Barefoot Contessa Parties!

Barefoot Contessa Parties!
Ideas and Recipes
for Easy Parties that are Really Fun

By Ina Garten

Ina Garten returns with Barefoot Contessa Parties! Her first book invited readers into her East Hampton specialty food store to learn the secrets of easy and delicious food that have made the store renowned for more than twenty years. After spending more than a year on cookbook bestseller lists around the country, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook has sold well over 175,000 copies. Now, Barefoot Contessa Parties! invites readers into Ina's home to show them how her years of catering parties and entertaining friends have taught her that it's actually the easiest parties that are the most fun.

Throughout Barefoot Contessa Parties! Ina offers her expertise for every aspect of the party, from cocktails to dessert. She writes about the ideal group of people to bring together and how to set the table to make the party more fun. There are instructions for "assembling" meals rather than cooking and for having everything done before the guests arrive. Forget the usual Saturday night dinner party—Ina has great ideas for lunch on Saturday and breakfast on Sunday that will wow everyone.

Ina believes a successful party has surprises: when friends expect take-out pizza to watch the Academy Awards on TV, Ina goes all-out with Filet of Beef with Gorgonzola Sauce; and when the boss comes to dinner and expects something fancy, she loves to make earthy food like Chicken Chili and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies. with Barefoot Contessa Parties!, Ina presents a collection of sixteen parties, arranged by the four seasons.

In Spring for her Pizza Party, Ina makes Caesar salads and pizza dough, so her friends can enjoy making their own pizzas (and the host hardly has to cook!).
In Summer for a Canoe Trip, Ina packs Chinese Chicken Salad and Panzanella in Chinese take-out containers, plus slices of that delicious Lemon Cake that readers clamored for from her first book.
In Autumn, Barefoot Contessa Parties! has ideas and recipes for a Football Party with over-the-top sandwiches like Lobster Rolls and Filet of Beef with Blue Cheese.
And in Winter, Ina makes a New Year's Party with pots of Seafood Chowder and Butternut Squash and Apple Soup simmering on the stove, plus Baked Virginia Ham for guests to help themselves, while everyone watches their favorite movies.

"Keep your eye on the prize—it's fun!" writes Ina. "I hope you'll find some ideas in this book that will have your friends admiring your ability to give parties that are truly fun." Barefoot Contessa Parties! is the perfect guide for people who want to have parties that are easy for everyone, including the host.

About the Author

Ina Garten is the author of the best selling book, Barefoot Contessa Cookbook (Clarkson Potter/Publishers) and the popular monthly column "Entertaining is Fun" in Martha Stewart Living magazine. For more than twenty years, her Barefoot Contessa specialty food store has been celebrated for its style as well as its delicious food. Ina lives in East Hampton, New York and Southport, Connecticut with her husband, Jeffrey.

Buy the Book!

Barefoot Contessa Parties!
By Ina Garten
Clarkson Potter/Publishers, April 2001
Hardback, $32.50
264 pages, color photographs throughout
ISBN: 0-609-60644-1
Information provided by the publisher.