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

by Diane Phillips

Overview

How do you throw a party without stressing out? Plan ahead and do-ahead. This entertaining guide from Diane Phillips, the Diva of Do-Ahead, with help you get out of the kitchen and into your own party. She presents nearly 500 recipes that can all be made ahead of time--some days and even weeks--that taste delicious, and are designed to be served buffet style. Handy icons show which recipes are just right for a backyard barbecue, an elegant cocktail party, or an all-night blow-out bash. Dozens of menu suggestions, templates for figuring out the menu range and quantities, easy decorating tips, and guidelines for stocking a bar complete this essential guide to entertaining.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781558325029
Publisher:	Harvard Common Press, The
Publication date:	09/16/2005
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	704
File size:	12 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Diane Phillips is the author of several cookbooks, including the James Beard Award-nominated Perfect Party Food, Happy Holidays from the Diva of Do-Ahead, The Perfect Basket, The Ultimate Rotisserie Cookbook, and The Soup Mix Gourmet. She is also a product spokesperson, consultant to the food industry, and culinary educator. She teaches her easy, elegant, do-ahead approach at cooking schools all over the country and in France, and has appeared numerous times on television.

Editorial Reviews

If readers walk away with just one lesson from this hulking volume, it's that planning is essential when you're entertaining guests. Cooking teacher Phillips reinforces that point throughout this manual, in both her recipes and her miscellaneous advice on setting a table, arranging food and more. She includes more than 600 recipes, each one serving 10 to 12 guests, and each containing do-ahead components that can be made ahead and refrigerated or frozen (many recipes can be completely cooked advance). The recipes are generally simple, though no less appealing, and include dips and spreads, "small bites" like Pigs in a Blanket and Prosciutto Pinwheels, salads, side dishes, main dishes, breads, beverages and desserts (there's also a chapter on breakfast and brunch). Phillips's advice on how much food readers will need is helpful, as are her "diva rescues" tips (e.g., what to do if extra people show up for the party; if your rice burns; if your layer cake "looks like Mt. Etna erupting"; etc.). Encompassing casual, "grazing," holiday, informal and elegant events, this book will be essential for novices and may also teach some old dogs new tricks. Illus. (Sept.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly