Every Day's a Party: Louisiana Recipes For Celebrating With Family And Friends

by Emeril Lagasse

Emeril takes you through a year's worth of party and festival menus (divided by month) from Super Bowl tailgate to Mardi Gras, from the New Year's Eve to end the millennium to the New Orleans Jazz Fest. In the fun and colorful style that Emeril brings to his Food Network television show Emeril Live and to all his cookbooks, Every Day's a Party is filled with over 125 recipes and Emeril's signature "kick-it-up-a-notch" way of making every occasion an over-the-top celebration. You've never had this much fun on President's Day.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Reference

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Emeril John Lagasse is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, television personality, and cookbook author. A regional James Beard Award winner, he is perhaps most notable for his Food Network shows Emeril Live and Essence of Emeril as well as catchphrases such as "kick it up a notch" and "BAM!" He is a 1978 graduate of Johnson & Wales University's College of Culinary Arts. The "Emeril Empire" of media, products and restaurants generates an estimated USD$150 million annually in revenue.

Reviews

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

As one of Lagasse's earlier compilations, this cookbook features many Cajun/Creole classics. It is uniquely divided by celebratory event (everything from Jazz Fest, to the Super Bowl, to a wedding along with holidays) rather than by category. I enjoyed the commentary on each section as well as a good overview why each recipe was chosen for that event. On the down side, the lack of a good index made re-finding some of the recipes more difficult than necessary when I couldn't remember which dish was listed under which event. Another bonus is the suggestions for variations accompanying each recipe. Crawfish aren't available in my area, and even my most fancy local grocery story doesn't carry quail. Although I make the recipes as written whenever possible for my reviews, I did use some of those variations due to lack of ingredient availability. For instance, I couldn't find quail for the Creole Mustard Grilled Quail recipe, so I used Emeril's suggestion to sub pork. The marinade was excellent with pork tenderloin. The recipes range from simple mashed potatoes to escargot. Honestly, I think escargot tastes like rubbery hot dogs, so I skipped that one. However, the Shrimp Creole and Caramelized Salmon Bites are recipes that are going in my tried and true file to make again and again. Clear detailed instructions are given with each recipe but not all have pictures of the finished products. Every recipe I made was 5 stars, but I took off a star for the reasons mentioned above. This is the kind of cookbook that would make an excellent gift.

[Alisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

vignettes are fun and informative, but most of all i like this book for the multitude of party food recipes!

[Deb Blackbourn]

I was very fortunate to receive this cookbook as a birthday present! The recipes are broken into the months of the year. Then within each month is a short description and/or history of the events during that month. The photographs are beautiful!

[Mark Mathes · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a packaged book, with outstanding contributions by a well-known Louisiana photographer and a similarly accomplished food writer. They brighten this book which has pedestrian writing by a chef from Massachusetts who has spent some time in Louisiana and has more to learn. Yes, it is more entertainment than recipe book. Complex design and typography make this a difficult book to read, much less use. It falls short.

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A unique approach to a cookbook. The book takes you through a year in New Orleans. Chapters are dedicated to each month of the year, featuring events and holiday traditions. I read the book and prepared the recipes as the year progressed.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oddly enough, there were hardly any pictures of the actual recipes that were in the book. Many of the dishes I am not familiar with, so pictures would have been very helpful! It was a nice overview of New Orleans festivals and holidays and is very heavy on seafood.

[George Marshall · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read other cookbooks by Emeril, and enjoyed them well. This one had a few notable entries, but overall did not connect with me.

[Kendall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love to look at this book and read the stories and anecdotes--it tells a lot about celebrations in and around Louisiana. The recipes are good, too...a few of them are more time consuming than I'm willing to try, but what I have used are excellent.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would have like more pictures of the food from the recipes but ... yum. Gotta try some of these.