“[M]ost people are just plain scared to entertain,” says Denise Vivaldo, author of Do It for Less! Parties. Her book, and another I recently discovered, The Surreal Gourmet Entertains by Bob Blumer, go head to head with many of the common fears that keep us from giving parties. The two books are very different in [...]

This Labor Day, cap off your summer with a pleasant picnic party.  Its the perfect excuse to head outdoors, and enjoy nature! You can keep this party on the small side or make it as large as you want. Setting up a picnic is pretty simple as the theme is nature, giving you the choice [...]

A barbecue doesn’t have to mean burgers, chicken, or ribs. A pizza party doesn’t have to mean heating up the kitchen, either. You can combine two American traditions and make pizza on your barbecue. Here’s how: Use your favorite fresh — not frozen –  pizza dough for the crust. It can be homemade or ready [...]

Every summer holiday has one thing in common – I celebrate with a cookout. Memorial Day? Cookout. Flag Day? Cookout. My wife’s birthday falls in June, so it’s a cookout.  Indepedence Day?  Obviously.  Labor Day? Last cookout of the summer. If you’re celebrating… anything… this summer, a cookout is the way to go. All cookouts [...]

If you’re out of new ideas for parties, or if you never had any ideas  in the first place, here’s a helpful resource for you: Block Parties and Poker Nights: Recipes and Ideas for Getting and Staying Connected with Your Neighbors, by Peggy Allen (Clarkson Potter, 2002). This book focuses on entertaining your neighbors, both [...]