Carmela Soprano - Entertaining with the Sopranos

Copyright 2006 by Warner Books, Inc., and Home Box Office, Inc. All rights reserved.

Text copyright 2006 by Warner Books, Inc.

Recipe photographs copyright 2006 by Ellen Silverman

The Sopranos photographs copyright 2006 by Home Box Office, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Sopranos, HBO, Home Box Office, and IT'S NOT TV. IT'S HBO. are service marks of Home Box Office, Inc.

Warner Books

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First eBook Edition: February 2006

ISBN: 978-0-446-54932-5

The Warner Books name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

Interior designed by Mada Design, Inc.

Front cover photograph by Barry Wetcher/HBO

Front cover photo, Costume Designer: Juliet Polcsa

Front cover photo, Hair: Anthony Veader

Front cover photo, Makeup: Kymbra Callaghan Kelley

Back cover cast photograph by Abbot Genser/HBO

Endpapers photos by Abbot Genser/HBO

Interior photo credits:

i, 6, 9 (bottom), 24, 26, 44 (bottom), 93, 110 (top and bottom), 167 (top) Anthony Neste/HBO

1, 15, 17, 23, 25, 31, 36, 37, 39, 41, 49, 55, 59, 61, 63, 71, 81, 85, 91, 99, 105, 107, 113, 117, 119, 129, 133, 135, 143, 147, 149, 159, 163, 165, 175, 177, 181, 183, 191, 197 Ellen Silverman

2 (top), 2 (bottom), 4, 5, 12, 28, 46, 70, 73, 76 (top and bottom), 90, 92, 94 and 95, 108, 134, 136, 148, 152, 164, 168, 169, 170, 182, 186 Abbot Genser/HBO

9 (top), 10, 11, 13, 27, 29, 40, 42, 44 (top), 45, 47, 74, 75, 79 (top and bottom), 96, 97, 106, 109, 137 (left and right), 139, 150, 151, 167 (bottom), 184, 187, 198 Barry Wetcher/HBO

Fans of a certain multi-award-winning HBO dramatic series and lovers of fine eating everywhere made The Sopranos Family Cookbook a runaway #1 bestseller, thanks to its intimate vignettes and delectable Old Country recipes. But that just got the party started. Now comes the ultimate guide to making every event the perfect occasion, served up by the Garden State's most gracious hostess, Carmela Soprano.

From graduation parties to holiday gatherings to poolside barbecues, Carmela gives you everything you need to keep your personal crew as happy as a clam in red sauce: over 75 delicious new Neapolitan-based recipes as well as scores of Soprano-approved tips on picking the ideal location, choosing tasteful decorations, whipping up the best drinks, and selecting the right music. Sweetening the festa are dozens of never-seen illustrations and insightful commentaries from Soprano relatives and intimates. You'll find AJ Soprano's confirmation invitation, advice on party anxiety from therapist Dr. Jennifer Melfi, a term paper by Meadow Soprano on Why My Grandmother Can't Cook, advice from family friend Paulie Walnuts on throwing a surprise party, and much, much more.

Unsure about wine? Follow the advice of Artie Bucco, proprietor of the renowned Nuovo Vesuvio restaurant in Newark, New Jersey: If you have steak, a big meat dish, think of a big red wine like a California Burgundy. I guess you could match it with a big white wine, too, but 1 don't know of any big white wines.

Want to surprise with a birthday gift? Model yours after what Carmela plans on giving her husband, waste management executive Tony Soprano, on his fiftieth: a Dean Martin impersonator, an outdoor screening of his favorite film, The Public Enemy, starring James Cagney, and a monogrammed putter. (But no ritzy watch. He has a dozen of them.)

Planning a wedding? Find inspiration in the vision of Carmelas sister-in-law, Janice Soprano Baccilieri: As guests enter a cathedral of pines, they would pass an ancient wishing well where they could deposit small presents or deep thoughts about life and love. Ideally, I would love for the whole ceremony to be done in the nude, but unfortunately, the time for that kind of pagan openness has long passed.

Flustered by funerals? Heed the wise suggestions for his own wake from Tony's Uncle Corrado Junior Soprano: A lot of food, no crap, a lot of homemade Bucassi vino, a nice speech from Bobby Bacala, since he was always the nicest to me of all those bums, and me singing like Caruso on the Victrola.

In Carmela's words: What's closer to a celebration of life than celebrations? Look for them, jump into them, charger plates and all, and have a ball.

CARMELA SOPRANO is a wife, mother, and homemaker in North Caldwell, New Jersey. This is her first book.

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FRONT COVER PHOTOGRAPH BY BARRY WETCHER/HBO

BACK COVER CAST PHOTOGRAPH BY ABBOT GENSER/HBO

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My eternal gratitude to David Chase, Ilene Landress, Bree Conover, Richard Oren, Russell Schwartz, and Felicia Lipchik Gell for all of their help and support. Special thanks to Chris Albrecht, Carolyn Strauss, Miranda Heller, Mike Garcia, Victoria Frazier, Tracey Barrett-Lee, Jeff Peters, and all the other people at The Sopranos and HBO who make books like this so darn much fun to do. Thanks to food stylist Anne Disrude, prop stylist Betty Alfenito, and Triserve Rental. Michele Scicolone is a joy to work with and an expert on all things Italian-American, life as well as food. Two people deserve enormous credit and acknowledgment: entertaining specialist Kathleen Renda for providing a thousand and one great ideas and editor Natalie Kaire for overseeing every aspect of this enterprise. Super agent Jay Mandel, kudos on the new baby, and, as always, my love to Ann-Marie, Blaine, and Max.

H ello and welcome to our exciting new book on entertaining. While I am not a professional writer, I do feel I am a seasoned party planner and hostess and love entertaining. As time inevitably goes by and my family grows up and scatters with the wind, Ive come to love and appreciate family gatherings even more. I feel a special tug in my heart for all those occasions, from wedding receptions to Grandpa's seventieth birthday party, where the only real task is to enjoy each other's company. Thus the impetus for this book on the joys of entertaininga chance to elaborate on those special events that my children might then be able to pass on to their children to keep the flame of family and friendship alive.

We often take these social rituals for granted, but we do so at our own peril. They are more fragile than we think. Like fine crystal, they break easily and are hard to glue back together.

As we all know, it's so easy to say one Christmas, Oh, let's just forget the big Christmas Eve celebration this year, order in pizza, and watch It's a Wonderful Life on cable. You do that and think it's a one-time-only event, but it's the next Christmas when the effects are truly felt. Your grown daughter might say, Heck, Im too tired to go home to eat pizza. I can order pizza here in my place in New York and just call home collect. The ties, in other words, begin to unravel because the tradition has lost both its familiarity and its magic.