Flirtini: A Guide to Mixing and Mingling [Hardcover]

Allana Baroni (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 25, 2003

Cocktail parties are a great way to cut loose and flirt with abandon, and nothing gets everyone mixing and mingling better than great drinks and an upbeat, unforgettable atmosphere. Flirtini is filled with a veteran party planner’s creative ideas for throwing a fabulous bash. From a Dr. Bombay party to cure what ails you to a graffiti bash for self-expression, Flirtini has plenty of great excuses to mix it up.

Each theme party starts with a house specialty drink and continues with ideas for shouting out the invites, decking out the bash shack, an inspired soundtrack, and ice-breakers to get the party going. An “unbirthday” party in honor of a friend who needs an ego boost has a mad tea party twist. A film festival costume party can go glam for the Oscars, urban for Tribeca, or ski grunge for a Sundance theme. A jazz-inspired after-dinner affair can turn your apartment into a sultry hot spot with coffee-flavored cocktails, slow dancing, and fortune telling.

More than chic drinks and a clever party theme, though, the right attitude is the key to hosting a successful party. So Flirtini includes plenty of spirited advice on how to greet, mingle, and flirt with confidence to spare. From compiling a cross-pollinated guest list to improvising triumphant solutions for inevitable party snafus, Flirtini is the perfect recipe for mixing up killer cocktail parties.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Cocktail parties are a great way to cut loose and flirt with abandon, and nothing gets everyone mixing and mingling better than great drinks and an upbeat, unforgettable atmosphere. Flirtini is filled with a veteran party planner's creative ideas for throwing a fabulous bash. From a Dr. Bombay party to cure what ails you to a graffiti bash for self-expression, Flirtini has plenty of great excuses to mix it up.

Each theme party starts with a house specialty drink and continues with ideas for shouting out the invites, decking out the bash shack, an inspired soundtrack, and ice-breakers to get the party going. An "unbirthday" party in honor of a friend who needs an ego boost has a mad tea party twist. A film festival costume party can go glam for the Oscars, urban for Tribeca, or ski grunge for a Sundance theme. A jazz-inspired after-dinner affair can turn your apartment into a sultry hot spot with coffee-flavored cocktails, slow dancing, and fortune telling.

More than chic drinks and a clever party theme, though, the right attitude is the key to hosting a successful party. So Flirtini includes plenty of spirited advice on how to greet, mingle, and flirt with confidence to spare. From compiling a cross-pollinated guest list to improvising triumphant solutions for inevitable party snafus, Flirtini is the perfect recipe for mixing up killer cocktail parties.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

love at first sight

serves about 18

4 lemons
1 750-ml bottle Alizé Red Passion liqueur, chilled
1 750-ml bottle Cognac, chilled
1/2 cup Cointreau liqueur (or Grand Marnier), chilled
1 cup lemon juice, chilled
2 750-ml bottles of Champagne, or other sparkling white wine, chilled

Slice the lemons into wheels and lay them flat in a container, placing wax paper in between the layers so they don't stick to each other. Freeze the lemon wheels. Pour the Alizé, Cognac, Cointreau, and lemon juice into a large punch bowl and stir. Top with the Champagne, gently stir, then add the frozen lemon wheels to keep the punch chilled.


spring fling rolls

serves 24

24 rice paper wrappers
2 cups cooked cellophane noodles (follow package directions)
2 cups enoki mushrooms
2 cups bean sprouts
3 carrots, thinly sliced to look like matchsticks
1 cucumber, thinly sliced to look like matchsticks
4 green onions, halved, then thinly sliced to look like matchsticks
Dipping Sauce (see below)

To assemble the rolls, soak a sheet of rice paper in a bowl of warm water until soft. Remove from water and fill with a small amount of each of the above ingredients. Fold one point of the sheet over the filling and roll up, leaving one side open so the ingredients are visible. Cover with a damp cloth while repeating the process with the other rolls.

dipping sauce

Mix 1/4 cup soy sauce with 1/4 cup rice vinegar and 2 tablespoons sesame oil. Top with 1 tablespoon green onion slivers and 1 teaspoon sesame seeds. Add a dash of dried red pepper flakes or chili oil to spice it up.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Clarkson Potter; 1 edition (November 25, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400046467
• ISBN-13: 978-1400046461
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 7.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,399,452 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining Just Got Easy...and Fun!, December 18, 2003

By 

Brad Jamison (W. Hollywood, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flirtini: A Guide to Mixing and Mingling (Hardcover)

As someone who loves to entertain but often gets too caught up in the perfection of it all, I found Allana Baroni's "Flirtini" to be the perfect cocktail party guide -- one that got me to relax, take the pressure off myself, and get to the fun of flirting. From tasty drinks to great (and easy) themes, "Flirtini" can get the mind of even the most jaded entertainer pumping with new ideas...and for the novice, it could easily become the bible for cocktailing! Plus, you learn not only how to be a good host, but how to be a good guest -- can't we all use a little help there.

In a word, "Flirtini" ROCKS! ANd, whoever said cocktail parties are dead clearly never met Allana.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great drink ideas, but adult party themes., March 27, 2008

By 

kiwanissandy "Go Bucks!" (Heart of Ohio) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Flirtini: A Guide to Mixing and Mingling (Hardcover)

This book is broken down into parties designed around "themes". The first chapter called "the forbidden fruit party" which features the drink, love at first sight, and the suggestion for the invitation wording is to shed your winter coat and come play in the garden of eden for drinking, flirting, and dirty dancing. The atmosphere suggestion is to float aromatic flowers in clear glass bowls. Then there's a game similar to truth or dare where you give each guest an envelope that they then give to another party guest who has to do what the envelope says. i.e. what do you consider sexy? Kiss your sweetie like it's the first time. Not sure this party would be appropriate for all age groups, would definitely have to have adults only. There is a recipe for spring fling rolls that was really good.

Another party idea was a hip-hop graffiti scene that included ideas for booze, invitations, atmosphere, mingling, flirting, soundtrack, and eats. The booze was called "hipnotic" made with Hpnotiq liqueur and citrus vodka, download images for graffiti from google, decorating was to throw white sheets over your furniture, line the walls with matte black paper and provide markers and paint so guests can graffiti the walls. The party also calls for hiring a DJ and having guests bring their own CD's to play. The flirting suggestion was to wear t-shirts that say "screw yoga". The meal suggestion was baby phat potatoes with take-out fried chicken with a cold sandwich buffet.
All 10 party suggestions were similar in design. This is designed to be a top-shelf cocktail party. Just know it's for adult parties so be prepared.