Potluck At Midnight Farm: Celebrating Food, Family, and Friends on Martha's Vineyard by Tamara Weiss, Nina Bramhall (Photographer), Carly Simon (Foreword by)

From Barnes & Noble

The Barnes & Noble Review
There's a good reason potlucks are enjoying a resurgence. The very essence of casual entertaining, potlucks are more fun, show off more homemade food, and are much easier on the hosts.

Tamara Weiss, a New Yorker who now lives year-round on Martha's Vineyard with her family, is a master of potluck. In this lifestyle book, replete with color photos, Weiss shows off the friends, food, and recipes from a year's worth of potlucks, organized by season.

"As a full-time working mother (who refuses to give up her social life)," writes Weiss, "I find potlucks by far the easiest and most enjoyable way to see friends. Everyone contributes so I don't have to spend hours in the kitchen or a week's paycheck at the market. Empty dishes are taken home with departing guests so there's far less clean-up."

This being Martha's Vineyard, there are more than the usual share of literary and media celebrities, and so we get Diane Sawyer's Cherry Pie, Mary Steenburgen's Corn Spoon Pudding, Rose Styron's Down-Island Caramel Sauce, and Carly Simon's many recipes for tea and ideas for a tea party. (Simon, who also wrote the foreword, is Weiss's partner in a home furnishings store on the Island called Midnight Farm.)

Once you get into potluck mode, says Weiss, you can plan any gathering, even a birthday party or wedding, as a group effort. She has lots of suggestions for preplanning -- suggesting themes or categories for the guests, figuring out the main course first and planning around it. (Ginger Curwen)

From the Publisher

Potlucks are the friendliest of gatherings. As guests take part in the festivities, sharing their contributions—
a dish of pasta, a bottle of wine, a bunch of wildflowers—they share a bit of themselves. Author Tamara Weiss knows this well. A self-described “organizer, assembler, and table setter,” she has all the qualities of the consummate host, as well as years of experience attending and planning potlucks. In Potluck at Midnight Farm, Tamara has captured a year of potlucks on Martha’s Vineyard, from brunches in a backyard garden to grill fests at twilight beside the sea. Each season brings together new faces, old friends, beautiful settings, and great food.

Collected here are more than a hundred recipes from Tamara and her guests, plus gorgeous photographs of the parties, so you too can share in the celebrations and garner ideas to create your own inspired gatherings. These dishes, at once lovely and hearty, are offered by people from all walks of life, from the island teacher to the world-famous celebrity. Each recipe is personalized with a brief anecdote of how the dish came about or why it has become such a party staple. All are wonderfully delicious. There are foods for every season and occasion: Mary Steenburgen’s Corn Spoon Pudding, Daphne’s Fried Chicken (which Bill Styron has served to Bill Clinton), and Grilled Corn Guacamole. Plus superb salads, like Tamara’s Summer Salad, with greens, sugar snap peas, mangoes, and sunflower seeds, and desserts to rave about: Lambert’s Cove Lemon Tea Cake, Judy Belushi Pisano’s Georgia Peaches with Raspberry Sauce, and the ultimate ButterscotchBrownies.

Potluck at Midnight Farm celebrates with charm and class the perfect companionship of food and entertaining, and welcomes readers just as if they were guests. And Tamara gives you all the advice and inspiration you need to send you running to organize your own spectacular potlucks.

