Kitchen Revelry: A Year of Festive Menus From My Home to Yours – Ali Larter (St. Martin’s Press)

The old saying is that you can’t judge a book the cover. I’d like to take a little artistic license and change it up a bit and say; you can’t judge a cook by her look. One look at the attractive, slim, actress Ali Larter on the cover of her first foray into the world of cookbooks and you might assume that she’s offering up a load of Hollywood vegan or vegetarian delights. You couldn’t be more wrong. I mean you really could NOT be more wrong.

The opening salvos in Kitchen Revelry features a photo of Larter decked out in PJs knoshing on a gooey breakfast sandwich and then bang comes her take on Charcuterie 101 a platter well stocked with a variety of cheeses, delectable meats, breads and crackers. She had me at the line “I could live my life on a Charcuterie plate.”

The gist of the book is presented as a year’s worth of dinner parties that run the gamut from laid back fun and easy, to full blown formal affairs and classic holidays. It also ranges from the gang’s all here to much more intimate functions.

Chock full of wonderful photos, the book breaks things down by season, with an emphasis on in season, fresh ingredients. She’s tackled everything from high school football players to zombies and aliens, how hard could it be to knock out a winning dinner party. It wouldn’t shock me to see Larter tackle a TV cooking show, she’s off to a winning start in the foodie world with this book.