnight Farm celebrates with charm and class the perfect companionship of food and entertaining, and welcomes readers just as if they were guests. And Tamara gives you all the advice and inspiration you need to send you running to organize your own spectacular potlucks.

About this title

About the Author

Tamara Weiss is the co-owner of Midnight Farm, a gift and home store on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. This is her first book.

Reviews

In a bid for the Barefoot Contessa audience, Weiss, co-owner with Simon of a home furnishings store on Martha's Vineyard, offers suggestions and recipes for casual potluck parties. These are reportedly culled from various thematic potlucks that Weiss herself has organized or attended, so a chapter on Indian Night includes Green Mango Chutney and Mango Lassi, and one on a Long Point Autumn Afternoon (held at the local wildlife refuge) offers Steak, Arugula and Parmesan Wraps, and Napa and Cilantro Salad with Spicy Peanuts. Each chapter bears a rather lengthy descriptive introduction extolling the natural wonders of the island. The result is something of a mishmash, and a few recipes do not even seem appropriate to the potluck format Herb and Garlic Roasted Chicken sounds delicious, but calls for deglazing the pan at the last minute to create a sauce. Ultimately, this is a collection of solid if unsurprising dishes appropriate for entertaining (such as Seared Tuna with Wasabi Aioli on Crispy Wontons and Fresh Fruit Tart), organized in a somewhat confusing manner. Each recipe is credited to a potluck guest, and since Martha's Vineyard is a resort where the elite like to summer, there are selections from famous names: Daphne's Fried Chicken from Bill Styron and Mary Steenburgen's Corn Spoon Pudding. (Apr.)Forecast: This is likely to sell best to those who love Martha's Vineyard and what's not to love? Those unfamiliar with the magical island, however, may not be quite as charmed by the chatty prose and familiar recipes.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Midnight Farm is the name of the gift shop that Weiss and Carly Simon own on Martha's Vineyard. Somewhat reminiscent of Ellen Wright's Bridgehampton Weekends, though more down to earth, Weiss's first book provides menus for 11 seasonal potluck meals, from Love Your Mother's Day Brunch to Winter Dinner. Recipes come from the friends and family who attended the actual parties (many are from Weiss's husband, who is the cook in their family) and reflect a range of styles, though most are fairly easy. The book is attractively designed and filled with color photographs, … la Ina Garten's popular Barefoot Contessa cookbooks. For area libraries and other larger collections.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Caramel Pecan Squares


My Christmas cookie baking partner and I have been making these for ten years, and they are a feature of our annual bake-off. These chewy and beautiful cookies are great with fruit, sorbet, or vanilla ice cream. I often bring them to gatherings and they never fail. These bars will cut small, so you can get 80 cookies from one batch. The recipe doubles beautifully as well. These cookies will keep in the refrigerator for three weeks.

Makes 80 cookies

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup maple syrup
2/3 cup brown sugar (light or dark; dark makes darker caramel, packed
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 generous cup pecans, roughly chopped

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cream together 1 cup butter, the sugar, and eggs until light and fluffy. Stir in the vanilla, flour, and salt. Press the dough into an ungreased 11x17-inch jellyroll pan. It's a good idea to build the dough up a bit at the edges. Prick with a fork. Bake for 15 minutes; do not brown.

Put the maple syrup, brown sugar, and heavy cream in a medium pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until everything melts and combines. Remove from the heat and add the pecans. Spread over the partially baked dough and return to the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until the topping is caramelized.

Cool on a rack for about 10 minutes, then cut into 80 pieces and remove them from the pan. Place on a rack until completely cooled. I like cutting these on the diagonal for presentation.

Edition details

• Publisher: Clarkson Potter
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0609609092
• ISBN 13: 9780609609095
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240