Publishers Weekly

In a bid for the Barefoot Contessa audience, Weiss, co-owner with Simon of a home furnishings store on Martha's Vineyard, offers suggestions and recipes for casual potluck parties. These are reportedly culled from various thematic potlucks that Weiss herself has organized or attended, so a chapter on Indian Night includes Green Mango Chutney and Mango Lassi, and one on a Long Point Autumn Afternoon (held at the local wildlife refuge) offers Steak, Arugula and Parmesan Wraps, and Napa and Cilantro Salad with Spicy Peanuts. Each chapter bears a rather lengthy descriptive introduction extolling the natural wonders of the island. The result is something of a mishmash, and a few recipes do not even seem appropriate to the potluck format Herb and Garlic Roasted Chicken sounds delicious, but calls for deglazing the pan at the last minute to create a sauce. Ultimately, this is a collection of solid if unsurprising dishes appropriate for entertaining (such as Seared Tuna with Wasabi Aioli on Crispy Wontons and Fresh Fruit Tart), organized in a somewhat confusing manner. Each recipe is credited to a potluck guest, and since Martha's Vineyard is a resort where the elite like to summer, there are selections from famous names: Daphne's Fried Chicken from Bill Styron and Mary Steenburgen's Corn Spoon Pudding. (Apr.) Forecast: This is likely to sell best to those who love Martha's Vineyard and what's not to love? Those unfamiliar with the magical island, however, may not be quite as charmed by the chatty prose and familiar recipes. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Midnight Farm is the name of the gift shop that Weiss and Carly Simon own on Martha's Vineyard. Somewhat reminiscent of Ellen Wright's Bridgehampton Weekends, though more down to earth, Weiss's first book provides menus for 11 seasonal potluck meals, from Love Your Mother's Day Brunch to Winter Dinner. Recipes come from the friends and family who attended the actual parties (many are from Weiss's husband, who is the cook in their family) and reflect a range of styles, though most are fairly easy. The book is attractively designed and filled with color photographs, la Ina Garten's popular Barefoot Contessa cookbooks. For area libraries and other larger collections. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Product Details

• Read an Excerpt

Read an Excerpt

CORN SPOON PUDDING
Mary Steenburgen
Serves 12

This is a recipe I grew up with in Arkansas. It is an absolutely guaranteed smash hit. I've made it for all kinds of people who take one bite and instantly want the recipe. It's a little embarrassing to hand it over, since it reads: Open a box of this and a can of that. But trust me, it's the best cornbread you'll ever have.

1 (8-1/2-ounce) box corn muffin mix
1 (7-1/2-ounce) can whole kernel corn
1 (7-1/2 ounce) can creamed corn
1 cup sour cream
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
1/2 cup grated Swiss cheese

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all the ingredients except the cheese in a large mixing bowl. Pour into a lightly greased 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Bake for 35 minutes.

Sprinkle grated Swiss on top and bake 10 minutes more. You will know it's done when a toothpick comes out clean.

Serve warm.

FALL GREENS SAUTÉ
Patrie Grace
Serves 6 to 8

I love greens. I find combining many of any season's freshest greens into one simple sauté gives more variety for a potluck gathering than any one green by itself.

1 pound broccoli rabe
1 pound Swiss chard
1 pound radicchio
1 pound kale
1 pound spinach
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (plus more if you want)
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Thoroughly wash and dry all greens. Discard any tough stems and chop the greens roughly.

Melt the butter with the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and sauté for approximately 1 minute, until fragrant.

Add the broccoli rabe and sauté for 2 minutes more, then add the Swiss chard, radicchio, and kale. Sauté another 3 to 4 minutes. Last, add the spinach, salt and pepper to taste, and, if desired, more butter. Keep stirring while sautéing. Cook the greens until just tender, keeping their array of colors and tastes fresh.

Serve immediately.

SPANISH FLAN
Sally Lasker
Serves 12 to 16

This is a very elegant dessert that consistently gets raves and is easy to make. I call it "the Old Standby." My mother-in-law has been making this flan for more than forty years and it's one of those wonderful, timeless dishes that are always a hit.
1-3/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
5 egg yolks
2 cans evaporated milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups fresh fruit (strawberries, raspberries, kiwi, peaches, or any combination), for garnish
1 tablespoon Grand Marnier (or other orange liqueur)

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Fill a large bowl with ice water.

Combine 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water in a 2-quart flan pan (heavy pudding pan) over medium-high heat. Boil this mixture; do not stir, just swirl pan around. Cook until the caramel turns a deep amber color. Remove from the heat and set the pan in a bowl of ice water to arrest cooking. Move pan around so the caramel coats the sides of the pan as well. Keep in water until it's hard and starts to crack. Set aside.

Combine the eggs, egg yolks, 3/4 cup sugar, evaporated milk, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Whisk until well combined. Pour through a strainer into the flan pan. Cover tightly with foil. Place the flan pan into another pan filled halfway with hot water. Place in the oven and cook 1-1/4 hours, or until firm. Remove from the oven. Let cool on a rack for 20 minutes. Refrigerate overnight.

Remove the flan from the refrigerator. Unmold onto a large serving platter -- one that will allow at least a 2-inch border. Place fresh fruit around and on top of the flan. Heat the Grand Marnier in a small pan until warm, then drizzle it over the flan. Serve at once.

Copyright © 2002 by Tamara Weiss