Cocktail Food: 50 Finger Foods With Attitude

Rating:
Summary: The Corpening Sisters Do It Again
Review: "Cocktail Food: 50 Finger Foods with Attitude" is my third cookbook by the Corpening sisters. The other two are "Wraps" and "Smoothies," and they're every bit as good. These women have a knack for often unusual, very flavorful food with very strange names. This book includes a number of good hints for any occasion at which you wish to serve finger food. They even give figures for how many hors d'oeuvres and drinks to serve. Then you'll find directions for pairing hors d'eouvres with drinks, and a couple of "themes" for possible parties.

Weird recipe names is one way in which this cookbook stands out. How could you forget a cookbook with recipes like "oink!" and "steaked and thai-ed?" Mind you, when someone asks me what those marvelous little delicacies are over there on the table, you can bet I'll be saying "oh, that's skewered thai-style steak with lime, jalapeno, and mint." Unless, of course, the questioner is either a very good friend or someone I'd like to irritate.

"Bold flavors" has become a cliche. When I think of bold in relation to cooking I think of bland A-1 steak sauce ads. But when the Corpening sisters get together, bold is the most appropriate adjective I can think of. Bayou Biscuits give you the distinctive flavor of Andouille sausage. Delhi Blues is a combination of blue cheese and walnut shortbread with chutney! The Smoked Salmon Bonbons are exquisite. We like to use the tahini-ginger dipping sauce that's meant to go with shrimp and serve it with shrimp chips instead.

You'll find more recipes like this throughout the book--bold, exquisite symphonies of flavor that bowl you over. However, because the flavors are so strong, a few of them are almost bound to be ones you find unpleasant. No matter how they dress it up, I'll never do more than shrug over shrimp, and no one will ever convince me to eat a dish with onion as a main ingredient. For you it might be the radishes, or maybe the aforementioned blue cheese. This book is certainly worth a buy, though, regardless of whether you like cocktail parties. It may only contain 50 recipes, but they're recipes that pack a lot of punch!

Rating:
Summary: The Corpening Sisters Do It Again
Review: "Cocktail Food: 50 Finger Foods with Attitude" is my third cookbook by the Corpening sisters. The other two are "Wraps" and "Smoothies," and they're every bit as good. These women have a knack for often unusual, very flavorful food with very strange names. This book includes a number of good hints for any occasion at which you wish to serve finger food. They even give figures for how many hors d'oeuvres and drinks to serve. Then you'll find directions for pairing hors d'eouvres with drinks, and a couple of "themes" for possible parties.

Weird recipe names is one way in which this cookbook stands out. How could you forget a cookbook with recipes like "oink!" and "steaked and thai-ed?" Mind you, when someone asks me what those marvelous little delicacies are over there on the table, you can bet I'll be saying "oh, that's skewered thai-style steak with lime, jalapeno, and mint." Unless, of course, the questioner is either a very good friend or someone I'd like to irritate.

"Bold flavors" has become a cliche. When I think of bold in relation to cooking I think of bland A-1 steak sauce ads. But when the Corpening sisters get together, bold is the most appropriate adjective I can think of. Bayou Biscuits give you the distinctive flavor of Andouille sausage. Delhi Blues is a combination of blue cheese and walnut shortbread with chutney! The Smoked Salmon Bonbons are exquisite. We like to use the tahini-ginger dipping sauce that's meant to go with shrimp and serve it with shrimp chips instead.

You'll find more recipes like this throughout the book--bold, exquisite symphonies of flavor that bowl you over. However, because the flavors are so strong, a few of them are almost bound to be ones you find unpleasant. No matter how they dress it up, I'll never do more than shrug over shrimp, and no one will ever convince me to eat a dish with onion as a main ingredient. For you it might be the radishes, or maybe the aforementioned blue cheese. This book is certainly worth a buy, though, regardless of whether you like cocktail parties. It may only contain 50 recipes, but they're recipes that pack a lot of punch!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent handbook
Review: Bought this book on a whim at the UCLA book fair. Have used recipes from it for two parties and received rave reviews! Love the mushroom in puff pastry, pepperoni pinwheels, and the shrimp with sesame seed recipes in particular. (Keep in mind that I also believe that puff pastry should be made a food group...so I may be biased.) I do agree that the recipe names are a little cutsie and annoying, but do NOT let that get in your way. It's chock full of great recipes that are easy to make and very good tasting. The fact that my very picky gourmet cook of an aunt liked what I made from here validated the purchase in a heartbeat.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent handbook
Review: Bought this book on a whim at the UCLA book fair. Have used recipes from it for two parties and received rave reviews! Love the mushroom in puff pastry, pepperoni pinwheels, and the shrimp with sesame seed recipes in particular. (Keep in mind that I also believe that puff pastry should be made a food group...so I may be biased.) I do agree that the recipe names are a little cutsie and annoying, but do NOT let that get in your way. It's chock full of great recipes that are easy to make and very good tasting. The fact that my very picky gourmet cook of an aunt liked what I made from here validated the purchase in a heartbeat.

Rating:
Summary: Best Ever Party Food
Review: I have used the recipes from this book about a dozen times and am asked for the recipe for at least one dish every time. I currenlty use about 15 of the recipes and have found no need to modify any. As with any cookbook many of the recipes did not meet my need, but this book is my primary resource when planning a appetizers for a party.

Rating:
Summary: Some recipes aren't quite there yet
Review: I've owned this book for over a year and have used it when planning for a few parties. Some of the recipes are excellent, but others just don't taste good. I am an avid cook, and have had to improvise a number of times when the finished recipe was completed because the appetizer was close to tasteless (example: the dipping sauce for the Rockin Rubens as well as the Rockin Ruben breadsticks themselves; Dab a Crab was dab-a-boring).

I have found that I use Cocktail Food now more for inspiration than to follow the actual recipes. I too found the recipe names a little too cute, so most of the time my appetizers go incognito when people ask about the actual names.

Rating:
Summary: great cocktail party book
Review: Like with their other two books, SMOOTHIES, and WRAPS, this twin cooking team present easy yet exciting ideas. As caterers, these two know guests like bold, bright flavors that come in one bite. This book offers their best ideas and recipes for the home cook that doesn't happen to have a caterer in the kitchen. Love the vietnamese wratures, the uno mas quesadillas, caprese skewers, and rosemary tartlets. There is no shortage of recipes to try for the holiday season ahead.

Rating:
Summary: Perfect finger food cookbook!
Review: Recently bought this book to help in preparing a cocktail party. What a gem. It may be a little book, but it is gorgeous and so very hip. The food is kind of fusion cooking--elegantly combining east west north and south recipes--but oh so easy and time saving. The do ahead tips are worth its price alone. This is a definate must have for all party people. Thank you amazon for the reviewers who went before me, they largely influenced my purchase and this book does not disappoint.

Rating:
Summary: COCKTAIL FOOD--Gotta have it
Review: Recently bought this book to help in preparing a cocktail party. What a gem. It may be a little book, but it is gorgeous and so very hip. The food is kind of fusion cooking--elegantly combining east west north and south recipes--but oh so easy and time saving. The do ahead tips are worth its price alone. This is a definate must have for all party people. Thank you amazon for the reviewers who went before me, they largely influenced my purchase and this book does not disappoint.

Rating:
Summary: dissappointing
Review: This recipes in this book are immaginative and inspiring. I have been looking for one book that has fun new recipes and unique presentations that will "wow" my friends and I have finally found it. This book has the latest trends with easy to do recipes.... I highly recommend this for people who truly love food and have fun entertaining! I would like to see more from these authors!