Relax, Company's Coming!: 150 Recipes for Stress-Free Entertaining (Hardcover)

by Kathy Gunst (Author) "It's a Saturday night, and my mother has just tried on her sixth outfit..." (more)
Key Phrases: sautéed baby spinach, olive puree, large gratin dish, Company's Coming, Casual Parties, Roast Garlic Mashed Potatoes (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
In the introduction to Relax, Company's Coming! author Kathy Gunst confesses that she entered adulthood thinking of parties as "torturous exercises that always ended with a sink full of dishes and extreme exhaustion by the host." Many people share that sentiment. You plan, you clean, and you spend days slaving over a menu you hope will impress your guests. But, in the end, you're a nervous wreck and your friends feel like a burden. Fortunately, Gunst shows that it doesn't have to be this way. After all, the reason to give a party is to spend time with people you care about. A good host, Gunst explains, isn't necessarily someone who spends a lot of money or dedicates three days to cooking the perfect meal. A good host is one who makes you feel welcome, relaxed, and a part of his or her life. Gunst's recipes are designed to help you do just that.

The recipes are divided into four chapters: "Appetizers," "Casual Parties," "Celebrations," and "Desserts." Most are easy to prepare, and many, like Orange-Marinated Olives or Spanish Potato and Pepper Tortilla, can be made ahead of time. Others, like Sautéed Fresh Figs with Pancetta or Red Caviar Dip, take only minutes to prepare. Casual party fare ranges from homey Pork Chops with Caramelized Apples and Onions to an exotic African Chicken, Spinach, and Peanut Stew. Desserts--from shockingly easy-to-prepare Seven Layer Bars to the more elaborate Birthday Meringues with Chocolate Sauce--are all festive enough for any occasion.

Gunst includes lots of helpful tips--including how to stock the pantry so you can always whip something up spur of the moment, tips for supplementing menus with items from gourmet shops, and creative ways to set a festive table using household items. While she does include a section with 20 suggested menus for variously themed parties (Springtime, East Meets West, Cocktail Party, Dessert Party, among them), menu-planning tips are puzzlingly absent throughout the body of the book. The book will provide plenty of great ideas for what to serve at your next event, but it's not a comprehensive guide to entertaining. --Robin Donovan

Review
John Mariani author of The Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink and The Italian-American Cookbook, and food columnist for Esquire magazine Those who have drifted away from both the family meal or the dinner party will unquestionably be drawn back by the sound advice and wonderfully simple, full-flavored recipes Kathy Gunst presents in her new book. You'll simply have no excuse not to want to entertain after reading her. -- Review

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (October 16, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743202589
• ISBN-13: 978-0743202589
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #662,127 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HOW I LOVE THIS BOOK!, November 2, 2001

By	Sandra D. Peters "Seagull Books" (Prince Edward Island, Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Love to have the company, but hate the mess, time and preparation? If that is the case, then this book is for you. It is an absolute delight and life saver. The African Chicken, and the Pork Chops with Caramelized Apples and Onions are simply Devine! These recipes will taste like you spent the whole day in the kitchen slaving over a hot stove, when, in fact, they take minimum time and effort. You will really begin to feel like your guests are a pleasure, rather than a burden which ties you to the kitchen for hours on end. If you have the time to spend in the kitchen then you probably enjoy your hours of labour, but for those of us who never seem to have enough hours in a day, this book can be a salvation. There are some absolutely scrumptious recipes contained among the pages, so buy the book, relax, banish the kitchen blues, and enjoy your company...and the fruits of your labour!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Easy and Quick Company Cooking, October 11, 2002

By	rodboomboom (Dearborn, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

This is geared to those who don't like or have the time to prepare the more exotic dishes, which take some more time to shop and prepare.

150 recipes are gathered here with that in mind, to have a pantry of items and recipes around to prepare flavorful, good food for company.

Stuffed Turkish Peppers, Roast Duck with Thyme-Honey Mango Sauce, Braised Lamb Shanks with five Onions are indicative of the wide variety of dishes offered.

Although this is adequate and even as the above recipe selections show some creativity, most of these are not what I choose to serve for company, even if rushed. Try severel others which I think show more creativity and thought put in to your entertaining: "Fast Food For Friends" by Lewis Esson; "Food for Friends" by Fran Warde, and "New Fast Food" by Donna Hay.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Many easy tips and appetizing dishes, December 16, 2001

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

The focus here is as much on the entertainer enjoying time with guests as with presentations which look lavish and elegant but require little last-minute work. The key is to stocking a pantry well: over a hundred dishes based on such a pantry are presented in a title which lacks color photos but includes many easy tips and appetizing dishes.