In What's a Hostess to Do?, entertaining expert Susan Spungen explains everything you need to know to host a party effortlessly and with elegance. Susan shows the hostess how to make it look easy--whether the occasion is an informal brunch, a sit-down dinner, a buffet for a crowd, or an impromptu birthday celebration. It's all arranged in 313 easy-to-digest entries that take readers through every aspect of entertaining. The tips are time-saving ("Ten Great Assembled Dessets"), money-saving ("In Praise of Cheap Wine"), energy-saving ("Ten Jobs to Delegate"), and face-saving ("How to Handle Uninvited Guests"), plus there are 121 recipes to make entertaining easier than ever berfore. With helpful illustrations and full-color photographs, What's a Hostess to Do? is a stylish and instructive guide filled with expert advice from a party-throwing pro.

Pass the cookie platter, please! Frosted sugar cookies, twisty pinwheels, soft gingerbread...all the classics (and some new favorites!) are inside. Christmas Cookie Jar is chock-full of scrumptious recipes with all the flavors of the season...Chocolate Mint Stars, Raspberry Shortbread Thumbprints, Frosted Ginger Creams and Cranberry Crumb Bars. You'll find old-fashioned favorites like Pecan Icebox Cookies, Grandma's Butter Fingers and Pastel Cream Wafers...even Oh-So-Easy Cut-Outs and 1-2-3 Cookies that bake up in a jiffy. Of course we've included candies for gift-giving like Grandpa's Famous Caramels and Sparkling Sugarplums, along with lots of clever ideas for sharing cookies. There's even an all-chocolate chapter packed with goodies like Double Fudgy Cookie Bars and Buckeye Brownies. When Christmas Eve arrives, we'll be setting out a plate of Rudolph's Carrot Cookies for Santa...how about you? 224 Recipes.

A humorous guide that features party-planning tips, delicious recipes, and loving homages to the beloved TV comedy series, Schitt's Creek. Dine, imbibe, and be blithesome in true Rose family fashion. Whether they're throwing ostentatious soirees or Valium-fueled tantrums, entertaining a crowd (and sometimes just Stevie) is what the Roses do best! Let their sagacious advice and biting wit wash over you with Fold In The Cheese: The Unofficial Schitt's Creek Guide to Splendiferous Entertaining. Recipes like "Cardamom Rose Cocktail", "Johnny's Hundred-Dollar Sliders", and "Chocolate Ganache Torte" will titillate taste buds while tips on how to put on a proper game night, host a holiday party, and even organize your own movie premiere will help to create a most consummate atmosphere for hosting. This illustrious tome gives you everything you need to create an event that's sure to be. . . memorable.

If you love wine, this book will give you all the knowledge and self-confidence you need to become a world-class wine taster. It reveals in methodical steps exactly how to acquire essential wine-tasting skills. Cees (it's pronounced 'Case') van Casteren is a brilliant scientist, author, and international wine competition judge, as well as one of the global super-elite (less than 500 top experts worldwide) who have been able to earn the supreme title, Master of Wine. Anyone Can Taste Wine first appeared in Dutch and instantly established itself in the Netherlands as far and away the most authoritative and popular book on the subject. From the book's introductory chapter: "Many people typically believe that the ability to taste comes from some kind of inborn, innate aptitude-as though 'taste' were a genetic hand-me-down-something that you either have, or you don't have. But that's not true. "Wine tasting is a skill. Anyone can taste wine, as long as they have normally functioning senses of smell and taste. Anyone (that is) who is motivated to learn and practice-a lot-can become a good wine taster. Genes or no genes. "Much of this skill will involve awareness of how to train your senses. While there are genetic differences between humans in terms of smelling and tasting, these innate differences do not make one taster better than another. Research by taste professor Linda Bartoshuk, previously at the University of Yale, has shown that a wine taster's ability to taste is mainly due to the amount of training that the taster has experienced. Specifically, exercises dedicated to recognizing wine scents and developing an attendant wine language are the main contributing factors in developing wine tasting abilities. The difficulty that most besets inexperienced tasters is a lack of suitable vocabulary that would enable them to name and describe the flavors and scents that they taste and smell. This vital skill, being able to describe flavors and aromas in words, remains a common problem, even for the most experienced of wine tasters. According to Professor Tim Jacob of Cardiff University, a method that will enable you to associate smells and flavors with a suitable repertoire of words will contribute greatly to the enhancement of tasting skills . . . that is . . . you just need a method. The more user-friendly, the easier it will be to learn and remember. And that's exactly what I realized at the start of my Master of Wine studies. The method had to be user-friendly in order to help me to remember all relevant aspects for tasting, describing, and analyzing the wine. In search of these aspects, I started with . . . the wine itself. With this fascinating blend of water (colorless, odorless, tasteless), alcohol (colorless, odorless, slightly sweet), acids, sugars, pigments, aromas, and tannins which together give wine its color, smell, and taste. "And I was quite quick to learn that this very curious and complex combination of color, aromas, alcohol, acids, sugars and tannins actually were the 'relevant aspects' I was looking for, and therefore the targets of my attention while developing a method. The answer to my quest was indeed in the wine itself!"

