Great Parties

The Best of Martha Stewart Living

by Martha Stewart

An inspiring source of ideas for creating a variety of celebrations, from fun and festive to elegant and refined, "Great Parties" features fully illustrated, step-by-step instructions to help readers throw a party that is as special as it is memorable. Full-color photos.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Design, Lifestyle, Food, Holiday, Nonfiction

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Martha Helen Stewart is an American retail businesswoman, writer, and television personality. As the founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, focusing on home and hospitality, she gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing publishing, broadcasting, merchandising and e-commerce. She has written numerous bestselling books, was the publisher of Martha Stewart Living magazine and hosted two syndicated television programs: Martha Stewart Living, which ran from 1993 to 2004, and The Martha Stewart Show, which ran from 2005 to 2012.
In 2004, Stewart was convicted of felony charges related to the ImClone stock trading case; she served five months in federal prison for fraud and was released in March 2005. There was speculation that the incident would effectively end her media empire, but in 2005 Stewart began a comeback campaign and her company returned to profitability in 2006. Stewart rejoined the board of directors of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia in 2011 and became chairwoman of her namesake company again in 2012. The company was acquired by Sequential Brands in 2015. Sequential Brands Group agreed in April 2019 to sell Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, including the Emeril brand, to Marquee Brands for $175 million with benchmarked additional payments.

Reviews

[Raquel (Silver Valkyrie Reads) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fun to glance through and spark some ideas but a lot of the specifics are either impractical for me or not to my taste.

[Kandice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I usually don't read the recipes in party-themed books, so I can't comment on that portion of the book...
The venues are out-of-this-world and my budget as well. Lol. But the tablescapes and decor inspired me to find more pins on Pinterest to consider for future events. Like most Martha Stewart inspired dinner parties, they are beautiful and extremely difficult to pull off; does she ever serve dinner within a 30ft radius of a kitchen? Don't get me wrong, having dinner in an orchard or on the dock would be inviting and relaxing for guests, but God bless the poor hostess who makes a zillion trips to and from the kitchen to the dinner table.
"Oh well, just put the guests to work!" I think that's rude and it also takes away from that WOW effect. Well, it changes it from, "Wow, that's beautiful!" To "Wow, she's running behind schedule or maybe we're early. I could have sworn she said to come anytime after 5." Oh dear, uncomfortable already :-S
If you're looking for some inspiration, pick up Matthew Mead's Entertaining Simple. You won't be disappointed or broke afterwards and your guests will be delighted!!

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Martha is much too fancy for me, but I think this book has some good ideas. I will probably try the roasted corn salsa, it sounds delicious.