Desperation Entertaining! - Softcover

Yes, you can be desperate and still be a great host
No more harried get-togethers, dreary take-out, or dreading it being your turn to have friends and family over. The Desperaton Cooks solve the entertaining conundrum with the same brilliant approach they bring to everyday dinner dilemmas—by concocting delicious, crowd-pleasing dishes using timesaving techniques, shortcut ingredients, and tried-and-true planning.

The desperate details
1. All recipes can be made in 20 minutes or less or in phases where actual hands-on work is 20 mintues or less.
2. Bottled chopped garlic, washed salad greens, precooked bacon, individually quick-frozen shrimp—wisely used convenience foods save time while boosting flavor.
3. The Crock-Pot—if you have one, dust it off. If not, think about investing in one.
4. The Desperate Pantry, easily stocked during weekly shopping trips, okays the spontaneous "Let's have dinner at my place" whim.
5. The plan—decide on the who, what, and where, then how to carve out simple blocks of time for preparation and cooking.
6. Relax.

Desperate but have time to plan? Try phased and flexible.
Roasted Garlic Artichoke Dip
Mushroom Lasagna Alfredo
Shrimp Creole à la Beverly
Pork Chops with Fruit Salsa
Baked Party Paella
Enchanting Chicken Enchiladas
Rocky Road Brownie Sundaes

Fast and fabulous for when you're really desperate
Golden Curry Dip
Chicken with Mustard Glazes
Three-Bean and Meatball Chili
Blue Jay Point Pasta
Amazing Steaks
Lemon Cake Sandwiches

Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross have been writing together as a team for almost ten years. Their weekly newspaper column, "Desperation Dinners", is syndicated by United Media and appears in over 90 newspapers nationwide. Ms. Mills lives with her husband and two children outside of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Ms. Ross lives with her husband and two children in Raleigh, North Carolina. Their Web site is www.desperationdinners.com.