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Gathering together!

“I am so passionate about the power of food and cooking, and how it can bring people together, allow us to explore our creativity, and nourish our bodies and souls.”―Tara Bench (aka Tara Teaspoon)

Here is your invitation to step into the kitchen and create a meal worth remembering! Tara Teaspoon helps you impress guests and gather friends around your table with recipes for elevated everyday meals and special holidays, plus helpful tips and how-tos. This cookbook aims to bring joy, flair, and amazing taste to all your get-togethers.

From Sunday suppers and weeknight family meals to elaborate buffets for bigger crowds and holiday celebrations, Tara’s recipes include delicious showstoppers and unique takes on comforting classics. You can gather together around savory recipes, including Spicy Maple Sweet Potatoes with Cinnamon Pepitas or the Ultimate Chili con Queso. Then bring on dessert with Chocolate Peanut Butter Puddle Cookies or Maple Hazelnut Pie.

Tara brings her comforting-but-elevated approach to recipes that cover “Main Events,” “Serious Sides,” “Breakfast and Brunch,” and “Baking and Sweets.” The book opens with “Gather-Around Dinners,” which takes the stress out of meal planning with full-course menus for memorable gatherings.

It was the title of, DELICIOUS GATHERINGS: Recipes to Celebrate Together that first pulled me in. It brought to me thoughts of past years, decades, when my family would gather for holiday meals.

After an introduction, and some helpful tips, author Tara Bench aka Tara Teaspoon shares dishes homey, yet upscale. At this point I’m no longer reminded of home, as 95% of the dishes included, were nothing we ever had in our family. However, as I looked though the book longer expecting old favorites, I became intrigued with new concepts.

Here are just a handful of the recipes you’ll find in this book . . . Harissa Tomato Confit, Super-Soft Pita Bread, Turkey Stock and Gravy, Smoked Gouda and Scallion Mashed Potatoes, Orange Cumin Carnitas, Pineapple Taco Topper, Sheet Pan Potatoes (I am going to try these for sure!), Green Beans with Shallot Dressing, Jammy Onions, Asparagus and Peas Parmesan Breadcrumbs, Creamy Garlic-and-Herb Mac and Cheese, Italian Gnocchi, Bacon, and Cheese Soup, Spicy Honey-Lime Chicken, New York Chocolate Babka, Perfect Lemon Loaf Cake, Fresh Peach Pie with Sweet Cream Cheese, and, PB and Fudge Stripe Freeze.

The author shares a lot of interesting recipes, using some combinations I have never heard of, and I bet you haven’t either.

 There are a lot of pages of color photos to go with the recipes. That’s a make or break for me with purchasing a cookbook. I want to see what the dishes are meant to look like before I get my hand on them.

If you’re looking to upscale family dinner, or to throw a party where the food will be remembered, DELICIOUS GATHERINGS is a book you’re going to want to check out. 

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