Nell Hill's Entertaining in Style


Book Description

Organized around the changing seasons -- and the holidays and celebrations that go with them -- this book features creative party themes, delicious menu ideas, and tips to make every guest feel special. Ideal for people who are intimidated at the thought of throwing a party, this guide gives readers tips and tricks for breaking each step down into a manageable plan.




InStyle Parties


Book Description

A completely revised and updated edition of the top-selling book from one of the leading beauty and fashion magazines, InStyle Parties is the must-have resource for anyone looking to host chic parties without stress or guesswork. The editors of InStyle offer their expert advice on hosting any type of celebration. Whether a baby shower, dinner gathering, or holiday affair, you'll discover how to transform your tabletop to fit the theme, get ideas for the perfect invitations, and learn the shortcuts of posh party prep. Each chapter has a menu of recipes—including a signature cocktail—a timeline of what preparation to do when to make the day-of a breeze, and a party favor or activity to keep guests entertained. This elegant, full-color book is sure to inspire and help any hostess throw a stylish at-home party right down to the napkins!




Style Me Vintage: Tea Parties


Book Description

In a melding of the fun style of the 'Style Me Vintage' series with a traditional cookery book, Style Me Vintage: Tea Parties is a vintage and thematic take on a traditional afternoon tea book. The current trend for retro styled events and afternoon tea parties is as much about styling as it is about food and drink and this book will show you just how to achieve your own perfect event. Split into themed tea parties, it will show how to create your tea party: dress your table, decorate your room, do your invitations, costume suggestions, and offer key recipes for food and drink within each theme. Themes include: a Victorian Tea Party (lace aplenty and dainty cakes), an Edwardian Breakfast (country house pastries and breakfast cocktails), a 1920's Speakeasy (cocktails in tea cups and recipes for jazz babies), a 1930's Cocktail Party (silk, tweed, champagne with elegance), a 1940's Picnic (fiery ginger beer anyone?), a 1950's Street Party (bunting and finger food). With advice on scaling up into a tea party for many – or down to an intimate tea for two, you can't go wrong.




French Country Cottage Inspired Gatherings


Book Description

Entertaining starts with setting a fabulous table. In Courtney Allison’s signature French Country Cottage style, she showcases a myriad of romantic table settings for every occasion. Courtney provides the styling expertise to host your own French Country Cottage–inspired gathering, whether in the backyard, at the beach, under an old oak tree, or in a country barn. A simple picnic; coffee by the lake; a cheese board for friends outdoors; a bistro table for two; a long table for a formal meal—each setting exhibiting Allison’s dreamy style for you to emulate. The pièce de résistance in every venue, any setting, is the gorgeous arrangements of seasonal flowers; Courtney’s bouquets will take your breath away from spring to fall, for outdoors and inside.




It's Just a Dinner Party


Book Description

Move over Martha - this young dynamic couple sets a new, simpler, and more elegant entertaining style - focused on guests, not glue guns.




The Party Decides


Book Description

Throughout the contest for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, politicians and voters alike worried that the outcome might depend on the preferences of unelected superdelegates. This concern threw into relief the prevailing notion that—such unusually competitive cases notwithstanding—people, rather than parties, should and do control presidential nominations. But for the past several decades, The Party Decides shows, unelected insiders in both major parties have effectively selected candidates long before citizens reached the ballot box. Tracing the evolution of presidential nominations since the 1790s, this volume demonstrates how party insiders have sought since America’s founding to control nominations as a means of getting what they want from government. Contrary to the common view that the party reforms of the 1970s gave voters more power, the authors contend that the most consequential contests remain the candidates’ fights for prominent endorsements and the support of various interest groups and state party leaders. These invisible primaries produce frontrunners long before most voters start paying attention, profoundly influencing final election outcomes and investing parties with far more nominating power than is generally recognized.




Barefoot Contessa Parties!


