Fandango: Recipes, parties, and license to make magic (Hardcover)

~ Sandy Hill (Author), Stephanie Valentine (Contributor)
Key Phrases: Alta California

Editorial Reviews

Review

"If Santa Barbara County wine country ever needed a poster girl, it could do no better than Hill."—The New York Times Magazine (The New York Times Magazine )

If Santa Barbara County wine country ever needed a poster girl, it could do no better than Hill.The New York Times Magazine (The New York Times Magazine )

Review

"To thumb through the pages of Fandango is to enter an idyll, and to imagine a better, tastier and more beautiful life than the one we’ve been living."— Jay McInerney, author of Bright Lights, Big City

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 313 pages
• Publisher: Artisan (October 12, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1579653383
• ISBN-13: 978-1579653385
• Product Dimensions: 12.5 x 9.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #360,583 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, November 1, 2007

By	Casey DeFranco (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"Fandango" is the most beautiful book! Sandy Hill really puts the entertain in entertaining. The Brussels Sprouts with walnuts and vinigrette recipe is divine. I already tried it and it will become one of my Thanksgiving classics.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Pretty pictures; not much depth, February 7, 2010

By	hungry (rochester, ny) - See all my reviews

I was glad I checked this book out of the library before buying.

"Parties" implies that the book has many examples, but it has just a handful. I also wanted to hear about the "license to make magic." I was expecting to get ideas for adding touches to parties to make them magical for guests, but that was just a marketing catchphrase, I guess.

It's basically a portfolio of 5-6 parties that this woman has designed/hosted, with full-page photos, the menus, and a light description of the details and how the party turned out. So all you can do is read about each particular theme and see how she chose to execute it. With the limited number of themes, there's not enough depth to improve your party planning creativity. I think the only reason this is a book and not a magazine article is as a showcase for the full-page photos.

Also, although it's been awhile since I looked at the book, I recall that all the parties were outdoors - fine for California; not so useful for the rest of the country. I would have liked to see examples of how the author made some magic in a boring function room.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful!, November 12, 2009

By	T. J. Millikan "tjmillikan" (Billings, MT) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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A great book on entertaining with style. Lots of great pictures to aid the reader in understanding what the author is trying to create with each theme.