Do You Need a New Party Trick?
Anna's semi-homemade guide to hosting for the 21st century.
Last week, we shared a short list of the cookbooks we’re most excited about this spring. Today, it’s time for a major admin reveal to share that I myself have a cookbook that’s fresh off the presses and in cookbook stores this week. It’s called Party Tricks, and it’s about approachable, laid-back recipes for entertaining that still feel fancy and look really cool.
There’s a customizable template for a big savory tart, a recipe for pickled celery that you can spin into a martini or serve with fried dates and blue cheese, plus lots of ideas for those tins of seafood you still have in your pantry from that trip to Spain two years ago. I’m hoping that readers will think of it as sort of a semi-homemade guide to hosting for the 21st century.
If you’re interested in hearing more about the book, and about why I love hosting parties, check out my conversation with Maggie Hoffman on The Dinner Plan, or my interview with Deb Perelman at Smitten Kitchen.
On Monday, I’m teaching a virtual class for Milk Street, where I’ll cook through a few recipes from Party Tricks live from my kitchen in Brooklyn (like my quick-marinated anchovies with kumquats, and my pickled celery gibson), with opportunities to chat and ask questions. You can find tickets here. The first 20 people to use the code GIBSON50 will get 50% off their ticket price.
One more thing: Do you need a pistachio sundae right now? Pistachio magic shell is a recipe from Party Tricks, which you can scale up, make ahead of time, and microwave for a few seconds before serving. But you don’t need to host a party to make this, and I’ve actually run into the kitchen to make myself some during commercial breaks while watching TV. You can pour this over a scoop of ice cream (cherry or coffee are some of my favorites to have with this), and shower the whole thing with chopped pistachios, shards of chocolate, Luxardo cherries, or crushed pieces of shortbread cookies. —Anna