Through photos, interviews, how-tos, and recipes, this book offers a guide to creating your own Cowboy Christmas and a celebration of the style, traditions, food, and family celebrations unique to the lifestyles of American cowboys. Featuring ranch families, rodeo cowboys, and communities with western-style Christmas celebrations, this book will highlight the things that make a Cowboy Christmas special. Each chapter will feature traditions, recipes, decorations, and stories from the interviewees.

Q. What makes you smart, sophisticated, generous, and stylish all at once? A. Throwing a great dinner party. Q. What doesn't? A. Brunch. Rico Gagliano and Brendan Francis Newnam have written the ultimate guide to hosting a soiree: an easy-to-follow manual for maximizing your party's spectacularness and saying no to brunch plans. They're just the gentlemen to do it. Each week on their podcast and public radio show, Rico and Brendan share the urbane wit and adult pleasures of a terrific dinner party with nearly a million other listeners as they discuss life, art, culture, news, and what's for dessert. Dinner parties are the key to a grown-up, civilized, satisfying life--and throwing one is easier than you think. The Dinner Party Manifesto demystifies invitations, food, drink, and decor, and shows how you can uncork memorable conversations and laughter that rolls into the wee hours. It also includes funny--but practical--solutions to common party pitfalls, including a formula to determine who gets the last piece of food on a communal plate, and a guide to making the ultimate dinner party playlist. In the bestselling tradition of Adulting and I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence, this is an entertaining, informative book about how to become the most interesting person you know.

With its trademark snow, piney forests, sleigh rides and woodsmoke curling out of village chimneys, New England was practically invented for the Christmas postcard. It's got your Christmas goose and the maple syrup with which to glaze it. It's most of the reason author Ellen Stimson made Vermont her home. Here she shares recipes that have been in her family for generations, mixes up a cocktail or two, and invites readers to make their own traditions.

Highclere Castle, known as 'the real Downton Abbey' bustles with activity at the best of times, but it is never more alive than at Christmas. Christmas at Highclere is a look behind the scenes at the routines and rituals that make the castle the most magical place to be throughout the festive season. Lady Carnarvon will guide you through Advent, Christmas preparations and Christmas Eve all the way through to the day itself, and beyond. Learn how the castle and grounds are transformed by decorations, including the raising of a twenty-foot tree in the saloon, the gathering of holly and mistletoe from the grounds. All the intricacies of the perfect traditional Christmas are here: from crackers and carol singers. The festive feeling is carried through to Highclere's Boxing Day traditions, the restorative middle days and the New Year's Eve celebrations. This book also tells the story of historic Christmases at Highclere - of distinguished guests warming themselves by the fire after a long journeys home through the snow, unexpected knocks on the door, and, always, the joy of bringing family - and staff - together after a busy year. As well as telling the stories of Highclere Christmases past and present, Lady Carnarvon provides recipes, tips and inspiration from her kitchen so that readers can bring a quintessentially British festive spirit to their own home. Lady Carnarvon divulges the secret to perfectly flakey mince pies, the proper way to wrap presents so that you and your guests are guaranteed a Christmas to remember. Lavish, celebratory and utterly enchanting, Christmas at Highclere is celebration of one of the UK's most beloved historic houses and is the perfect gift for any Downton Abbey fan.

Holiday Cookies provides dozens of foolproof recipes for cookies, bars, and savories of all textures, from simple holiday classics like Vanilla Bean Tuiles and Great Grahams to the more decadent Caramel Cheesecake Bars and Chunky Hazelnut Meringues. There are even some delicious savories that can double as hors d'oeuvres at the holiday buffet like Crunchy Seed Cookies and Salted Peanut Toffee Cookies. Holiday Cookies, Holiday Cocktails, and Party Food, three new titles in the Artisanal Kitchen series, provide an indispensable arsenal of recipes that cover all the bases fora delicious holiday season.

