The Art of Living: A Modern Guide to Gathering
/In 1972 just six years after “Southern Living” was founded, the magazine published its “Party Cookbook” with a simple subtitle: “Complete Menus and Entertaining Guide.” The book was written by a witty Chattanooga food columnist named Celia Marks, who clearly understood the art of the soiree. By today’s standards, the cover is not attractive—a dark photo of a crown roast surrounded by spiced crabapples and parsley—but it sold more copies than any other cookbook in “Southern Living” history. Some of that success can no doubt be attributed to the menus and recipes, which cover every kind of party you can imagine (from a He-Man Brunch to a Holiday Reception), but the secret sauce is Mark’s advice that still holds up 46 years later. “Hospitality, a synonym for the South, comes from the heart,” she writes in the first chapter. “Even the most discerning disciple of etiquette may fall short as a hostess if she fails to bestow this gift upon her guests.”
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