Art Of The Cocktail Party

From high-end magazines and design-inspiration websites to stores big and small, bar carts are a must-have piece of furniture. This book provides all the answers to the question—how can I get that look at home? The Art of the Bar Cart features 20 different styled bar setups—from tricked-out vintage carts to a collection of bottles tucked into a cabinet—themed around favorite libations, personal style, or upcoming occasions. Readers can choose from the warm and inviting Whiskey Cart, the fun and fresh Punch Cart, or mix and match to suit any style. With easy tips to re-create each look as well as recipes for the perfect drinks to pair with each cart, this beautifully photographed guide is an inspiration to anyone looking to create a unique décor statement, and a drink to serve alongside.

A hip, elegant, and completely irresistible guide to throwing (or attending) that most American of institutions--the cocktail party. With informative lists and sidebars, quotations from celebrated wits, and more than 135 whimsical yet instructive illustrations, The Art of the Cocktail Party will turn any host or hostess into the talk of the town. Illustrated.

'Kay can cook - but she can shake a damn fine cocktail too.' - Heston Blumenthal Kay Plunkett-Hogge demonstrates that entertaining need not be stressful with more than 90 deliciously simple recipes for cocktails and finger food that can easily be scaled up and made in advance. Kay draws on her own party-planning experience to help you be the perfect host, with handy tips on everything from guest list to painless clean-up. Features favourite recipes from three of Kay's previous books, including the award-winning Make Mine A Martini, as well as new creations such as Mini Cornbreads with Bacon, Chilli and Cheese, Smoked Mackerel Paté and Scandinavian Glögg.

Meet the hostesses who have shaped cocktail history, and learn how to make the drinks they loved. Throughout American history, women have helped propel what we know as classic cocktails—the Martini, the Manhattan, the Old-Fashioned, and more—into popular culture. But, often excluded from private clubs, women exercised this influence from the home, in their cocktail parlors. In The Cocktail Parlor, Dr. Nicola Nice, sociologist and spirits entrepreneur, gives women their long-overdue spotlight in cocktail history and shows how they still impact cocktail culture today. Journeying through the decades, this book profiles a diverse array of influential hostesses. With each historic era comes iconic recipes, featuring a total of 40 main cocktails and more than 100 variations that readers can make at home. Whether its happy hour punch a la Martha Washington or a Harlem Renaissance–inspired Green Skirt, readers will find that many of the ingredients and drinks they’re familiar with today wouldn’t be here without the hostesses who served them first.

In Ten Cocktails, The Times drinks columnist Alice Lascelles uses ten of her favourite cocktails to distil the stories, recipes and tips she has amassed in more than a decade in pursuit of the mixed drink. Join her as she dodges the washing lines of backstreet Havana in search of the perfect Daiquiri, scours the cocktail bars of Tokyo for the world's best ice carvers, harvests juniper in the hills of Umbria, goes sipping Sazeracs in New Orleans and unearths the mixological secrets of The Savoy. What makes a G&T glow in the dark? Who threw the world's first cocktail party? Why does a Bloody Mary taste best at 35,000 feet? And what's the key to opening champagne with a sword? By the time you finish Ten Cocktails you will have the answers to these questions and many more, as well as an armoury of cocktail recipes for every occasion, from convivial party-starters and lip-smacking sours to slow-stirred whiskey drinks and indulgent nightcaps. Whether you've just forked out for your first shaker, or you've got your Martini mixing down to a tee, this book will have you thirsting to try new things come 6 o'clock.

Jacket subtitle: Inspired recipes and party ideas for entertaining with friends.