Perhaps it’s because I am an Aquarian, but like Tracey Rapisardi, author of “Simply by the Sea,” I am a lover of water. I never tire of walking by the ocean or viewing the barges and pleasure boats on the Mississippi River. Years ago I lived a half mile from the Pacific Ocean in La Jolla, California. I treasured getting lost in my thoughts as I walked the beach daily. I spent much of my professional life in Memphis, where I saw the Mississippi River almost daily. Since 1981 I have traveled to historic Natchez, Mississippi, mostly to sit on a hotel balcony in Vidalia, Louisiana and observe the skyline of Natchez; view with high powered binoculars the ever moving, ever changing river; and wave at the barge captains and deckhands. Several steamboats dock in Natchez, and they beckon me to go onboard. (I’m convinced that in a previous life I lived on a steamboat.) At dusk the Mississippi River bridge lights come on, and it is magical. While it is not an ocean, the Mississippi River has almost the same effect on me.

Entertaining is what people love to do. Whether you are hosting a large wedding announcement, a few girlfriends for lunch, a formal dinner party, or a tailgate picnic, entertaining is an enjoyable part of life where memories are made. Patty Roper, entertaining expert and author of “Easy Hospitality, “Easy Does It Entertaining, “At the Table with Patty Roper,” “Easy Parties and Wedding Celebrations,” and “Easy Does it Winners and Favorites,” shares creative and practical ideas, tablescapes, menus, and recipes for planning, organizing, and presenting memorable times with family and friends.

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.”