Martha Stewart's Appetizers: 200 Recipes for Dips, Spreads, Snacks, Small Plates, and Other Delicious Hors d'Oeuvres, Plus 30 Cocktails: A Cookbook

If you need one reference book for appetizers, this is it. Almost every recipe you would ever need for a beautiful spread of hors d'oeuvres is in here. Moreover, as we would expect from Martha Stewart, the first chapters, which pack in lots of solid, useful party-planning and hosting tips. are invaluable for the novice host/hostess. The Kindle formatting is unique for a cookbook, and I'm not a fan: I want to see the headnote and recipe on the same page(s). On the bright side, every recipe, and every variation, has a color photo. There are 124 basic recipes, of which 30 (including variations) are cocktails. However, most of the basic recipes expand to several variations (for example, "Spiced Nuts" has 6), so there are a lot of recipes in this book. Excluding cocktails, I counted 165 variations on the basic recipes. The ingredients are, for the most part, accessible, using many store-bought products: wonton wrappers, tortillas, Chex, frozen edamame, canned beans and artichoke hearts, store-bought puff pastry (all-butter, please), phyllo dough, rice-paper wrappers (for summer rolls), chicken stock, panko bread crumbs (if you choose not to make the authors' recipe), dried figs, and frozen spinach. Of course, the authors also provide ample recipes for home-made items such as mini-hamburger buns for sliders, pizza, hand-pies, and empanada dough. Most recipes have extremely useful and thoughtful "Notes" embedded with tips about sourcing ingredients, make-ahead tips, storage, and technique. Recipes range from the simple (seasoned potato chips) to the substantial (glazed ham). From the humble (deviled eggs) to the exotic (fruits de mer, which uses oysters, shrimp, mussels, crab legs, and crab claws). From inexpensive (chicken wings) to several bites with caviar. It's a Martha Stewart book, so, naturally, many recipes, such as hand pies, crepes, or crackers, made from scratch, require some substantial time; however, there are plenty of recipes that, with some smart shopping, are quick put-togethers. I rank this as an outstanding gift for a newlywed or college grad, and one in which many experienced hosts will find something new and interesting to add to their repertoire.

IT LIES FLAT when it's open. All cookbooks should do that, but most don't. Alleluia. Very pretty pictures, clear instructions, nicely laid out. You don't have to flip pages back and forth while making things. Yay that. The pages are kind of smooth, but not slick and shiny; fairly smooth cover. If you dribble something on them and are quick about wiping them off, it should come off okay. Dark stuff might leave a stain on the pages. The book smells like new textbooks. :) It's 10.25" x 7.75", so not too big. So many cookbooks these days take up too much space in a normal-sized kitchen. Not this one. :) Table of Contents lists the sections. Each section lists all the recipes it contains. It's well-indexed. Chiorizo, Corn & Cheddar Quesadillas and Fresh Tomatillo Salsa are the only two things I've made so far, but they were both very good! You can never go wrong with tomatillos, though, lol. Almost all the stuff in her books is good (the Cookies book is probably THE best book on cookies) and I'm fairly confident that the rest of it will be good. But if it's not, I will update. Nobody - not even Martha - gets a pass if what they sell isn't worthy of having money spent on it. Not in my book. Martha has never failed me on quality. Since my salad days, many years ago, when I always bought her stuff at (the discount store) until now, I know that if Martha's name is on it, it's going to be good. In the case of cookbooks, it's going to be EXCELLENT - sometimes the best on the market - and not priced as high as others! I've always appreciated that I could count on Martha for quality, especially when I was pretty broke. She may have become a wealthy woman, but I really don't think that Martha Stewart has really received the credit she is due. You can count on her and that's not something you can say about the majority of names or products (of any kind) these days.

Beautiful pictures. There are so many great appetizers, and they all have several different ways they can be prepared. There is something for everyone! It is Martha Stewart so they aren’t all easy to make and some ingredients (caviar) are things normal people have handy.

This book does not compare to her earlier huge volume on hors d'oeuvres. It is quick and to the point, if you just want to do something, but Martha usually gives us more quality than this.

This book is terrific! Just thumbing through it made me so hungry. It is easy to read and follow. Even people who are less skilled will be able to follow a good portion of the recipes. There were even pictures of the food made. And everything was so delicious looking! Hats off to Martha and her people!!

Good book with tons of useful recipes that can be easily recreated at home without crazy ingredients. Like it!

I took a chance that I might find many things in this cookbook to sharpen my skills, to keep me creative, or introduce me to some new ideas for the cocktail hour. I found recipes that differed in basic ingredients from other recipes I have seen before. I found several that I would like to explore and recreate. There are a few sections devoted to different cuisines that were interesting. However, I have a book here of many, many recipes I read, but have either made before or will not be making in the future. I will donate this book and I have ordered the Cook's version. I am just not a Martha fan at. all., and while I was hoping I could put our differences aside and find something fresh, this was not the book to inspire me.

If I could give 10 stars, I would. Huge variety of appetizers and all of them look so delicious and easy to make.

Muy buena calidad y las recetas bien, si bien algunos ingredientes son difíciles de conseguir

great book! lots of ideas..i love martha!!

Martha Stewartのレシピはどれを作ってもおいしいので安心して作ることができます。 ただし、日本では材料が手に入らないか、手に入ったとしても高価なものも少し含まれています。 また、計量法の単位が違うので計算が少し面倒かも。 そこさえクリアすれば友人から料理上手と言われますよ‼ 彼女の本は、写真多用でなおかつ美しいので眺めているだけでも幸せに‼

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Exactly as described and fulfilled my expectations.