Special Occasions Books - Page 21

Tabletops: Easy, Practical, Beautiful Ways to Decorate the Table

Barbara Milo Ohrbach

Amazon Price: $18.15 List Price: $27.50 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Clarkson Potter Amazon Marketplace: 64 new & used starting at $2.75

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Special Occasions -> Tablesetting
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> General
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Hospitality is the art of generously welcoming guests into your home, and Barbara Milo Ohrbach's Tabletops will make this a delightful experience for all to share.

Whether you are having a party, sitting down with friends and family, or celebrating a holiday, the pleasures of eating at a beautiful table help to make the meal truly memorable. In this book, Ms. Ohrbach, the best-selling author of fourteen books, including The Scented Room, Antiques at Home, and Simply Flowers, brings a fresh and creative eye to the art of decorating tables with flowers, fruits, leaves, and other wonderful objects. Filled with beautiful photographs and simple how-to's, Tabletops offers recipes, clever ideas, and practical solutions for everyday entertaining, parties, and special occasions, such as Thanksgiving and Christmas.

With her usual clarity and style, Ms. Ohrbach explains how to coordinate linens, china, and silverware so that everything works together. She demonstrates how to accent the table with accessories like candles, napkin rings, and place cards, and includes easy how-to projects, many of which can be done with children. She reveals effortless techniques for taking the mystery out of flower arranging and discusses how to choose the right container for any event. She shares her enthusiasm for visiting places like historic homes, flower shows, restaurants, and farmers' markets that can inspire fresh ideas for creating wonderful tabletops. And finally, Ms. Ohrbach provides a handy international source guide that reveals her favorite places to shop and explore in Europe and the United States. Tabletops will inspire anyone who loves flowers and entertaining, and it is the perfect gift for anyone who enjoys setting a beautiful table.

In Tabletops, best-selling author Barbara Milo Ohrbach reveals simple yet spectacular ideas for decorating beautiful tables for both entertaining and everyday use. Illustrated with more than 275 full-color photographs, Tabletops offers practical tips and easy how-to projects for setting the table and for creating centerpieces and individual flower arrangements for your home, parties, holidays, special occasions, and more.

Outstanding in the Field: A Farm to Table Cookbook

Jim Denevan, Marah Stets

Amazon Price: $21.45 List Price: $32.50 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Clarkson Potter Amazon Marketplace: 54 new & used starting at $13.98

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Natural Foods
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Regional & International -> U.S. Regional -> General
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Regional & International -> U.S. Regional -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Instead of bringing food to guests in a traditional restaurant setting, Jim Denevan brings diners to their food, creating what Alice Waters has called “the restaurant I always imagined.” His innovative organization, Outstanding in the Field, sets up dinner tables in fields, ranches, dairies, vineyards, and community gardens across the country for alfresco meals that truly reconnect us with the land and people that produce our food.

In Outstanding in the Field, Denevan presents a cookbook full of seasonally inspired dishes from his farm-fresh dinners, sharing more than one hundred recipes with home cooks and food lovers everywhere. Celebrating local ingredients at their height of freshness, favorites include Haricot Vert and Early Girl Tomato Salad with Summer Savory; Burrata Cheese with Nectarines, Mâche, and Hazelnuts; Sea Scallops with Sugar Snap Peas and Chervil; Pure Maple Syrup–Braised Short Ribs; Green Tomato Marmalade; and Upside-Down Fresh Fig Cake. All of the recipes present opportunities to use the most flavorful produce, meats, and cheeses in the area where you live—and suggestions for substitutions when necessary.

America’s appetite for organic and local food has never been stronger and there is no better guide to this growing movement than Jim Denevan. With inspiring recipes, beautiful photographs throughout of farms and food across the country, and information on finding local ingredients and helping Community Supported Agriculture and community gardens, Outstanding in the Field is a cookbook that celebrates the pleasures of raising, preparing, and enjoying good food.

Maw Broon's Cookbook: The Nation's Favourites

Maw Broon

Amazon Price: $16.47 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Waverley Books Amazon Marketplace: 28 new & used starting at $13.94

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Regional & International -> European -> English, Scottish & Welsh
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Regional & International -> International
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Regional & International -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Maw Broon's cookbook 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Anyone who grew up in Scotland in the post-war era, or who has parents who grew up there during that time, should order this book immediately. It is brilliantly written and put together with affection and humor. It looks just like my mother's real cookbook, with cutout recipes, bits of advice, slivers of dried herbs and comments written in the margin by all and sundry. but it is the family cookbook of the Broons, that archetypal Scottish family, whose dinner table conversations were brought into our homes with the evening newspapers for decades, and whose comments on life, love, politics and post-war conditions fueled many a spirited conversation around our own dinner tables. But, in addition to bringing back all those memories of the whole funny family, including the twins and The Bairn, it is filled with real, authentic Scottish recipes, from tablet to Cullen Skink, from tattie scones to fish cakes, from victoria sponge to cloutie dumpling.
Order, read it and laugh, and then cook yourself and your family up some memorable, and memory-laden, dishes.

