Excerpted from Lulu Powers Food to Flowers: Simple, Stylish Food for Easy Entertaining
The best clambake I ever attended was on Temperance Island, a private island in Connecticut owned by my sister Molly's in-laws, Susan and Sandy Kellogg, affectionately known as Su-Su and Pops. The Kelloggs grew up on the water, and they open their house from April to November. The first time I visited, I felt as if I were in a Norman Rockwell painting. Sitting on the big, wide porches, digging steamers outside the front door at low tide, and living without electricity sends you back in time. We pulled our own lobster traps and had a feast of fresh lobster, clam chowder, and fresh corn.
With the holiday party season about to hit full swing we though we'd give you a hand with your preparations. Whether you're a first-time host, experienced party thrower or a guest who can't stand to show up empty-handed, you need the perfect cookbook for entertaining – 
by Matt Armendariz.
Developing new and enticing recipes that will bring out the best in a variety of wines is a challenge I relish. I have a huge collection of
food and wine pairing books, not only because I am fascinated by it but
also because for several years I developed recipes for 
. It's where I go first for inspiration. But I also love the 100 Perfect Pairings books by Jill Silverman Hough. The first was 
and the second out now is 
, and is written by Amy Sedaris. Amy Sedaris, in addition to being the sister of my idol David Sedaris, is an actress best known for her role in “Strangers with Candy.” She is unnaturally funny, has a keen grasp of pop culture past and present, and even if one does not cook, this book is worth reading just for the “helpful suggestions,” the photographs and the illustrations. In the first chapter, “what a Party Means to Me,” Sedaris gives the following pointers for being a “Self-Realized” person:
Would you like to know what I have in common with Cher? Other than the fact that I own a box of wigs, well not much really. But I do love her movies, which brings me to her 1990 film Mermaids. In the movie she played this wacky mom who only cooked appetizers for breakfast, lunch and dinner and I remember seeing it and thinking “Ok, now if I ever became an Armenian American celebrity with her own variety show and doll who wins Grammys and Golden Globes and Oscars with hit singles in the Top 10 for the past 40 years who sometimes plays a Lesbian from Texas, then damnit, I’d want to be Cher.” But really, that’s about as far as my Cherinterest goes.