Berry Mary - Cook Up a Feast

In the 20 years weve worked together weve written cookery books on a vast range of subjects. One of the many joys of publishing them is the feedback we get from you, our readers. We take your comments extremely seriously. And if theres one request thats kept on coming, its for a book to serve numbers a party book, with recipes for anything from a family get-together in the kitchen to a full-on feast. Its an area we feel well qualified to write on in our personal lives as well as in our professional lives, theres nothing we like so much as cooking for family, friends, and neighbours no matter the number.

At the same time, were well aware of the worries that many of you have about cooking for more than six you tell us about them at our cookery demonstrations and in your letters and emails. What can I make for so many people? How can I keep the food hot and will there be enough? These are the sorts of question were asked and these are the sorts of question we bore in mind as we wrote this book.

In Cook up a Feast we give you all the advice you need to make cooking for a crowd easy and stress free. There are recipes for summer and winter, for formal occasions and informal occasions, inside the home and out. We give timings for Agas as well as conventional ovens, together with prepare-ahead and freezing information. Towards the end of the book in the section theres a choice of menus for lots of different kinds of event.

We kick off with the basics how to plan your feast and how to guarantee theres enough for everyone to eat. We tell you ways to get the most from your kitchen (the centre of the action at any special occasion) and let you in on a few cheats and shortcuts to make life easier. We also give you ideas on setting the scene and on how to keep your cool on the day itself. Then its on to the recipes.

To get your feast off to a flying start, we begin with a chapter on Party bites the mouthwatering mouthfuls you serve with drinks. Following hot on its heels theres a selection of Starters, then a chapter on Special main courses. Weve long been fans of the kind of casual gathering where various people bring along a dish. Its a style of entertaining thats now so popular its got its own name the Pot luck party and in that chapter we give you a collection of all-in-one dishes that are ideal for preparing ahead and transporting to your chosen venue. Buffets are another classic way of entertaining and weve teamed our buffet recipes with those for Bowl parties, a new kind of get-together, where guests can tuck into hearty food served in individual bowls. Italian food is such a perennial crowd-pleaser, it seemed only fitting to devote an entire chapter to it, while in Summer in the Garden youll find our favourite dishes for picnics, barbecues, and other al fresco meals. The finale to any feast is the pudding, so towards the end of the book theres a selection of with that all-important wow factor. Which leaves just one meal uncatered for tea. There are so many occasions when a cup of tea and a choice of sweet and savoury treats hit exactly the right note. The recipes in Tea for a Crowd are just the job.

To take the effort out of estimating quantities, for the vast majority of recipes we give a list of ingredients to serve six and a list of ingredients to serve 12, with notes on any special equipment youll need. And because celebrations are often larger than that, throughout the book we flag up dishes that are particularly suitable for cooking for a dozen people upwards.

So here it is the much-requested long-awaited book to answer all your party needs and put your mind at rest when cooking for a crowd. We hope each and every one of you enjoys it and finds the inspiration and confidence youre looking for as you plan your special day.