Florence Fabricant: Park Avenue Potluck

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Is their a nexus where New York Socialite hostesses' dinner tips meet cancer care? Park Avenue Potluck (Rizzoli 2007), edited and with contributions from The New York Times' Florence Fabricant, benefits The Society of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC). It is a time of giving, as it always is, and one of the easiest ways is to buy a cookbook that raises money for a good cause. Park Avenue Potluck offers advice on how to entertain in true New York style with a compilation of over 100 recipes, entertaining advice, anecdotes, and party-planning know-how from New York party givers, members and friends of MSKCC. You may know their names (or their husbands') from society pages or Page Six, or you may be intrigued that society hostesses don't have assistants who do all this for them. Do they even use the word "potluck"? In any case, this book is a fun read of tidbits about throwing a party, placing name cards around the table, and where to have the after-dinner drinks. Here are a couple of quotes from the Guide for Entertaining: "No matter what, you should plan a party and a menu that will please the men. That’s why I’ll serve huge chocolate desserts." Leslie Perkin "I design every menu according to what the men will eat." Chessie Breen Or another classic from Chessie: “You must remember to start with an empty dishwasher!” And this, from Coco Kopelman: “Setting the table is the most fulfilling part of the party preparations.” Still... what about the food?... Previous articles: FCI: Help Cook for A Cause Cooking for Life: Vikas Khanna Today's Kitchen Cookbook [Chefs & Charity - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging --> back to Super Chef