B. Smith: Rituals & Celebrations - Hardcover

Smith, Barbara

 
9780375502361: B. Smith: Rituals & Celebrations
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 037550236X ISBN 13: 9780375502361
Verlag: Random House Inc, 1999

Inhaltsangabe

A lavishly illustrated guide to year-round entertaining presents a twelve-month collection of holidays and celebrations that features a host of party ideas, full-course recipes and menus, and step-by-step directions for a variety of crafts. 40,000 first printing. Tour.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Barbara Smith is the host of her own half-hour nationally syndicated television series, B. Smith with Style, and appears regularly as a lifestyle expert on NBC's Today show. She is the owner of three B. Smith's restaurants in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Sag Harbor, Long Island. Her new magazine, B. Smith Style, will be available on newsstands this fall. She lives with her husband, Dan Gasby, a television producer, and her step-daughter, Dana, in New York City and Sag Harbor.

Aus dem Klappentext

ifestyle expert B. Smith shares her passion and ideas for entertaining, cooking, and crafts in this fabulous twelve-month celebration of holidays and rituals. As a restaurateur, TV host, columnist, and former model, B. Smith lets us in on the tricks of entertaining with flair and personal style.

The first in a series, Rituals & Celebrations is organized by calendar month, each including two or three celebrations and containing a history of the ritual, full-course recipes, party ideas, and step-by-step craft instructions. In addition to such basic celebrations as a wine tasting at home,a Labor Day picnic on the beach, and a New Year's Eve pajama party for kids, Rituals & Celebrations also incorporates such African American traditions as a Juneteenth celebration and a bid whist card party. The book also includes some wonderful variations on traditional holidays, such as a hot pink Valentine's Day, a Thanksgiving featuring Jerked Roast Turkey, an

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I get a huge amount of satisfaction out of creating lasting memories. That's one reason I've made celebrations such a major part of my life. When you really throw yourself into preparing something that you're sharing with other people, something that comes from your heart--whether it's your own version of a Chinese New Year dinner or a keepsake Valentine's collage--you create a memory that lasts forever. And, of course, every time you celebrate one of the traditional holidays, you become part of a whole chain of memories woven by the generations that came before you and those that are following after.

The other reason that celebrations are so important to me is simple: I love to have fun. Celebrating something, anything, gives me an excuse. It's more than the fun of everyone having a good time; it's the fun of feeling inspired to try something new, and going with it: an unexpected color, a surprising twist on an old recipe, or a whole new reason to celebrate whatever wakes you up and makes you feel! As you leaf through each month of celebrations I've described in this book, you'll find new and unusual rituals for ancient celebrations, along with a year's worth of new excuses to create such memorable occasions as a Labor Day dinner party on the beach, a Juneteenth feast, a bid whist party, or an at-home wine-tasting--there's no limit to the possibilities. One friend of mine had a Bark Mitzvah for her two dogs. And why not?

This book combines both my passions: carrying on traditions that keep our pasts alive and creating new ones that celebrate who we are now. It's not so much about Christmases and birthdays as it is about the birth of ideas, ideas for celebrations and rituals whose memories can live with you and take you through the down times. I think that we all as human beings want to be touched by experiences. You can be having one of the worst days of your life, and suddenly an unforgettable fragrance, even a taste or a color, can take you back to a special event and the people with whom you shared it.

I think that part of the reason we all love the traditional celebrations is because they give us the chance to indulge in rituals that still taste of the excitement we felt in our childhood, like when we decorated the Christmas tree or smelled fall in the air on Thanksgiving. Any ritual has the power to transport us beyond the day-to-day, even the ones we create for ourselves. When you soak in a bathtub with your favorite soap every night, it might seem mundane, but you have actually created a ritual; it's your way of removing the stresses of daily living. Rituals that go along with celebrations also help us mark the beginnings and endings that give shape to our lives: a new year, a coming of age, the first day of spring.

