Andrea Chesman - Moms Best Crowd-Pleasers: 101 No-Fuss Recipes for Family Gatherings, Casual Get-togethers & Surprise Company

MOMS BEST
Crowd-Pleasers

101 Homestyle Recipes for Family Gatherings,
Casual Get-Togethers & Surprise Company

ANDREA CHESMAN

The mission of Storey Publishing is to serve our customers by publishing practical information that encourages personal independence in harmony with the environment.

Edited by Margaret Sutherland

Art direction and cover design by Cynthia McFarland

Text design and production by Erin Dawson

Cover photograph by Scott Dorrance

Styling for cover photograph by Lori Dorrance

Copyright 2006 by Andrea Chesman

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages or reproduce illustrations in a review with appropriate credits; nor may any part of this book be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other without written permission from the publisher.

The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. All recommendations are made without guarantee on the part of the author or Storey Publishing. The author and publisher disclaim any liability in connection with the use of this information. For additional information please contact Storey Publishing, 210 MASS MoCA Way, North Adams, MA 01247.

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Printed in the United States by Versa Press
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Chesman, Andrea.

Moms best crowd-pleasers : 101 homestyle recipes for family gatherings,

casual get-togethers & surprise company / Andrea Chesman.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN13: 978-1-58017-629-3; ISBN10: 1-58017-629-1 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Entertaining. 2. Cookery. I. Title.

TX731.C5435 2006
642.4dc22

2006013883

I had an awful lot of fun pulling this cookbook together, thanks to some wonderful friends who regularly attend Andreas Supper Club.

When testing crowd-pleasing recipes, leftovers are the biggest problem. So, for several months I hosted a potluck every other Sunday. I cooked five or more dishes and relied on friends to fill out the menu, taste all my recipe tests, and take home the extras. Midway through the potlucks, these friends were inspired to test their own recipes. Soon we had a regular routine: each dish was introduced to the group, with an explanation of who made it and what was special about it. We enjoyed offerings from sushi to samosas, from cheesecake made from hand-milked milk, to bread baked in a backyard brick oven. There were soups and dips, cookies and tarts, salads and squash.

Thank you for wonderful company, support, food, and dishwashing: Kathy Angier, Mary Arbuckle, Hilda Billings, Christiana Bloomfield, Alice Clark, Chris Coliander, Joanna Colwell, Win Colwell, Wren Colwell, Laurie Cox, Mac Cox, Ethan Dickinson, Seth Dickinson, Beth Duquette, Jane Eddy, Marshall Eddy, Michele Fay, Levi Fleury, Noah Fleury, Alison Joseph, Rick Klein, Schuyler Klein, Chris McGovern, Liam Mulqueen-Duquette, Mark Mulqueen, Rachel Plant, Tim Price, Paul Ralston, Millie Renaud, Eben Schumacher, Olin Schumacher, Nathan Shappy, Sarah Wesson, Su White, Aiden Warren, Eric Warren, Rowan Warren, and Miles Zwicky. Thank you, too, to all the folks who continue to make Andreas Supper Club an on-going pleasure.

Finally, thank you to the best tasters: Richard Ruane, Rory Ruane, and Sam Chesman.

And thanks to Deborah Balmuth, Margaret Sutherland, and all the hands at Storey for making this book possible.

I have a friend whom I used to call whenever I was planning to feed a large crowd and was worried that I wouldnt have enough food.

Judy, Id say, this is the menu. Do you think I have enough food? Then Id rattle off all the details of how much I planned to buy and what I planned to serve.

Cut it in half, shed say. Then youll have enough.

She was always right; I always planned to make more than necessary. Judy was raised in the same sort of household I was. If turkey was on the menu, our mothers would make a small beef roast in case someone didnt like turkey. If mashed potatoes were planned, theyd make rice also, Just in case. They never served one type of pie when they knew that some people preferred apple while others preferred pumpkin.

No one ever left my mothers house hungry. They dont leave mine hungry, either, though I dont go to the same lengths to please every possible appetite. My meals are simpler (healthier, too), but that doesnt mean I dont aim to make them all crowd-pleasers.

My early years of cooking included stints of cooking for a sorority and a couple of fraternities, as I cooked my way through college and beyond. My June wedding was held at a state park, and my husband and I prepared most of the food. He brewed beer and I made an assortment of Mediterranean salads, which we stored in the cooler of friends who have a market garden. We bought wines and other drinks, hired a local bakery to make pizzas, and commissioned friends to make the cakes. We hired servers for the day of the wedding, to handle setup, serving, and cleanup. It was a wonderful and memorable occasion.

I have prepared meals for runners at our elementary schools annual 5K Ridge Run and flipped pancakes for a local librarys all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast. Every month, I organize and usually bake for a monthly coffeehouse series. I live among a community of friends who turn almost every party into a potluck. Though my immediate family includes just two sons, it seems I am always feeding crowds. And I love it.

Feeding crowds is tremendously satisfying, and it can even be fun if you have a good repertoire of easy recipes to rely upon. This book is filled with recipes Ive developed and experiences I have learned from over the years. It includes recipes for holiday and birthday celebrations, picnics, even backyard dining off the grill. I hope it helps to make your gatherings more fun, easy-going, and rewarding.

Does your head start spinning at the thought of feeding a crowd? Does preparing just a single dish for a large potluck feel like an overwhelming task? Dont get discouraged. Remember that only six women were responsible for the first Thanksgiving feast. They prepared all the food for 91 Native Americans and 56 settlers, and the party lasted for three days. Thats a lot of cooking and pot washing, but they were sucessful, and you will be, too!

Maybe its lunchtime, and your small family has doubled because the kids have friends over to play. Maybe its dinnertime, and the grandparents show no sign of rising from the couch. Maybe the sun is shining for the first time in weeks, calling everyone out for a picnic or a sledding party. Maybe your new flat-screen TV makes your home the inevitable location for a Super Bowl party. Whatever the reason, having friends and family over should be fun and relaxed. A shower for your sister, who is expecting her first baby, a celebration for your recently divorced brother, or a birthday party for your husband all demand your best crowd-pleasing skills, but can also be a pleasure to plan and execute.