Entertaining-focused cookbooks come out twice a year--before
summer and for the holidays (even if their party suggestions are
not season-sensitive). I always leaf through the summer ones
with the slightly dislocated sense one has when observing a foreign
culture. Twice each summer is my limit, basically, when it
comes to entertaining. The first time is my daughter's
birthday (cookies & tea sandwiches, crafts, princess stuff),
followed very shortly by July 4th (fried chicken, sugar snap peas,
picnic tables). After that I surrender to inertia and the
weather.
So when I look at a book like Fay Lewis' Be My Guest,
with its elaborate floral centerpieces, bespoke linens, and
cascades of shimmering glassware, it is with an anthropological
sense of wonder, like Margaret Mead among the Samoans.
Interestingly enough, the recipes look pretty simple (just as well,
since it takes time to tie raffia bows around the bread rolls).
For
a little more updated vision of dinner-with-friends plus
manners-and-mores, there's Emily Post's Great
Get-togethers (by great-granddaughters Anna and Lizzie Post). It's just
the thing in case you're wondering just what "dressy casual" means
when you're going to a tasting party, and how to hold your
wineglass. There's some recipes too, but they're mostly an
afterthought.
Much
more food-forward is Rick
Bayless' newest book, Fiesta at Rick's.
Why bother with a floral centerpiece when you can adorn your table
with a giant paella or a generously proportioned guacamole with a
fleet of garnishes? I've always thought that any one of
Bayless' flavor-saturated Mexican recipes was worth throwing a
party for--I guess he's just come round to my point of view.
But whether you bloom or wilt in summer--whether entertaining
relieves your stress or simply increases it--there's no reason not
to enjoy the laziest days of the year. I hope each of us gets
the chance to throw the perfect afternoon party for an audience of
one, where the place setting is a hammock, the menu is an icy
drink, and the centerpiece a good book. That's what I call
effortless entertaining.