You'll find a calendar year of traditional celebrations in these pages. Some of them have evolved from traditions I grew up with or ones my husband, Dan, brought to our relationship from his childhood. I've adapted them to fit our lives. Unlike the families we came from, ours is a small one: myself, Dan, and my thirteen-year-old stepdaughter, Dana. Some of the celebrations have been shaped by my experiences traveling around the world as a model, experiencing different cultures. I've always enjoyed sharing these experiences with others. Traveling, and growing up in a town that was home to people from a whole variety of ethnic backgrounds, taught me that there's no right or wrong way to go about celebrating even the most traditional of holidays.
Some of the other celebrations you'll find here are my inventions. It's up to you to take what you like of these ideas and add whatever suits your sense of fun or satisfies your personal sense of tradition. Borrow, change, invent--just as I've taken what was passed down to me and given it a new twist that expresses my world and my personality. It's one of the great things about reaching adulthood: As a child, you have to do things the way your family does them; as a grown-up, you can create and re-create all you want.

Some of the best ideas come from the most unexpected places; mine can come from movies, a store window display I happen to see, or an old novel I'm reading. That's why in this book I encourage you to trust in your moments of inspiration and follow your impulses. Invent new rituals; in time, they'll become part of the family. Create new traditions: Instead of a single tree for Christmas, why not have two or three, all decorated with a different thought in mind? For Valentine's Day, skip the red roses for a change and get the dinner table (and yourself) all decked out in hot pink.

You don't need vast resources to be creative. You just have to be resourceful. Most of the recipes you'll find in this book give a new twist to basic everyday ingredients, and the craft projects make use of materials you're likely to have lying around the house. Beauty can come from the simplest beginnings. That's what I learned from my mother who was an extraordinary hostess and a craftsperson long before it gained the popularity it has today.

Food traditions, an important element of any celebration, are open to all kinds of innovation. There's no way you can have a birthday party without a cake or Thanksgiving dinner without a turkey. But a birthday cake doesn't have to be covered with buttercream frosting and roses. Some people I know prefer to arrange birthday candles as a unique centerpiece for the table, and serve fruit instead of the traditional birthday cake.

I hope this book inspires you to create events that add something special to your life year after year, just as my nontraditional celebration of mothers and others on Mother's Day is now an annual event, as is Spring Hooky Day, a once-a-year ritual in which friends and I escape from the usual routine and slip away for a day of relaxing kicked off with a wonderful luncheon. Take your inspiration from anything that is unique and special about you and your family and friends. If you are a great gardener, give an outdoor party when your plants are in their fullest bloom. If your kitchen is attractive, plan a party where guests are invited to help themselves to the food directly off the stove. If someone plays an instrument, hold a recital or a sing-along or a Christmas carol party so he or she can perform. If someone likes to heat up the dance floor or dress up, plan a dance or throw a costume party.

Find ways to add your own creative touch to every menu and recipe, every table decoration, and every event. Play with ideas, break the rules, have some fun. Make it a family tradition to turn convention on its head by starting a birthday celebration with cake and ice cream for breakfast. Have green eggs on St. Patrick's Day. You and the people in your world can share so much pleasure by creating rituals that are uniquely yours, and then making them part of a celebration that's repeated year after year.

NOTE: In order to spend less time in the kitchen and more time celebrating with friends and family, I'll occasionally use a store-bought item on a menu. I've indicated these menu items in smaller type. Of course, you may want to prepare a homemade version of a store-bought item since it's all about making these rituals and celebrations your own.


GRUYERE RISOTTO CAKES WITH HERBED SOUR CREAM AND CAVIAR

YIELDS 36 PIECES

5 tablespoons butter
11/4 cups arborio rice
23/4 cups chicken broth, very hot, divided
2 large eggs, beaten
1 cup shredded Gruyère cheese
4 tablespoons finely minced fresh
oregano or thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon dry bread crumbs
Vegetable oil spray
1/2 cup sour cream
1 ounce black caviar eggs (see Note)

Place a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the rice and stir to coat...

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Verlag
Random House Inc
Erscheinungsdatum
1999
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
037550236X
ISBN 13 
9780375502361
Einband
Gebundene Ausgabe
Anzahl der Seiten
241
Kontakt zum Hersteller
Harder
https://www.edel.com

Neum�hlen 17
Hamburg
Hamburg
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Deutschland