{HISTORY}

One of the most wonderfully whimsical things about a vintage cookbook are the suggested menus that often accompany the recipes. Sometimes, vintage cookbooks just offer a few... holiday dinner menus, seasonal parties, or special dietary suggestions for kids or the infirm. But some gems of a cookbook, in addition to the traditional and typical get-together menus offer more interesting, more specific situations that set the stage for something magical. A theme dinner with appropriately planned meals befitting the occasion - tailgate parties, beach cookouts, ladies' luncheons, game nights, etc.

This cookbook, New York Entertains, published in 1974, offers the motherload of all suggested menus, as the entire book is made up of just that. With recipes included of course. What do you make for a Meditterean summer feast for eight? Gazpacho with Cumin of course! What about hearty fare you'd like to serve following an autumn game of touch football in Central Park?  You bet chili con queso with tostadas is on the menu! What is everyone enjoying for dessert on the menu of the Liberated Cook's Small Apartment Thanksgiving Dinner for Six? Cinnamon Brown Sugar Crepes with Coffee Ice Cream.    

The ladies of the Junior League of New York City will be the first to tell you that these recipes and these menus are interchangeable and ready for your own interpretation. But what is really fun about this cookbook, is the inspiration it offers in the mere suggestion of activities and events that you might encounter in vintage New York City.  There are pre-theater dinner parties, black tie galas, and shopping spree reprieves. There is football season and holiday season and spring when everything is abloom and aflutter in the grasslands of the Big Apple.

The Junior League, which is made up of a group of dedicated volunteers for the betterment of the community has been active in the city since 1901. For this book, covering all neighborhoods of the city, they collected recipes from professional chefs, humble apartment cooks, and the city's finest hostesses and party planners. Included are dishes that reflect the city's cultural melting pot as well as the dynamic social scene that makes NYC one of the most delicious dining experiences in the world.

{SPECIAL FEATURES}

- Published in 1974 by Doubleday & Company

- First Edition

- 380 pages including index

- Illustrated throughout by Patricia Whitman

- Recipes and menus are organized via the four seasons

- Interesting recipes include Gorgonzola Mousse, Cream of Scallop Soup, South Carolina Pound Cake, Cucumber and Dill Mayonnaise, Suffolk Syllabub, Whole Wheat Cheese Biscuits, Olympian Cake, Spinach and Chicken Crepes 

{CONDITION}

This cookbook is in lovely vintage shape. Very clean and bright inside and out, there are no spots, stains or notations. A mylar protective cover wraps the dust jacket. 

{SIZE}

Measures 10.5" inches (length) x 7.5" inches (width) x 1.25" inches (thickness) and weighs just under 2 lbs.