Williams-Sonoma Entertaining: Inspired menus for cooking with family and friends (Hardcover)

by George Dolese (Author) "Planning any party, no matter how small or elaborate, begins with the simple question, "What is being celebrated?..." (more)
Key Phrases: Pinot Noir, Carrot Soup, Cabernet Sauvignon

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Packed with clever ideas, delicious recipes, and gorgeous color photography, Williams-Sonoma Entertaining is the ultimate guide to a successful party. The secrets of easy entertaining are demystified with helpful sections such as planning menus, buying quality ingredients, coaxing the best flavors out of food, and stocking a bar. Organized by season, each themed menu features accessible recipes driven by fresh ingredients; an easy-to-follow work plan; and detailed how-to photos depicting styling ideas.

Key Features:

* Sixteen seasonal menus with more than 100 simple, delicious recipes

* Beautiful full-color photography shows every recipe as a finished dish, plus key preparation, cooking, and serving techniques

* Inspiring photos show creative ideas for table settings, flower arranging, and party favors

* Dozens of ideas for successful parties, from planning a menu to mixing creative cocktails to shortcuts for preparing the meal

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Oxmoor House (October 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0848727819
• ISBN-13: 978-0848727819
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 9.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #42,486 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #77 in	Books > Home & Garden > Entertaining
  #100 in	Books > Cooking, Food & Wine > Special Occasions

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful book -Delicious recipes, November 25, 2005

By	Max Kate "Cookbook Collector" (Arlington, VA United States) - See all my reviews

The recipes are delicious and easy to make- the photos are beautiful and the book inspires you to entertain simply and elegantly. One of my favorite cookbooks.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Food the ultimate melting pot, July 31, 2006

By	Yellow Roses "Mighty Mo" (Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies) - See all my reviews

Thank you for a wonderful book that gives us outside of North America an opportunity to create awesome menus and by extension meals with what we have. I live in Jamaica and was inspired by each menu. It is summer but I follwed the Easter Brunch menu slavishly. I enjoyed the Wine Lovers Evening and was delighted to find a things to do with all the wine corks I have been saving.

I believe a strength of this book is the instructions which feel more like suggestions which you just fall into and you do and they make the entire evening a success. There may well be other books that do this but I would say that this book is moving to the head of my class of my over 60 cook books.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful book for people who love to entertain, December 5, 2006

By	James Means "jamesinhouston" (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This really isn't so much a cookbook as it is a book for people who love to entertain. The book has party/entertaining ideas divided by season. Each season has 4 entertaining "ideas", each of which is amazing.

The recipes are terrific but more importantly, the book includes table settings and ideas for party favors and gifts for your guests. It's a beautifully photographed and thoughtfully written book with a wealth of great ideas about how to entertain. It has something for both the novice and seasoned party giver. Buy it, read it, and throw a dinner party--that's my advice! Then you can bask in the glow of your guests' admiration.