Hampton Weekends: Easy Menus for Casual Entertaining All Year Round

by Ellen Wright, Tom Eckerle (Photographer)

Who knew entertaining could be this easy? The allure of the Hamptons is revealed in this beautifully photographed book, which captures the sun, the sea, and the tastes of this exclusive resort area.
Beautiful entertaining is made easy in this wonderfully photographed full-color book, where anyone can spend the four seasons cooking and entertaining with Ellen Wright. Having spent many weekends and summers on the South Fork of Long Island, Wright shares a wealth of recipes and insights to make entertaining as simple, elegant, and delightful as possible.
Complete meals for every occasion are carefully planned for ease of preparation. In spring, under a crab apple tree, enjoy a buttery asparagus quiche. After a day at the beach, transform summer's road-stand tomatoes into the ultimate gazpacho. Autumn is the time for sizzling potato pancakes with chunky applesauce, made at a farm just down the road. On the first chilly night of winter, spoon up a warming veal stew with button mushrooms. Ellen also shares a collection of irresistible desserts, quick side dishes, and refreshing salads, as well as ideas for one-of-a-kind table settings.
After years of successful entertaining, Wright has developed a number of commonsense tips that she shares with her readers. Including five basic principles:
Keep it simple--perfect a few dishes rather than try to dazzle with many
Avoid last-minure panic--organize early and stick to your plan
Mix and match--this applies to both guests and china
Get guests to help--it helps to break the ice
Stay calm--don't worry if the dish is burned, whip up up a little sauce or add some herbs
In this new updated edition Ellen adds more valuable tips and suggestions. As well as ideas for customizing the recipes to suit your guests' special dietary needs.
It is no wonder why Ellen Wright and her cooking continue to draw illustrious friends to her table. The recipes she offers are tried-and-true, and her invaluable adivce on entertaining allows hosts to enjoy the party as much as their guests.

320 pages, Paperback

First published June 10, 2013

Reviews

[Darren · Rating 3 out of 5]

To a non-American "The Hamptons" is possibly an unknown area or it might ring a vague bell about being a bit of an exclusive New York-area retreat. Wikipedia concisely notes that they are a group of villages and hamlets in the townships of Southampton and East Hampton, which form the South Fork of Long Island, New York, one of the historical summer colonies of the American Northeast and home to some of the most expensive residential properties in the country.

This is a very colourful book with rich photography, showing the area year-round with a host of seasonal recipes that draw on timely, local and compatible ingredients. The book starts with a fairly lengthy personal portrait of the author in the guise of an introduction before merging into several hints and tips about successful entertaining. Harmless but it didn't set the right start for this reviewer at least. The engaging photographs managed to hold interest when the text didn't.

Fortunately once it is time to look at the recipes, split into the four seasons, things start to look up. The recipes are consolidated into a series of typical menus - this approach didn't work for this reviewer as even if one needed to prepare a "Labor Day Dinner for Four" one would hope to be able to pull a menu together from many recipe sources. For some this might be a welcome lifesaver but in this reviewer's eyes it just seemed to be a clumsy, not entirely thoughtful way of doing things and it just clogs up the flow. Giving recommended menus is a good thing to do, but let the reader then pull the recipes in from their respective chapters without compromising the browsable nature of the book!

So, time to get cooking. The recipes themselves, once you get to them, are well written, easy to follow and contain all of the relevant information you need, many hints and tips and often a lot of extra supplemental information to boot. Our usual niggles about the lack of a clearly-stated preparation and cooking time and the use of sole U.S. imperial measures apply here. The range and breadth of recipes was pleasing too, it just felt a bit let down by the overall packaging and execution.

Navigationally-speaking, this book is disjointed and not necessarily one of the first books this reviewer might pull off the shelf when looking for culinary inspiration. This is a shame. There is a good index at the back, letting you drill down for a recipe, but short of a one-time sequential read through of this book you might never be entirely sure of what delightful recipes are hidden within. Yet something about this book doesn't either make it feel something you might want to sequentially read in more relaxed circumstances.

Perseverance with this book can yield benefits but it does feel at times a bit of an uphill struggle. Some better internal signposting, tighter editing and some reorganisation could totally transform this book without compromising its core goodness.

