55th Annual Delaware Show

every detail, including the Southern buffet. I feel blessed to have been raised in a place with such rich historical, cultural, artistic, culinary, and literary traditions. So many thoughtful texts have been written in the past about food, cooking, and entertaining—words presented with joy, humor, passion, and volumes of experience. My approach has always been to share my own experiences and to bring history forward. Let’s face it, entertaining is work, but it is not supposed to be a chore. The care and feeding of friends and family is one of life’s great pleasures. Introducing people, the buzz of laughter and conversation, the smile acknowledging that something tastes great, being told everything looks beautiful, clean plates! The exhilaration of a successful evening, well, what could possibly be more gratifying? Once you’ve done it enough times, and with confidence, you will then graduate to what all great hosts and hostesses are able to do—spontaneous entertaining. I said at the outset, there are too many good books available that contain all the whats, ifs, how-tos and definitely the nots. But, I thought I might give you some thoughts that have guided me over the years. Nothing complicated, no rules, no finger wagging— just ideas. Once you finish reading them, you will say to yourself, “So, what’s new?” To which I will respond, “Absolutely nothing, except my experiences, to which you will add your own over time.” — 19 —