January 1, 2002
Caterer Abigail Kirsch (The Bride & Groom's First Cookbook) brings slightly more experienced newlyweds another bright, cheerful volume in The Bride & Groom's Menu Cookbook. While Kirsch's first book focused on helping a new couple adapt to cooking together, her second aims to assist couples who know their way around the kitchen (and each other) entertain friends and colleagues and create new family traditions. Recipes employ easy-to-find ingredients and are organized by season and into menu suggestions. Kirsch, with the help of freelance writer Susan M. Greenberg, even includes in some of her menus "Serious Leftovers" recipes, so a couple that wants to prepare the Apricot-Mustard Glazed Smoked Ham for their new neighbors on Saturday can expect to enjoy the Ham and Barley Soup in front of their TV on a quiet Sunday.
February 15, 2002
Kirsch is the owner of a well-known catering business based in Westchester County, NY, and the author of the best-selling Bride & Groom's First Cookbook. Here she offers 20 seasonal menus (one each featuring fish, poultry, meat, pasta, or vegetables per season), with separate chapters devoted to hors d'oeuvres and desserts. Each menu includes four dishes in addition to an hors d'oeuvre and a dessert. Like the recipes in her earlier book, these are often complicated and time-consuming and present the upscale and sophisticated food for which Kirsch's firm is famous. However, ambitious cooks eager to entertain (and to use their new wedding china and pots and pans) will no doubt find the book appealing, and there is likely to be some demand.
Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.