Reddit mentions: The best party cooking books

I used this book for all my girls' birthday parties and they had some pretty fantastic parties! This book is SO MUCH FUN!

Penny Whistle Birthday Party Book

Water shoes from my fitness list since I need help not killing myself in a water class =D (me so graceful)

• Commando Chicken - from this book. Simple, ridiculously easy, unbelievably delicious home-cooked roasted chicken.
  
  
• Potatoes. Sliced, salted and peppered, and placed in a pan below the chicken (which is in no pan on the rack above - thus, "commando"), they get all of the delicious chicken drippings. These are the most surprisingly nommable taters ever.
  
  
• Salad with home-made vinaigrette. Add some chicken drippings to the dressing. Doesn't taste like chicken, but adds depth and richness.
  
  
• Boiled artichokes, with butter or mayo for dipping. Artichokes are so freaking yummy, fancy cooking techniques do nothing but interfere with their awesome.
  
  
• And for dessert? I just had some strawberries, so I'm thinking strawberry shortcake would be the perfect finish here. Real shortcake. Real whipped cream. Fresh strawberries.
  
  I just ate, and now I'm hungry all over again!
  
  Book.
  
  Thanks for the contest!

Here's my go-to simple baked chicken recipe (no sauce unless you count butter):

Prep time: 10 min.

Cooking time: 45 min. (or until chicken is at least 165 degrees with meat thermometer)

Ingredients (sorry it's inexact)
Whole chicken, cut up

Butter (I use unsalted, but in a pinch, olive oil works too.)

Salt, pepper to taste (I use kosher salt and you can add whichever spices to this mix to make it spicy, i.e. cayenne and paprika, or more savory, i.e. garlic and sage, etc...)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

So, use whatever raw chicken you have. Rinse, pat dry with paper towels.

In a bowl (or plastic baggy), mix up salt, pepper (& whatever spices you like) and apply to the chicken, underneath the skin.

Arrange chicken in casserole dish or metal pan.

Cut up some butter, like one pat into four pieces, and tuck a couple pieces (2-3) underneath the chicken skin. Put a couple more on top of the skin. (If using olive oil, rub that chicken down till it's shiny.)

Place in oven and cook until golden yellow, brown (usually 45 minutes for whole chicken or 4 breast or leg quarters.)

Goes great with rice (I love basmati or jasmine) and is very good as leftovers. I think this is basically Amy Sadaris' recipe from her wonderful cookbook I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence .

I like these 2 books on hosting: How to host a dinner party and What's a hostess to do

Based on my experience:

• Stick to recipes you're comfortable with so you don't worry about messing up.
  
• Try to prepare as much of the food as possible in the days before the party, if they will keep well.
  
• Have your playlists and sound system ready before the party. I've had to spend time messing with the audio during parties before, which adds to stress.
  
• Personally, I like to serve stuff like pasta and curry because they're one-pot dishes and the portions can be scaled up easily. Tomato-based sauces can be prepared beforehand. It's also easy to modify those dishes for people with dietary restrictions, by setting aside separate portions for them.

What book did you just finish? I love penny books! I was scoping out buying myself The Feminine Mystique for a penny today, but when I get the time to read again, I really want to read this book! It's been on my WL for a long while :) I collect cookbooks and I have Amy Sedaris' crafting book so I'm sure this one is hilarious too. I'd appreciate hardcover used. :D

Thank you for throwing the contest!

This is an Amy Sedaris book called I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence and we've been doing it for a couple years at our get-togethers. Without fail, someone opens it every time to the delight of our previous party attendees. The hard part is getting all the marbles to stay in medicine cabinet long enough for you to shut the door, but it's well worth the effort.

I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence, by Amy Sedaris?

https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Birthday-Party-Book-Fantastic/dp/1589199006 is it this?

http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Parties-Advice-Party-Planner/dp/1602391165/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324064198&sr=1-1

Oooooh that's GENIUS. Sadly, this book doesn't appear to have a paper edition...

If you are looking for snack ideas, there are several Star Wars cookbooks with themed recipes and fun names that you could use:

• Wookiee Cookies and Other Galactic Recipes
  
  
• Darth Malt and More Galactic Recipes
  
  
• Wookiee Pies, Clone Scones, and Other Galactic Goodies
  
  
• And a new one will be released the day the movie comes out "BB-Ate: Awaken to the Force of Breakfast and Brunch"
  
  There's also a party book with more recipes, games and decoration ideas:
  
  
• The Star Wars Party Book: Recipes and Ideas for Galactic Occasions
  
  As far as giveaways go, there are plenty of directions to take that. I went to a screening of The Force Awakens and they sold raffle tickets for a chance to win one of several gift bags. The good thing is, there's a ton of Star Wars merchandise so chances are that you will be able to find just about any item to fit your price range and employee demographics. Here are a few ideas.
  
  Expensive:
  
  
• Vouchers to visit the new Star Wars Disney theme park when it opens in 2019.
  
  
• Voucher for passes to Star Wars Celebration (Official Star Wars convention) in 2019.
  
  
• Prop Replicas. Ex.- Captain Phasma's Helmet, First Order TIE Pilot Helmet, Anakin/Luke/Rey's Lightsaber
  
  
• Star Wars Battlefront II (with or without X-Box One or PS4)
  
  Moderately Priced:
  
  
• Sphero BB-8
  
  
• Blu-Ray collection of the films- Ep. 1-6, Ep. 7 and Rogue One.
  
  
• The complete series of The Clone Wars- Seasons 1-5 and The Lost Missions.
  
  
• Star Wars Rebels- Seasons 1, 2, and 3 (when it is released).
  
  
• An assortment of Star Wars novels (if you need help with those, we can provide a list of the most popular)
  
  
• An assortment of Star Wars comics (same deal)
  
  
• An assortment of Star Wars video games (ditto)
  
  Reasonably Priced:
  
  
• Star Wars action figures (preferably Black Series)
  
  
• Star Was Nerf Guns
  
  
• Star Wars Jewelry
  
  
• Star Wars apparel- ThinkGeek has a nice selection, but you can find T-shirts and the like at just about any retail store.
  
  
• Ticket vouchers to see The Last Jedi again (maybe in IMAX)
  
  
  
  
  Edit: If you really want to impress your hardcore fan employees, have the limited editions of A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi as a giveaway. Those specific releases of the film contain a bonus disc that has the last time that the original theatrical cuts of the films were released. Most releases of the films since '97 have had various changes made to them that some really hardcore fans dislike, so copies of the theatrical cut are highly sought after by certain fans.