Product Description
From the author of Secrets from a Caterer's Kitchen, the only 55 recipes you'll ever need to entertain with style and confidence.
Features:
? 55 essential dishes with lots of variations for every occasion
? 38 versatile menus-from casual meals to elegant repasts
? The basics of how to roast, grill, or steam meat, fish, and vegetables
? From napkins to utensils-what every home entertainer needs
? Hints and tips from the professionals to make every gathering as much a pleasure for the host as it is for the guests
? Crowd favorites and exotic cocktails
? Expert wine selections
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Secrets from a Caterer's Kitchen: The Indispensable Guide for Planning a Party
- Paperback: 352 pages (2001-02-06)
- Publisher: HP Trade; 2001-02-01
- Label: HP Trade
- Studio: HP Trade
- ISBN: 1557883521
- Average Customer Review:
 based on 21 reviews
- Sales Rank in Books: #104131
Avg. Customer Review:
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Really enjoyed this 2008-11-01
Comment: A friend gave me this in advance of a series of big parties that I'm dealing in the next few months, including my daughter's wedding which we are debating catering ourselves. I found this very useful, with an onslaught of great tricks and tips. She covers small things such as considering table height of dishes (she recommends using cake stands) to recipes and why some foods simply don't lend themselves well to quantity cooking. Her writing style to the point, friendly and confident. In short, like someone I'd want to have cater an affair!
I found this useful in planning a big event such as a wedding, too - you learn a lot about how caterers think,a and some fundamentals about pulling off a big event, whether you're planning to do it yourself or hire someone.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Looks good, but was hoping for more 2008-06-20
Comment: I'd read great things about this book and was hoping for more conversions and amounts of food to serve large groups. There is a nice table that includes some amounts, but I was hoping for a more comprehensive list.
It includes some interesting recipes, and it looks like it would be great if you're looking for the whole...how to do it and start from scratch. I already have recipes I want to use and so it wasn't exactly what I needed.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Watch out 2008-03-01
Comment: I appreciate having Aloni's books in my catering collection. They are full of useful information and have a delightful tone. Watch out for the recipe for Sun-Dried Tomato and Pesto Torta. The quantities for the tomato and pesto layers appear not to be correct. I suggest doubling them. I used a 2-quart souffle dish to form the torta; there was barely enough pesto & tomato for one layer of each. Consequently I wasted a lot of time having to double back and make more of these two layers, including another trip to the grocery store. I'm trusting that the dish will be attractive and tasty as described by the author but "easy" is not a word that applies here. I wonder if this recipe was scaled down from a large quantity (you can't make just one of these for Neiman Marcus), thus the quantities are messed up a bit.
1 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: bought as gift 2007-10-04
Comment: sent to africa to a friend who was doing catering. was thanked over and again but am unsure of how useful it was.
11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: Some good information, some problems 2007-04-10
Comment: Overall a good resource, especially for the price.
Pros:
-- excellent lists and tips for making lists
-- good section on portions and quantities
-- interesting menu ideas
-- tips on how to find help and when to use hired help
-- good decoration ideas
Cons:
-- some of the recipes don't work
-- most recipes serve 8 people. If your party is for 50 it would be helpful to have recipes that serve more people or more specific information on how to scale the recipes (both those in her books and favorites from other sources).
-- could use more sketches/diagrams on table settings. The few she has are good. Possible layouts for rooms and buffets would be helpful as well
-- some information is obvious or redundant
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Secrets from a Caterer's Kitchen: The Indispensable Guide for Planning a Party
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