Editorial Review:

Launched in 1936 in the Sunday Post in Scotland, The Broons are undoubtedly Scotland's First Family. This is a facsimile of Maw Broon's very own cookbook--first made for her by her mother-in-law when Maw married Paw--and added to over the years with recipes for every day and special days, from friends and neighbors and others that simply caught Maw's eye in the Sunday Post, or were torn off the back of a flour bag. These are the very recipes that became the favorite dishes of the extended Broon family.

Pretty Party Cakes: Sweet and Stylish Cakes and Cookies for All Occasions

Peggy Porschen

Amazon Price: $19.80 List Price: $30.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Random House - Model: 3707 Amazon Marketplace: 38 new & used starting at $16.83

Buy at Amazon.com

Features:

• by Porschen, Peggy ; Smith, Georgia Glynn
• Edition 1 , 2005
• ISBN: 0307337073
• ISBN: 9780307337078

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Baking -> Cakes
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Baking -> Cookies
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Baking -> Desserts

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 25 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

A romantic Three-Column Wedding Cake adorned with fresh roses; eye-catching Kalei-doscope Cakes iced in geometric designs; glittering Bollywood-inspired lollipop cookies—you don’t have to go to a high-end bakery to be able to serve these beautiful desserts at your next party. Master cake decorator Peggy Porschen shares her designs for the gorgeous cookies, cupcakes, and cakes that have graced some of the world’s most discriminating tables—and they’re as easy to create as they are spectacular. Written for everyone from beginning bakers to seasoned pros, each design in Pretty Party Cakes is broken down into basic steps that turn even complicated cake sculptures into rewarding, accessible creations.

Pretty Party Cakes is brimming with dozens of innovative designs that are all based on fundamental recipes provided in Porschen’s introduction to the basics. This section also covers the equipment and techniques needed to make her luscious creations. Once you’ve mastered the key skills, you can confidently move to chapters on cookies, cupcakes, miniature cakes, and large cakes. Designs range from sparkling heart cakes and butterfly-topped pastel cupcakes to enchanting, edible Treasure Boxes that can be used to present gifts. Ambitious bakers can create stunning desserts such as the Romantic Rose Tower cake and Gift Box Cake, and even simpler sweets such as Alphabet Cookies and Chocolate Canapés will wow your guests with their alluring presentation.

Packed with tips, step-by-step images, and striking photographs to accompany every design, Pretty Party Cakes brings together everything you need to re-create Peggy Porschen’s delicious masterpieces. Whether you’re preparing a wedding cake for dozens of guests or creating a showstopping dessert for an intimate dinner party, these stunning designs will be sure to rival the cakes that line the windows of the chicest designer bakeries.

An all-encompassing guide to creating shockingly simple—yet stunning—cakes, cookies, and cupcakes that rival those from even the most fashionable designer bakeries.

A Gentleman Entertains A Guide To Making Memorable Occasions Happen

John Bridges, Bryan Curtis

Amazon Price: $11.99 List Price: $14.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Thomas Nelson Amazon Marketplace: 65 new & used starting at $1.26

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Special Occasions -> Tablesetting
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Puzzles & Games -> Trivia
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Puzzles & Games -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A Gentleman Entertains by John Bridges 5 out of 5 stars.
54 of 58 people found this review helpful.

"A Gentleman Entertains" takes a surprisingly unpretentious look at men entertaining, though the book is by no means without merit for women readers. The practical advice and simple, elegant recipes cover a broad range of entertaining scenarios, from casual cocktail parties at home to dining out, to family reunions. The South is perhaps the only place left where it is still fashionable to be genteel, and Bridges lives up to his Southern upbringing without coming across stuffy. Leaving no stone unturned, the book touches on everything from tipping to starting a charcoal grill to choosing the wine. Though the title suggests a certain level of sophistication, the author is just as quick to advise readers to use paper plates when the situation dictates as he is to recommend the proper way to garnish a cocktail. Bridges writing style is crisp and on the wry side, though he had more room to shine in "Keeping Up," a delightful series of essays on his upbringing in Slapout, Al., as well as witty observations on life and martinis. I would have liked to have seen him cut loose in this book a little more stylistically, but being the proper gentleman that he is, he wrote a respectable book suitable for any coffee table. It is a fine follow up to his previous outing, "How to be a Gentleman." I recommend it to anyone who is looking for the kind of practical advice on entertaining that bears repeating and never goes out of style.