Hampton Weekends: Easy Menus For Casual Entertaining, written by Ellen Wright and published by East End Press. ISBN 9780988767300, 312 pages. Typical price: USD24.95. YYY. (Note: this book was originally published by William Morrow as "Bridgehampton Weekends")


// This review appeared in YUM.fi and is reproduced here in full with permission of YUM.fi. YUM.fi celebrates the worldwide diversity of food and drink, as presented through the humble book. Whether you call it a cookery book, cook book, recipe book or something else (in the language of your choice) YUM will provide you with news and reviews of the latest books on the marketplace. //

[Sandra Noel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining is made easy in this beautiful full-color cookbook from Ellen Wright. She shares great recipes along with insights to make entertaining as simple, elegant, and delightful as possible. Complete meals for every occasion are carefully planned to make it easy on the host/hostess.

Most people hear "The Hamptons" and think of the rich and privileged. It was so nice to dip into this book and find real recipes using common ingredients that anyone can enjoy and not a buch of pretentious recipes filled with hard to find ingredients. The recipes sound so incredibly scrumptious, too!

There are great tips with each recipe for everything from NOT using an electric mixer on her chocolate frosting to things you can make in advance to how to tweak the recipe for someone who is lactose intolerant. The recipes are mostly simple with a few more complicated recipes such as Beef Bourguignonne. There is a good index in the back, and a glossary of wineries on the East end of Long Island if you're interested in that sort of thing.

I thoroughly enjoyed this cookbook and would recommend it to anyone who likes to entertain. Menus based on the season throughout with lovely recipes. How can you go wrong?

I received a digital copy of this book from Smith Publicity through NetGalley.com for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Jennifer Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Graceful living, natural foods, clean air—for those of us who may never visit the Hamptons, there’s a certain picture we carry, a lifestyle that we may envy. After all, doesn’t it sound amazing to take a weekend to get away, to have a relaxed breakfast on a wrap-around porch overlooking the beach, enjoy fresh fruit and long walks, and top the evening off with a casual dinner with friends?

With gorgeous photographs and recipes inspired by the seasons, Ellen Wright’s Hampton Weekends brings a personal touch to helping us create that ambience. In fact, the book is peppered with remembrances of her time spent in the Hamptons. Recipes range from formal (roast turkey with bread stuffing, beef bourguignonne, leg of lamb with fresh mint sauce and potatoes) to fun (mud pie, cheese straws, homemade vanilla ice cream). There is also the unconventional (sesame short ribs with tortillas, persimmon pudding with hard sauce, lamb shanks with white beans). And lest they feel overlooked, there are plenty of vegetarian recipes, which can easily be made vegan (sesame wafers, lima bean and pea puree, parsleyed green beans, yams and sunflower seeds, tomato phyllo pizza).

Overall, the book was very enjoyable, and I look forward to trying out some of those vegetarian recipes.

[MartyAnne · Rating 4 out of 5]

TITLE: HAMPTON WEEKENDS: Easy Menus for Casual Entertaining.
AUTHOR: Ellen Wright
PUBLICATION DATE: Jun 1, 2013

AUDIENCE: Anyone open to easy cooking! Ellen Wright, the author, makes it all step-by-step easy.
REVIEW: DELICIOUS MEAL RECIPES! What makes this collection of meal recipes stand apart is the author's way of calmly and casually talking us through the recipes and tips from her experience making these recipes. She makes it easy.

Let's not forget how wonderful the recipes are to begin with: Yorkshire pudding! Pan-Grilled Veal Chops! Mud Pie! Sesame Short Ribs with Tortillas!
Recipes are divided seasonally for greatest use as a resource. (RUBARB!)

Ellen Wright has us hooked though, as she talks conversationally about background stories, and then takes it to the next step, a story meets a set of recipes with "My brother Myles' most requested Dinner!" Also, as is important with a cookbook you want to own, this one is gorgeous.

[GONZA · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful photos and interesting recipes divided according to the season, although I would like there was a photo for each recipe.

Belle foto e interessanti ricette suddivise in base alla stagione, anche se mi piacerebbe ci fosse stata una foto per ogni ricetta.

THANKS TO NETGALLEY AND SMITH PUBLICITY FOR THE PREVIEW!

[Diane D]

review coming soon