Intimate Gatherings: Great Food for Good Friends

When it comes to dinner parties, real people are tired of dizzying preparations and unobtainable standards. They want to sit down with a few good friends and take the time to enjoy their company as much as the food. And they want a cookbook that will show them how. That's the cry culinary booksellers Ellen Rose and Jessica Strand kept hearing from their customers at Cook's Library -- so they wrote the book themselves. Here are easy, elegant menus for entertaining just two, four, or six. Arranged by season, they take advantage of fresh, flavorful ingredients and include helpful make-ahead tips, so even beginners and the chronically busy can host delightful occasions.