Book Description

After more than twenty years of running Barefoot Contessa, the acclaimed specialty food store, Ina Garten published her first collection of recipes. The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook was an overnight sensation, but it's the kind of success that can only be grounded in years of experience. In it, Ina shared her ideas for familiar food but with outstanding flavor and -- most important of all -- recipes that really work. Now, with Barefoot Contessa Parties! Ina shares secrets she has gleaned from her years not only as a caterer but as a dedicated party giver. The keyword here is fun. Ina's parties are easy to prepare and fun for everyone, including the host. Forget those boring Saturday-night dinners that just won't end. With Ina's advice, you're certain to have all your friends saying, "Wasn't that fun!" Ina has packed Barefoot Contessa Parties! with plans for pulling off parties like a pro, stories about her own parties, and tips on assembling food (rather than cooking everything) and organizing like a caterer. In the spring you can invite your friends to a party where they all make their own pizzas. Come summer, it's into the garden for a lunch with grilled lamb and pita sandwiches that guests assemble themselves. In the autumn, when it's not Thanksgiving, Ina roasts a fresh turkey, which her friends enjoy with popovers and a creamy spinach gratin. And on a snowy winter's day, everyone is invited for a lunch buffet with seafood chowder and butternut squash and apple soup. Ever since Ina published her first book, people write, e-mail, and stop her on the street to say how much they love the food. She's reached new heights here with recipes like sour cream coffee cake--the ultimate breakfast treat. Salads? The red lettuce, balsamic onions, and blue cheese; Chinese chicken salad; and panzanella may be the best you've ever tasted. Filet of beef is easy to make for a fancy dinner with oh-so-good gorgonzola sauce, or sliced into sandwiches and served with lobster rolls for a Superbowl party. And fans of The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook will be delighted to find the recipe for the Lemon Cake they drooled over but only saw pictured, right here in this book. With so many great ideas and recipes in these pages for you to use, your friends will start to wonder why your parties are always so much fun.




Born to Party, Forced to Work


Book Description

The internationally acclaimed event producer shows his ideas and inspiration for ultimate and intimate celebrations What defines a truly great party? Most of all: generosity of spirit. In his first book, Bronson van Wyck, the man Vogue called 'The Wizard of Oz of New York party planning,' distills the essential pillars of the art of celebration into one volume, with examples drawn from his many successes - and, admittedly, a few entertaining failures. Lusciously illustrated with images from van Wyck's most spectacular events, this is the perfect primer on throwing parties that are as much fun to give as they are to attend.




Cocktail Parties With a Twist


Book Description

The proprietors of Aqua Vitae, dubbed "LA's sexiest cocktail caterers" by "Los Angeles Magazine, " present the ultimate guide to throwing memorable parties. This inspirational guide suggests 14 themed gatherings paired with winning recipes for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres--all captured in stylish color photography. 90 recipes. 100 color photos.




Why Parties?


Book Description

Since its first appearance fifteen years ago, Why Parties? has become essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the nature of American political parties. In the interim, the party system has undergone some radical changes. In this landmark book, now rewritten for the new millennium, John H. Aldrich goes beyond the clamor of arguments over whether American political parties are in resurgence or decline and undertakes a wholesale reexamination of the foundations of the American party system. Surveying critical episodes in the development of American political parties—from their formation in the 1790s to the Civil War—Aldrich shows how they serve to combat three fundamental problems of democracy: how to regulate the number of people seeking public office, how to mobilize voters, and how to achieve and maintain the majorities needed to accomplish goals once in office. Aldrich brings this innovative account up to the present by looking at the profound changes in the character of political parties since World War II, especially in light of ongoing contemporary transformations, including the rise of the Republican Party in the South, and what those changes accomplish, such as the Obama Health Care plan. Finally, Why Parties? A Second Look offers a fuller consideration of party systems in general, especially the two-party system in the United States, and explains why this system is necessary for effective democracy.