Relax, It's Only Dinner: Whether with Family or Company, You Can Eat Splendidly Without Losing Your Mind

I bought this cookbook several years ago and highly recommend it. The recipes are delicious and a little bit different from the dinner party standards you're probably familiar with. The book itself is very readable; the directions are user-friendly and detailed and it opens with two well-written essays about grocery shopping and stocking the pantry. Also, Merser cites Peg Bracken (of the "I Hate to Cook Book") as one of her inspirations, which is a sure vote-getter as far as I'm concerned. My only caveat is that, having cooked a few of these recipes, I don't think they're quite as easy as they're made out to be. I imagine the neophyte cook might get a bit flummoxed if trying them out for the first time. Also, the side dishes/accompaniments she recommends can add quite a bit of work time to dinner, although they're very good. My take on the book overall was that the menus as they stand are probably not good weeknight meals without simplifying them at least a bit. My advice: this book is great for cooking company dinners, but you might want to try out the recipes first for practice before making them for your guests. That said, the menus are not *that* hard and your guests will love what you've made.

I love to cook and this is my favorite cookbook. This is a collection of menus, with interesting combinations of courses. Each recipe is very clearly explained. The author uses store bought ingredients whenevr possible to save time, such as chutneys, etc. The food is very elegant, reasonably economical, and simple to prepare quickly. I found it at a "buck a book" store, you might too.