Sheila Lukins (1942–2009)

The Silver Palate Cookbook team is back with a book that focuses on food for celebrations. Sections include Mother’s Day, Derby Weekend, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving,Christmas, New Years, and all sorts of social occasions that might call for a party. While many, perhaps most, of the recipes seem a bit involved, I suppose it is only appropriate that a special occasion calls for special effort and special foods. Quite a few recipes qualify as “sinful,” such as the “Fabulous French Toast,” “Poached Apples Stuffed with Gorgonzola,” “Banana Bourbon Cake with Bourbon Creme Anglaise,” and “Dacquoise with Chocolate Ganache.”

Many of the recipe pages have sidebars with additional info and tips, like the four categories of game animals, what wines to use for cooking, suggestions for tea sandwiches, and how to make holiday cheese wreaths.

For those with the time and energy to entertain in grand style, this book will definitely fill the bill.… (more)

This made for pleasant reading and lots of ideas for entertaining. Too bad I'm past the age where I want to entertain. I haven't tried the recipes yet. Many of them are for basic foods but with some flair. They seem easy enough, and I will no doubt try some of them in the future. Some depend on one's locality. In my rural area, I do not have access to the food shops the author's take for granted in New York City, so many of the cheeses, specialty meats, etc. are not available to me. That's ok, I know how to make substitutions for many of them, and if I want to pay large prices, I'm sure I could order some from my local grocery or online. I think much of this book is geared toward up and coming young folks in the city who want to entertain and make a show of it to impress their coworkers or bosses.… (more)