Barefoot Contessa Parties!: Ideas and Recipes for Parties That Are Really Fun Review

Ina Garten is a favorite cook book author and television personality extraordinarie in our household  She has a television series called the Barefoot Contessa and has written several cookbooks that have really stood the test of time with us   We have watched nearly all of her shows and they always inspire us to make some of her recipes.

The "Parties" cookbooks has some really great recipes that are not exotic but they are major crowd pleasers.  Here are a few that we love:

1) Popovers - these were a tradition in my house growing up and are easy to make and people love them.  If you don't know what they are click on this link to see the ingredients and try them out.   Be sure to time them to come out of the oven right when dinner starts. 

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_25280,00.html

2) Orzo with roasted vegetables

This dish can be made in large quantities and is a delicious blend of orzo, feta, lemon juice, herbs and roasted vegetables.  We love it and it tastes great as left overs.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_23515,00.html  

3) Grilled Herb Shrimp

A really delicious marinade is what really makes this dish.  Once on the grill, the shrimp are done in 3 to 6 minutes.  We served 60+ shrimp tonight to a group of 7 adults and they were all gone by the end.  The lemon juice, mustard, and garlic really make this dish.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_23628,00.html?rsrc=search