Entertaining At Home
/A Guide by Experienced Hosts
Story by Lyda Kay Ferree, The Southern Lifestyles Lady. Photography courtesy of Rizzoli New York, Matthew Mead & Michael Hunter.
Entertaining At Home presents gatherings in the homes of leading tastemakers from the worlds of interior design, architecture, culinary arts, and society who show readers how to entertain with flair and finesse. Curated by Ronda Carman, she reminds us that “this is not meant to be a volume on how to entertain properly, but rather a glimpse of real people at home nurturing friends and family. It is my hope that it is as much aspirational as it is inspirational.” Each page is full of successful strategies and a myriad of ideas for delighting family and friends, with the hosts offering their personal viewpoint and providing behind-the-scenes details that go into creating memorable occasions.
“Ronda takes us on a tour of homes to learn the ins and outs of entertaining from her friends and favorite tastemakers who have blazed trails in interior design, culinary arts, and fashion. Anyone who likes to entertain at home will delight in all of the lovely bits and the behind-the-scenes planning, like finding the best goodies at the farmer’s market and stocking the larder so that you don’t find yourself missing a crucial ingredient when it comes time to put the dishes on that carefully planned menu into the oven.””
These hosts offer their approaches to flower arranging and table settings, menu selection, stocking the pantry, compiling killer playlists, identifying the perfect hostess gift, and everything in between. From a summer social in New Orleans and a lively luncheon in Texas to a lavish winter smorgasbord holiday dinner in Washington, D.C., Entertaining At Home contains a variety of delectable and easy-to-master recipes, such as bacon-wrapped pretzels, seafood chowder, spicy gazpacho, and refreshing sangrias.
Whether it’s an elegant table set with embroidered Leontine Linens or Pinot Grigio served in colorful cups and paired with potato chips and caviar, this book is a visual trove of festive get-togethers in beautiful residences. Lavishly photographed, Entertaining At Home is destined to become the essential new go-to entertaining guide.
Resources and Recipes are helpful guides in the back of this book.
In the Introduction to this lovely and informative book, Ronda Carman writes about growing up in a family that loved hosting family and friends and meeting her mentor, Elizabeth Shouse. “Walking into her home for the first time was otherworldly. I had never witnessed such beauty or opulence, not to mention her spectacular collection of china, silver and crystal. A massive antique Baccarat chandelier, suspended high above the mahogany table, cast color around the room. Deep pink, raw silk drapes mirrored the color of Mottahedeh Tobacco Leaf plates on display in the china cabinet and pale pink hand-blown stemware….I loved it all.”
“There is an extravagance about Southern get-togethers, but that doesn’t mean they’re excessive or overdone. It’s more about graciousness and a desire to show your guests genuine warmth.Julia Reed, consummate Southern hostess”
It was also during this time that Ronda learned to cook. Each weekend she went to the library and checked out every Junior League cookbook she could get her hands on. “I worked my way through them, eventually graduating to cookbooks by Lee Bailey (one of Lyda Kay’s favorites) and Chuck Williams. However, while there was an abundance of cookbooks, entertaining books were lacking. The few that did exist became regular reading. I would photocopy every page and create large binders filled with notes,” said Ronda.
Around the same period, Ronda discovered Bon Appetit and became obsessed with the magazine’s “Entertaining with Style” feature. “I savored every word and clipped my favorite columns,” said Ronda. “Recently I came across a notebook filled with my handwritten notes and an outline for an entertaining book. Even though a dream at twenty-one years old, I could have scarcely imagined that one day I would write my own tome.”
Julia’s Grapefruit Champagne Cocktail
Makes 4 cocktails
The celebratory Champagne cocktail is a simple yet sumptuous concoction. The traditional recipe calls for a mixture of bitters, bubbles, and a sugar cube. Julia opts for Fee Brothers grapefruit bitters rather than the customary Angostura bitters. Kumquats as a garnish impart a very distinctive taste. This is the only citrus fruit that can be eaten with the skin. Most agree that brut Champagne makes the best partner.
Come For Cocktails
Spring Fling: Julia Reed
“No one embodies the exuberant spirit of Southern hospitality more than Julia Reed,” writes Ronda Carman. “A journalist, food writer, and lifestyle expert, Julia is also the consummate hostess. Born and raised in the Mississippi Delta, she grew up at her mother’s knee, polishing silver, preparing for parties, and frequently attending social gatherings.”
No matter the occasion, there is always a lavish yet lighthearted quality to Julia’s celebrations. An accomplished cook, she does not shy away from food that she loves or recipes that call for Pepperidge Farm Very Thin white bread, canned soup, or Uncle Ben’s converted rice. And she will be the first to extol the virtues of serving Popeye’s fried chicken alongside Champagne at dinner parties.
After selling her New Orleans Greek Revival house made famous in her best-selling memoirs, “The House on First Street,” Julia relocated to a nearby apartment in the Garden District. It is now a hub for frequent visitors from out of town and numerous festivities. Julia’s favorite form of entertaining is not a seated dinner, but instead what she calls a “cocktail supper”—food passed on trays and spread out along the dining table with enough fare to constitute a full meal. It allows her guests to mix, mingle, eat, and drink without worrying about using silverware or finding a place to rest a glass.
Julia is famous for her cocktail parties, one of the most coveted invitations in all of New Orleans.
Even when Julia has only a couple of people over for a quick drink, there will be a signature concoction, a full bar, homemade cheese straws, roasted pecans, pickled okra, various dips, and an abundance of flowers. The hostess subscribes to the theory that more is more, but she does not overdo it on the flowers. She prefers masses of a single seasonal bloom in low cylindrical vases. “I’ve been to too many parties where the flowers are so heavy-handed it looks like somebody died,” she laughs.
For her Spring Fling, Julia opts for daffodils and kumquats. The libation of choice is a Champagne cocktail with Fee Brothers grapefruit bitters served in nineteenth century French Champagne flutes. Her affinity for mixing an interesting cast of characters extends beyond people. It is reflected in her home, serving pieces, and stemware. Antique wine goblets from Lucullus on Chartres Street mingle with over-sized monogrammed napkins, vintage china, silver cups, and Riedel glasses.
“There is an extravagance about Southern get-togethers, but that doesn’t mean they’re excessive or overdone. It’s more about graciousness and a desire to show your guests genuine warmth,” Julia explains.
An Easy Saturday Supper: Cathy Kincaid
Keeping Suppers Simple
Small Talk: Keep gatherings small enough so that you can actually talk to all of your guests.
Source Your Baked Goods: Breads and desserts can take a lot of time. When buying baked goods, it is important that they are made the morning of the purchase. Flaky pastry prepared with honey can get soggy if allowed to sit too long.
Tried-And-True Recipes: Make dishes you have whipped up at least once or twice before.
Quality Over Quantity: Focus on quality ingredients and straightforward fare. Simple food speaks for itself.
Cathy’s Party-Ready Pantry
Butter
Caviar
Cipriani dried pasta
Club soda
Eggs
Olives
Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
Pepperidge Farm Very Thin bread
Pimento cheese
Rao’s Homemade Marinara Sauce
Rose
Veuve Clicquot
Ronda Carman is the author of “Designers at Home” and a contributing writer for the “Huffington Post” and “New York Social Diary.” She is also on the 2019 “Salonniere 100, a list of America’s 100 best party hosts.
India Hicks is an author, model, and entrepreneur. Her lifestyle brand, India Hicks, produces beauty and home products and fashion accessories.
Matthew Mead and Michal Hunter are highly regarded lifestyle and interior design photographers, whose work has appeared in numerous books and publications.