Editorial Review:

Practical and unpretentious, A Gentleman Entertains includes

• 15 essential preparations before entertaining
• 100 things every gentleman should know about being a host
• Ideas for twelve specific parties complete with more than 20 fool-proof recipes
• Tips on dealing with inevitable, inescapable, really ugly disaster moments.

Christmas 101: Celebrate the Holiday Season from Christmas to New Year's

Rick Rodgers

Amazon Price: $12.76 List Price: $15.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: William Morrow Cookbooks Amazon Marketplace: 55 new & used starting at $3.17

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Special Occasions -> Christmas & Hanukkah
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Special Occasions -> Holidays
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Too Many Misses 3 out of 5 stars.
4 of 15 people found this review helpful.

I own two of Rick Rodgers 101 books and have been pleased. I was disappointed in this one however because I am not a cook who uses alcohol in cooking or beverages and that eliminated many of Rick's holiday offerings. It would have been nice to have some non-alcoholic substitutions suggested. I felt that, for me, this book was not worth the price.

Editorial Review:

Everyone knows that the holidays are hectic—but Rick Rodgers, cooking teacher and bestselling cookbook author, knows that they don't have to be. Christmas 101 offers the busy cook carefree ways to entertain with surefire recipes of old favorites, menus, timetables, make-ahead tips, and more. Rodgers will help you throw fabulous cocktail parties and traditional buffets, cook a perfect roast, and spice up your favorite recipes with a contemporary twist.

You'll also learn how to make classic breads, candies, and desserts that are the tokens of this special time of year. With patience, kindness, and humor, Rodgers will help you to cook up the very best holiday season yet.

Live, Love, Eat!: The Best of Wolfgang Puck

Wolfgang Puck

Amazon Price: $11.99 List Price: $14.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Gramercy Amazon Marketplace: 19 new & used starting at $5.75

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Special Occasions -> Gourmet
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> General
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The legendary Wolfgang Puck has created his most comprehensive, delectable, and easy-to-use cookbook yet. Live, Love, Eat! takes its title from his signature catchphrase, which sums up his exuberant approach to cooking and entertaining. Featuring more than 125 of his favorite dishes, this book is an indispensable compilation of the simple, sumptuous recipes from Puck’s world-renowned repertoire.

Live, Love, Eat! contains recipes for appetizers such as Puck’s acclaimed Crab Cakes with Sweet Red Bell Pepper Sauce; a variety of seasonal soups and salads, including his famed Chinois Chicken Salad; and, along with innovative pasta and risotto recipes, the California-style pizzas that first made Puck and his original Spago Hollywood a favorite of international celebrities. Puck also serves up all manner of main courses, including seafood recipes such as Lobster Imperial in Black Bean Sauce; poultry dishes such as Pan-Roasted Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Bell Peppers with Sweet Green Onion Sauce; and meat recipes such as Wolfgang’s Bacon-Wrapped Meat Loaf and Rack of Pork with Caramelized Maple Onions. To round out the collection, he offers a wide variety of vegetable and other side-dish recipes, plus spectacular desserts, including Decadent Warm Chocolate Cupcakes with Molten Centers and Classic Spago Cheesecake. A section covering basics, sauces, and techniques provides invaluable guidance for beginning and experienced cooks alike.

Illustrated throughout with more than 150 color images of finished dishes and close-up how-to shots demonstrating key techniques and tips, this stunning book is a must-have for cooks who share Puck’s passion for fresh, interesting ingredients and creative recipes.

Betty Crocker More Slow Cooker Recipes ( Hardcover-Spiral Edition)

Betty Crocker Editors

Amazon Price: $15.61 List Price: $22.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Betty Crocker Amazon Marketplace: 45 new & used starting at $3.83

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Special Appliances
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Special Occasions -> Gourmet
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

With your slow cooker and Betty Crocker, you'll enjoy homemade goodness on your schedule.