There's nothing more delicious than a holiday.

Oh, is it ever true. Whether it's the anticipation of Christmastime or the ghoulish glee of Halloween, if I see a holiday on the horizon, I simply can't contain my excitement. There's just something about the traditions, the family togetherness, the resurfacing of childhood memories . . . the making of new ones. Holidays are wonderful, special, and fun . . . and they always make me happy.

And one more thing: They make me want to cook

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: A Year of Holidays is an all-out celebration of the scrumptious, mouthwatering recipes that define our favorite occasions throughout the year. From luck-inducing Hoppin' John on New Year's Day, to a perfectly savory/sweet Glazed Easter Ham, to luscious Caramel Apples on Halloween, to a crowd-pleasing Thanksgiving feast with all the fixins, these pages are positively brimming with recipes guaranteed to make your holidays deliciously memorable . . . and memorably delicious

Twelve different holidays are covered in delectable detail: From New Year's Day to New Year's Eve . . . and all my favorites in between. Host a party for the Big Game for your football-loving friends, make Mom a lovely Mother's Day breakfast-in-bed, invite your sweetie to a Valentine's Day romantic dinner for two . . . or ring in the New Year with a fabulous cocktail party. There's food, glorious food in this cookbook, and you won't run out of yummy things to make.

I hope you enjoy and devour every page

The third book with kate spade new york, all in good taste is a charming entertaining guide to throwing chic, stylish get-togethers. The culture of entertaining is just as important as the food and drinks you serve, the flowers on your table and the music on your speakers; all in good taste sends rigid rules out the door and invites in unpretentious ideas that are easy, festive, and authentic, always with an air of deliberate polish. Filled with how-to's, personal essays, anecdotes, menus, tips, recipes and a liberal dash of style, all in good taste will transform you into the hostess everyone wants an invitation from. The book covers all of the essential lost arts-how to shuck an oyster, curating a stellar guest list, dinner-table topics, cocktails in the city-right alongside modern conundrums like food photo etiquette and innovations like serving pot pies in teacups. Whether you entertain a little or a lot, or just love being the person everyone wants to sit next to at dinner, all in good taste is the modern classic you'll treasure and dog-ear for years.

Embrace veganism and keep the whole household happy and well-fed - without making a different meal for everyone.

Not a fan of tofu? Fear not - this vegan cookbook includes over 100 healthy, delicious recipes that will appeal to adults and children alike, using grains, pulses, and other meat- and dairy-free alternatives as the base ingredient. You'll find options for every meal of the day, whether you're looking for quick lunch box ideas for vegan kids or preparing a big dinner for the whole family.

"The good stuff" box on each recipe gives an expert breakdown of nutritional value, so everyone is getting the nourishment they need. An additional "flex it" section on many recipes gives busy cooks an option to easily add meat or dairy to their meal, perfect for pleasing non-vegan members of the household or families wanting to go "flexitarian".

This is everyday food for everyone, with nutritionally balanced vegan meals and flexible options - There's a Vegan in the House is the essential cookbook for any household venturing into veganism.

Make no mistake, etiquette is as important in business as it is in everyday life -- it's also a lot more complicated. From email and phone communications to personal interviews to adapting to corporate and international cultural differences, "Business Etiquette For Dummies, 2nd Edition, " keeps you on your best behavior in any business situation.

This friendly, authoritative guide shows you how to develop good etiquette on the job and navigate today's diverse and complex business environment with great success. You'll get savvy tips for dressing the part, making polite conversation, minding your manners at meetings and meals, behaving at off-site events, handling ethical dilemmas, and conducting international business. You'll find out how to behave gracefully during tense negotiations, improve your communication skills, and overcome all sorts of work-related challenges. Discover how to: Make a great first impressionMeet and greet with easeBe a good company representativePractice proper online etiquetteAdapt to the changing rules of etiquetteDeal with difficult personalities without losing your coolBecome a well-mannered travelerDevelop good relationships with your peers, staff, and superiorsGive compliments and offer criticismRespect physical, racial, ethnic, and gender differences at workLearn the difference between "casual Friday" and sloppy SaturdayDevelop cubicle courtesyAvoid conversational faux pas

Business etiquette is as important to your success as doing your job well. Read "Business Etiquette For Dummies, 2nd Edition, " and make no mistake.