REVIEWS BY SYBIL PRATT

Flexible, friendly fiestas
Summer may be over, but the ease of summertime entertaining should last throughout the year and Pam Anderson's new book, Perfect Recipes for Having People Over, is the perfect guide for getting get-togethers together without muddle, mess or meltdown. First and foremost, Pam wants you to be realistic about time and flexible about ingredients. Can't find the hominy for the quick, crowd-pleasing White Chicken Chili? Substitute a can of white cannellini beans. No red onions, use scallions. No baby spinach, try arugula. She's organized her book in the same way she organizes her menus: first comes "The Big Stuff," main courses divided into kitchen casual, goodies on the grill, more festive dining room dinners and breakfast bonanzas—a fun and economical way to entertain. Then comes "All the Rest," the appetizers, salads, sides and desserts that play mix-and- match supporting roles. The recipes—200 in all—from Really Good Lasagna (fab and never blobby) to Rosemary-Scented Roast Pork Loin and Orange-Glazed Asparagus to decadent Molten Chocolate Cakes, are super. But most appealing to me are the questions that follow every recipe and their easy, informative answers about when to serve the dish, what to serve with it, how to take shortcuts and make variations, how far ahead to cook and how to use leftovers. A pluperfect performance by "Perfect Recipe" Pam.

Perfect Recipes for Having People Over
By Pam Anderson
Houghton Mifflin, $35
432 pages
ISBN 0618329722

How sweet it is
Not long ago a friend, invited to dinner, arrived with a small box tied with a big bow. When I opened it to find beautifully iced butterfly-shaped cookies, I was touched and honored. No fancy bouquet or fine bottle of wine could come close as a house gift. These cookies had been made with the thoughtful care that's becoming all too rare in our over-scheduled lives. Whether given as comfort, in celebration or gratitude, the gift of homemade sweets is always special and welcome all year round, going way beyond customary Christmas cookies and fruitcake. Judith Sutton, a former chef and cookbook editor who has always baked for friends, has now gathered her favorites in Sweet Gratitude: Bake a Thank-You for the Really Important People in Your Life, charmingly illustrated with her own watercolors. You'll find cookies, cakes, bars, brownies, pies and tarts, a few mousses and puddings, and small confections that can be packaged in imaginative ways. All of them can be made entirely ahead, so you'll find the necessary info on storing and freezing, wrapping and shipping, plus suggestions for last-minute garnishes and preparation notes. None of these luscious treats are difficult and some are supremely quick and easy, like Amazing Toffee Thins, Caramel-topped Turtle Brownies, Instant Chocolate Mousse and Ginger-Ginger Petticoat Tails. The giving, you'll discover, is as much fun as the getting.

Sweet Gratitude: Bake a Thank-You for the Really Important People in Your Life
By Judith Sutton
Artisan, $15.95
112 pages
ISBN 1579652611

Free-range Tuscan
A proud Tuscan through and through, Cesare Casella is delighted that "Tuscan" has become synonymous with the best that Italy has to offer. But Cesare wants more: he wants everyone to know his Tuscany, especially its food. True Tuscan: Flavors and Memories from the Countryside of Tuscany, his latest cookbook, is his passionate, personal guide to the way he works with food. The Casella approach is "free range," taking inspiration from all over Italy throughout its long history. In his hands, Sicilian Pasta Norma, a Bean Frittata first made for Cosimo di Medici, or Cacciucco, a traditional spicy fish stew, all become contemporary Tuscan because, as he says without false modesty, "I'm Tuscan." And when he creates a dish like spareribs (unusual in Italian cuisine) alla cacciatore, it, like the best Tuscan food, is all "about invention." It's also about the joy of preparing fabulous food from antipasti to dolci with a true Tuscan.

True Tuscan: Flavors and Memories from the Countryside of Tuscany
By Cesare Casella
HarperCollins, $24.95
240 pages
ISBN 0060555556