At the end of a long day, when everyone's home and hungry, what could be more welcoming than a delicious, hot dinner ready and waiting for you? With Betty Crocker More Slow Cooker Recipes, it's easy to find just the right dinner for you and your family to enjoy! Here's a collection of All-New Recipes, created to help you get the most out of your slow cooker-for everyday cooking and weekend meals, for casual get-togethers and holiday special occasions. If you're new to slow cooking, you'll find all you need to know to get started. And if you already love your slow cooker, there are more than 130 tempting new recipes to enjoy and more than 50 full-page color photos to inspire you to try something new.

You'll find ALL-NEW recipes for fix-it-and-forget-it favorites like:
* Appealing Appetizers: Cheesy Chicken and Peppers Dip, French Onion Meatballs, Teriyaki Smoked Riblets
* Super Soups and Stews: Meatball Stone Soup, Pork Tortilla Soup, Fisherman's Wharf Seafood Stew
* Easy Everyday Dinners: Turkey-Sausage Bean Bake, Zesty Italian Beef Tips, Ham with Cheesy Potatoes
* Perfect for Potluck: Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya, Swedish Meatballs, Texas-Style Barbecued Beans
* Simply Delicious for Summer: Southern-Style Green Beans, The Ultimate Creamed Corn, Teriyaki Barbecued Chicken Sandwiches
* Hearty Holiday Treats: Apricot-Glazed Pork Roast and Stuffing, Bacon and Corn Bread--Stuffed Turkey Breast, Ham with Currant-Cherry Sauce
* Luscious Leftovers: Chinese Beef and Broccoli, Cheesy Pork Quesadillas, Supper Ham Frittata

Laura Werlin's Cheese Essentials: An Insiders Guide to Buying and Serving Cheese (With 50 recipes)

Laura Werlin

Amazon Price: $16.47 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Stewart, Tabori and Chang Amazon Marketplace: 49 new & used starting at $12.89

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Cooking by Ingredient -> Cheese & Dairy
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Special Occasions -> General
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Special Occasions -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Easily accessible information in guidebook format
Includes 50 recipes, for appetizers to desserts, highlighting each of the 8 styles of cheese
Features a chapter on entertaining with cheese

Whether shopping at gourmet markets or at Costco, American consumers are seeing a growing, even dizzying, array of new cheeses. But as the number of cheeses has grown, so has the intimidation factor. Recognizing this disconnect between our voracious appetite for cheese and our often-sketchy knowledge of it, acclaimed cheese expert Laura Werlin decided it was high time to demystify the cheese-buying experience. Laura Werlin’s Cheese Essentials—a comprehensive introduction in a convenient guidebook format—is the extremely useful result.

Werlin’s book begins at the same place the flummoxed shopper does—the cheese counter. After mapping out the basics for navigating this daunting environment, Werlin acquaints you with the cheese fundamentals: the different kinds of milk used, information on rinds and mold, and tips on cooking with cheese, as well as a few words on Werlin’s passion—the American artisanal cheese movement. The heart of the book consists of individual chapters on the eight styles of cheese: fresh, semi-soft, soft-ripened, surface-ripened, semi-hard, hard, blue, and washed-rind. Following Werlin’s guidance, you’ll soon be able to identify a cheese by how it looks—and have a good idea of what that cheese will taste like before you even take a bite.

The Martha Stewart Living Christmas Cookbook

Martha Stewart Living Magazine

Amazon Price: $24.75 List Price: $37.50 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Clarkson Potter Amazon Marketplace: 55 new & used starting at $13.99

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Special Occasions -> Christmas & Hanukkah
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> Special Occasions -> Holidays
Subjects -> Cooking, Food & Wine -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Since Martha Stewart Living Magazine's debut more than a decade ago, readers have come to look to its holiday issues for the best seasonal entertaining and menu ideas. Each issue of Living has included Martha's favorite recipes, as well as the staff's. For the first time, more than six hundred of these holiday dishes are collected in one volume: The Martha Stewart Living Christmas Cookbook.

Throughout the ten chapters of recipes, every element of holiday entertaining—from hors d'oedvres and cocktails through main courses and desserts—is covered. Whether you're searching for an eggnog to sip on Christmas Eve, planning to serve a traditional roast goose for Christmas dinner, or putting together a festive brunch for overnight guests, The Martha Stewart Living Christmas Cookbook offers a comprehensive array of classics and new favorites to choose from. Guiding you are how-to photographs and illustrations, along with sixty-four pages of beautiful color photographs that will inspire even novices to get into the kitchen and start cooking. The book is filled with tips and techniques, and it also includes a special menu section to help you create the perfect meal.

This collection of recipes—ranging from simple to extravagant—makes an indispensable cookbook, not just for Christmas Day, but for the entire holiday season.