Special Occasions: The Best of Martha Stewart Living

Designed as a companion to 1993's Holidays, Special Occasions: The Best of Martha Stewart Living moves away from Thanksgiving and Christmas to focus instead on Valentine's Day, Easter Sunday, and other "days we choose to make special." Martha and company provide elegant menus and decorating tips for 12 theme events, from a New Year's Day soup buffet to an All Hallows' Eve potluck supper, celebrating Mother's Day, graduation day, and even simply a midsummer's day in between. Sidebars featuring food histories, tips on collecting, and etiquette are interspersed with the recipes. The recipes themselves are predictably wonderful, from a simple yet beautiful Herbed Tomato Salad to an elaborate, sinful "Chocolate Romance" cake and a Pansy Cake that looks too pretty to eat. Martha would be the first to tell you that "good company comes first" when planning a successful party, but this book can certainly help with everything else. After all, who says the first day of summer isn't as special as Thanksgiving--especially when celebrated with a Tuscan feast. --C.B. Delaney