I was extremely excited when I received this book. I am an avid entertainer and always on the look out for something new and fresh. With easy to follow directions and helpful hints and 15 pages of colorful photographs of the featured recipes…a fact I found remarkably helpful in making sure I ha... more

I was extremely excited when I received this book. I am an avid entertainer and always on the look out for something new and fresh. With easy to follow directions and helpful hints and 15 pages of colorful photographs of the featured recipes…a fact I found remarkably helpful in making sure I had the presentation looking it best…Easy Entertaining for Beginners has become instrumental in my party planning. Easy Entertaining for Beginners was a great success in helping me plan my small get together. I enjoy cooking and have three children who conveniently love my cooking. I invited a few close friends and family to be my 'guinea pigs' and try some of the recipes in the book. The Coconut Salmon on page 15 went down a treat with even my fussiest family members. I then gave the children the Lemon Cupcakes with Cream Cheese filling from page 98 and the Kahlua Fudge Brownie Pie on page 29 to the 'adults'. These two desserts were loved, I realized early that I was not anticipating everyone's reaction to these delicious recipes. I experimented with the easy to follow menus to cater for individual tastes. Since I have been using Easy Entertaining for Beginners I have found planning and executing dinner parties, romantic dinners and even an 8yr old girl's "High Tea" party, to be completely stress free and fast, leaving myself with plenty of time to enjoy the festivities. I am looking forward to Christmas and following Chapter 12: Christmas Season Special, beginning on page 149. Being in Australia, the temperatures and measuring systems differ from the US and I was delighted to find an easy to follow conversion charts on pages 165 and 166. With Fahrenheit and Celsius conversion, ingredient equivalents, and an Imperial, Metric and U.S. liquid conversion chart that I found to be a lifesaver. Easy Entertaining for Beginners has made my life a lot easier and introduced my family to some wonderful combinations of flavors I would never have thought to try. I am no longer pulling out my hair trying to decide on something different to serve. Many of the recipes found in this book complement each other and can be combined to create a different menu than that illustrated in the book.