Product Description
How do you throw a party without stressing out? Plan ahead and do-ahead. This entertaining guide from Diane Phillips, the Diva of Do-Ahead, with help you get out of the kitchen and into your own party. She presents nearly 500 recipes that can all be made ahead of time–some days and even weeks–that taste delicious, and are designed to be served buffet style. Handy icons show which recipes are just right for a backyard barbecue, an elegant cocktail party, or an all-night blow-out bash. Dozens of menu suggestions, templates for figuring out the menu range and quantities, easy decorating tips, and guidelines for stocking a bar complete this essential guide to entertaining.

The whole premise of Perfect Party Food can be summed up in one word:  breathe.  It’s really that simple and Diane Phillips will walk you through, step-by-step, how you can breathe, relax, and enjoy! the perfect party foods for all your entertaining.  Who wants to be a slave to the stove while their company is having all the fun?  Not me, and neither should you.  Every recipe is a do-ahead (from the Diva of Do-Ahead) and you absolutely will find recipes to make for the first time, then again and perhaps again.

In the Party Beverages section Diane will teach you how to choose the right wine(s) to compliment your yummy presentations.  How do you end that spectacular dinner you made? Why with a Sinful Choclate Pean Pie or an Old-Fashioned Berry Cobbler, of course!  There are chapters on Party Planning Basics, Suggested Menus for Stree-Free Entertaining, even a section on Party Salads which was my first stop in this “Bible” of do-ahead party foods.

Take it from a cookbook collector and do yourself a favor by buying this book.  You will use it, return to it over and over and truly wow your guests with all the attention you should be giving them, while they are devouring (and I mean devouring) these foods.  Diane Phillips has rightly earned her title as the Diva.

I rate this book a 5+