New books aim to reduce party planning stress

Planning parties ahead is the way to go, to make sure hosts have as great a time as guests. Getting smart advice is the first step. It’s as easy as taking the time to check out helpful books from those with the know-how, and deciding what will work for you.

“David Rosengarten Entertains: Fabulous Parties for Food Lovers” (Wiley, $34.95) by Rosengarten, television food-show host, food and wine writer. He not only has a plan, he gives readers 16 completely worked-out blueprints for foolproof parties. Recipes are included, of course, but also table settings, even costumes.

“Celebrations 101” (Broadway, $29.95) by Rick Rodgers, popular and prolific cookbook author. Here are 20 menus and at least 100 easy recipes. The inviting package comes with cheerfully glossy design, plenty of color photos and a relaxed tone of voice that’s confidence-building.

“Party Central: A Month-by-Month Guide to Entertaining on the Cheap” (Perigee, $19.95 paperback) from Budget Living. This cheerful, colorfully illustrated book announces in slogan-slinging fashion that it offers “festive and frugal ideas for every occasion.” Recipes for things to munch at each of the events in the 12 chapters are accompanied by “The Receipt” for each party, a very detailed accounting of what you might spend.

Online

Click for cranberries

Cranberry growers are all the fashion this time of year. Northland Cranberries, www.northlandcran.com, a publicly traded Wisconsin company, says it is the largest in the world.

New plantings are developed from vine cuttings taken from established beds and ultimately knifed into the soil. They take three years to produce fruit but don’t get going in earnest until they are five years old.

Most people associate cranberries with the holidays, though cranberries have made inroads, especially in baked goods.

You might find a recipe you can’t resist.

Trend

Small plates are all the rage this holiday season

The big thing in eating out this holiday season is not big at all — it’s small.

“Small plates is the big thing,” said Narsai David, food and wine editor for radio station KCBS in San Francisco.

“The idea of small plates — so you get just a little bit of something and then get a little bit of something else and a little bit of something else — has really become the wave of the near future,” said David, who also is an author, restaurateur and chef.

While the concept is not new — the Spanish are known for their “tapas,” and Middle Easterners have their version, “meze” — but applying the concept to different cultures and styles of cooking, is new, David said.

“It doesn’t have to restrict itself to Middle Eastern or Spanish food anymore,” said David. “There’s French food in small plates and Moroccan food and South American food and California food.”

Keep it simple, he recommends, and don’t be overly enthusiastic, trying too difficult a task.