Fancy Sips & Party Dips

Delicious recipes for Appetizers, Drinks (alcoholic & non-alcoholic) and Punches (alcoholic & non-alcoholic). Contains helpful tips and information to guarantee that your party will be a success.

This book contains helpful tips and information to guarantee that your evening will be a success. • What is the occasion? • Is it purely for pleasure? • How many guests will you invite? • How many guests can you afford to invite? Once you have decided how many guests to invite, it’s time to focus on the menu, drinks and decorations. Allow the food and drinks to take center stage. Dress up your room with the most elegant flower arrangements that you can afford. Light the room with candles, and play some nice (soft Jazz) music in the background. Planning your menu will naturally be determined by your budget. Even on a limited budget, it is possible to provide an elegant, yet simple selection of party food for your guests. Orchestrate an appetizer party with ease by preparing a buffet. A fairly standard formula for appetizers per person is twelve servings per person times the number of guests divided by the number of different entrees. If the guest list has fewer than 45 people, plan on providing six different appetizers. When the appetizers are the entire meal, offering some substantial entrees such as meatballs, cold sliced roast beef, and ham are a must. For smaller gatherings of eight to ten guests, three different appetizers are suitable. For fourteen to sixteen guests, plan on serving four to five different appetizers. * Tips for Savory Tea Sandwiches * Appetizers * The Perfect Cheese Platter * What cheeses should you purchase and how much * Cheese Platter Themes * Arranging Your Cheese Platter * Pairing Cheese with Beer and Wine * A Few Final Tips for Planning Your Cocktail Party * Party Punch Tips (and how to make a festive party ring for your punches)

From the time we were married in 1970, my wife Nancy loved cooking and getting together with friends. In the beginning, she owned one cookbook, Betty Crocker’s picture cookbook. She used it so much that it became dog-eared and worn. In 1971 “The Making of a Cook” was published, and Nancy read and re-read this book like it was a novel, learning the art, technique and science of good cooking. By the time our three children were born, Nancy had become proficient at baking, deglazing a pan and de-bone a chicken. She learned to rely on her own cook’s touch to determine when a cake was ready, when a steak or roast was done or when a sauce had achieved the perfect consistency. Nancy had become a great home chef and everything she made was better than the original recipe. Nancy loved to entertain, and compiled many delicious recipes for the perfect party. We decided to publish “Fancy Sips & Party Dips,” with more than one hundred recipes for hot and cold hors d’oeuvres, dips, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks and punches. Soon to follow was “Soups, Salads & Sandwiches.” With all the recipes Nancy had compiled, she had ambitions to publish another cookbook, but sadly in February of 2014, she contracted kidney disease. After a series of treatments to fight the disease, we were hopeful for recovery. But in June, Nancy became ill with a rare reaction to treatment, called calciphylaxis. Nancy passed away in July of 2014. “Fancy Sips & Party Dips” is republished as a tribute to her love of cooking and entertaining. May these recipes enhance your next gathering by bringing together good food, and the love of family and friends! Charles C. Lockhart