Do It for Less! Parties: Tricks of the Trade from Professional Caterers' Kitchens

This book is full of colorful pictures and tips and tricks that make it fun to flip through. It is well organized into sections, covering everything about throwing a party from decorating, to setting up a room, to themes, to delicious recipes! There is a section on cocktails, including recipes, explanations for wines, and cheese and food pairings. Denise also reviews the basics of different foods, seasonings, and basic kitchen equipment you might want to invest in. She also includes a food emergency section that gives tips on how to correct mistakes at the last minute (lumpy gravy or burned entree, ect.). Finally, at the end of the book is a section of party case studies for 9 parties. You could theoretically just choose to throw one of those parties and every detail from the theme to decorations to drinks to the menu would already be planned for you (examples include fancy evening dinner party, asian inspired dinner, spring garden party, and thanksgiving dinner!). Especially useful about this book was that the recipes could be adapted for up to 75 people and Denise also offers tips for saving money and time.Overall, I'm sure I will refer to this book often until I've adapted my own techniques. It has great ideas and is a pleasure to flip through.

Do It For Less! Parties; Tricks of the Trade From Professional Caterers’ Kitchens by Denise Vivaldo, Cindie Flanagan, Martha Hopkins, and Andy-Sheen Turner contains various ideas such as developing a party plan (pages 18 and 19) (involving cookie jars, themes such as elvis and friends , photographs, postcards, greeting cards, seashells, pictures, teapots trophies etc.), choosing good equipment (pages 98 and 99), ingredients for various recipes such as the Italian meatball lasagna (pages 120 and 121), tabbouleh salad(pg.152),Moroccan lamb tangine with honey and lemon (pg 153), and drinks such as apple cider glaze and Sangria (pages 214 and 215). There are celebrity testimonials from the back of the book such as from Suzanne Somers (apparently Denise Vivaldo catered her 55th birthday party) and from Stephanie Hirsch (assistant to the late Julia Child).

This is a great book! I cater parties for small groups, 20-30 people. I like to keep it small so that I can make sure everything is perfect and I don't have to pay for a lot of extra help. This book has so much great information. I wish I had never ordered How To Start A Home Based Catering Business first. This book has so much more information. Not everyone is going to cater in L.A. or a major city where you can charge $40.00 a plate for food. I understand that most people want to do bigger events with more people, but I've found a niche where I can make just as much money without having to stress myself out over a major event and again, make sure everything is PERFECT.Tons of information in this book. Great for anyone who wants to do a party for more than 12 people.Denise Vivaldo could have used this as a catering "how to" book. The information in this book is worth way more than the cost.

Amazing book! Full of useful hints, hacks and tips! As the new chef of a private club, I found it helpful in planning events. If you need to understand the best flow of patron traffic at a buffet, or how much an average person will consume; at a buffet, heavy hors d’oeuvres, or a casual dinner for 20, Denise Vivaldo addresses all these issues and more. Great book!

Although this is a fine party planning book with a good selection of menus and recipes, given the "Do it for Less!" in the title, I was expecting a lot of money saving tips. There are practically none, except for "make a budget and stick with it." So on that front it was completely disappointing and I probably would have given it just one star.But if it had been named something that didn't indicate saving money, I probably would have given it 4 or 5 stars because I do like the recipes and it has good general tips like setting up buffets for good traffic flow, multiplying menus for big crowds, etc.I just wish someone would write a good money-saving party cookbook.

Purchased this book and read it in a day. It is worth the purchase if for nothing more than the receipes and basic tips. It gave me insight into areas I hadn't thought about which will encompass the whole picture of catering or simply hosting a party of your own for fabulousness. I also bought How to start a home based Catreing business and How to start a home based personal chef business all by the same author.

Found this in the library and wanted it for my own. Thanks.

This book is great! The recipes are well written and what I like most is the fact that you are told how much to prepare based on the number of people attending the party! All of your calculations are done for you! Great reference book for the entertainer!

This book is outstanding. Easily the best menu planning book I've ever see. No detail is missed, from plating to serving wine.I particularly appreciated ingredients amount listed for different numbers of guests. Anyone who has tried to double a recipe to feed twice as many guests knows that recipes don't easily double and adjustments must be made. Vivaldo takes care of figuring out all of the adjustments for you.Of all the books I borrowed from various libraries in town (including from the College with a Culinary Arts program) to help plan our wedding menu, this one was the best! So I bought my own copy.

Kind of helpful with quantity for the amount of guest you are having. Was.expecting a bit more than what was written.