The Junior League at Home: Meals and Menus for Everyday and Special Occasions [Spiral-bound]

The Association of Junior Leagues International Inc (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 23, 2003

More than 400 recipes, forty-eight menus, entertaining tips, table decorations, and sumptuous photographs make this the most engaging and ambitious Junior League collection to date.

At home for members of the Junior League can mean anything from a Mother's Day brunch or an elegant dinner for six to a Labor Day backyard barbecue or a Pumpkin-fest celebration. The menus and recipes in this all-new collection reveal the diversity of the members of the Junior League and their close connection to ethnic, regional, and family foodways handed down and refined from one generation to the next.

From appetizers to desserts-and all the courses in between-The Junior League at Home features favorite home-tested recipes drawn from League cookbooks and members. Each of the twelve chapters offers a selection of seasonal menus with advice for planning and food preparation. The book also highlights ideas for stress-free entertaining, as well as innovative tablescape and decorating suggestions-including a fully illustrated section on the lost art of napkin folding.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Drawing on the contributions from the Junior Leagues' numerous cookbooks, this latest offering celebrates eating with family and friends. With 48 suggested menus for every occasion and the time lines needed to produce them, the 400 recipes are divided by category. Each category is linked to a month of the year, and ranges from January's Appetizers to December's Cookies, Brownies & Bars. Each month is prefaced with some aspect of the work that the League does in the members' various communities. The recipes, many traditional, include standbys like the slightly spicy Deviled Eggs and the perennial Caesar Salad, but many reflect more contemporary cuisine, such as Pesto Mashed Potatoes and Grilled Balsamic Chicken Breasts. Interspersed are helpful hints and tips on entertaining, from place cards to table decorations, as well as a five-page section covering the declining art of napkin folding. Ranging in difficulty from easy to advanced, there is something suitable here for every level of proficiency.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

The Association of Junior Leagues International Inc. has published two previous collections, The Junior League Centennial Cookbook and The Junior League Celebration Cookbook, which have more than 400,000 copies in print.

Product Details

• Spiral-bound: 464 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult (October 23, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399150722
• ISBN-13: 978-0399150722
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 9.5 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #543,008 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very good source for family meals and entertaining at home, March 9, 2004

By 

B. Marold "Bruce W. Marold" (Bethlehem, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Junior League at Home: Meals and Menus for Everyday and Special Occasions (Spiral-bound)

This `Junior League' cookbook is almost exactly what you would expect from such an organization, where all recipes appear to come from home cooks. I give this book four stars (with a caveat) instead of three because it surpasses expectations in at least two ways. First, it provides four complete entertaining and family menus per month, with instructions on day before and other advance preparations to prepare for the meal. Second, the range of dishes is very international. I was surprised to find a good recipe for Filipino spring rolls. This is not exactly Iowa church supper fare.

My biggest caveats about this book follow.

First, while the recipes are arranged by month, I believe no thought was given to whether or not fresh ingredients were appropriate for that month. The first menu is serving artichokes in January. I know the recipe calls for canned artichokes, but the sense of oddness persists. The presence of green beans and green grapes on the same menu is a testament to the incredible food distribution network which can bring California and South American produce to a Pennsylvania produce market in virtually any month of the year. But this market still does not have artichokes in January.

Second, the recipes are from many different sources, and these sources are neither professional chefs nor professional food writers. This means the quality of the recipes will be very uneven. One cannot depend on the fact that all recipes will have a uniform reliability as you would if the book in your hand was from Ina Garten or Sheila Lukins or Rachael Ray. This is important if your objective is to improve your cooking skills. As an amateur who wishes to learn new techniques from most dishes I make, I would sooner go to a book by Mario Batali or Jaques Pepin.

Third, there are a lot of prepared food ingredients in the recipes. If, like me, you are adverse to ingredients which come from the Merck Index rather than the farmer's market, I would just as soon stay away from such recipes.

Lastly, the organization of recipes is a little odd in that types of dishes are overlaid onto the monthly chapters. This would have been much better done by having 24 chapters rather than 12 which address two different purposes.

I must say this book is printed and bound so that it is very easy to use in the kitchen, as long as you have plenty of room for it's 8 ½ by 11 spiral bound format in your kitchen. This format lies flat and is very easy to photocopy pages. It also has a good index, which you may not find in most volunteer / fund raiser books of this type.

Recommended for home cooks who are not `foodies' intent on learning cooking techniques or food lore.

6 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Junior League cookbook not "junior" on taste!, February 5, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Junior League at Home: Meals and Menus for Everyday and Special Occasions (Spiral-bound)

This cookbook is charming to read, gives great ideas of meals to serve, and includes many delicious recipes. The blueberry muffins are fabulous!

20 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thrilled to have another JL cookbook!, November 3, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Junior League at Home: Meals and Menus for Everyday and Special Occasions (Spiral-bound)

I was so excited to see that the Junior League has come out with another "best of" cookbook! And just in time for the holidays. I have the previous two books, the Junior League Celebration Cookbook and the Junior League Centennial Cookbook, and I have loved giving them to family and friends as gifts. Now, here's another.

It's beautiful, and I can't wait to try out some of the recipes. The other two have not disappointed, and I don't expect this one to either!