Great Parties: Recipes, Menus, and Ideas for Perfect Gatherings: The Best of Martha Stewart Living

Although the parties and recipes are not all in my wheelhouse, this book has loads of pictures and will at least give you some ideas. Martha is always a little...unrealistic, at least for me with both cost and ability in some of her things, so I wasn't terribly surprised this wasn't as useful as I'd hoped, but I love all the pictures and at least some of the recipes and ideas are doable, even for a novice like me, so I would still recommend people give it a try!

el libro esta muy bueno para quien quiere realizar fiestas con diferentes motivos de cocinas regionales de diferentes paises

This book is filled with an array of creative parties, there are 11 party themes ranging from simple to more elaborate. The book is also filled with many recipes, crafts, and decoration ideas; most of which are accompanied by beautiful photographs :)

Theme parties are great! Getting your guests to "dress the part" isn't at all difficult! If you want people to dress up, just inform them that it is a "themed costume party". Your guests will try to out-do each other with their creative costumes. It really makes things a lot of fun and makes decorating in a theme really worth the effort! My friends and I have one about once a month. I think Martha is great, but no one should follow any entertaining "to the letter". These books are for just for ideas and Martha's ideas are some of the best, hence her empire. Regarding the woman with the "waterfront property" whose party was a "fiasco", no one with a third home in Switzerland knows how to throw a party. Hence, the story is a total fraud by someone who harbors some sort of grudge. Did the shiitake gravy turn out badly for you in front of the husband's boss? She didn't realize that anyone with that much wealth would hire a professional party planner who would do all the work for them. I should know, I have a good friend is actually is a professional party planner. Whomever the "reader" with a grudge is, she's made a common nouveau riche (or no riche at all) mistake of misundersanding the role played by those in the upper classes. Marha isn't upper class (contrary to popular opinion). She's upper-middle class, the highest class who still cook at home for themselves during the holidays and for parties. Upper and lower don't mean "better" and "worse" - as class measures they're just indicators of lifestyle. Upper Middles have the most fun :)

Now I know that we can't all go to Texas to have an authentic Tex-Mex fiesta, but the ideas are great none the less. Who care's if no one comes dressed the part? This book is all about themes. Themes that you can manipulate and call your own. Each party is beautifully photographed and the recipes are delicious. They even offer her infamous "Good Things" as a sidebar for many of the parties. Don't let the perfection overwhelm you. This book delievers.

As we all know, Martha can be a bit anal when it comes to many things, I have to admit I really like her cookbooks. The recipes are easy to follow and most of the time, tasty. The entertaining ideas are good, however, I've never been able to follow one completely as I simply don't have the time to do it all. Perhaps if I were a wealthy at-home wife I could...but in that case..wouldn't I have someone do it _for_ me?