I love the Martha Stewart’s Hors d’Oeuvres Handbook. Whatever you may think about Martha Stewart as a person, you’re probably right, but her brand is excellent. I have a few Martha books, and I’ve found all the recipes well tested with good descriptions and not overloaded with crazy ingredients (meyer lemons, or certain weird types of specialty cheeses…). Martha Stewart’s Hors d’Oeuvres Handbook is no exception.
The first quarter of the book is all glossy photos, some of which have aged better than others (the book is from 1999 and plays up crudites with spreads piped onto them), but 95%+ of the recipes and ideas are still relevant today. The other three quarters is all the recipes with the usual amount of detail and instruction. What I found made this book far and away the best hors d’oeuvre book I’ve found to date is the sheer scope. For each idea, for example stuffed boiled eggs or mini pizzas, there are numerous variations on the theme. There is also a large section at the beginning devoted to the building blocks of canapes which is helpful if you want to mix and match ideas from various places in the book. There aren’t too many sweet canpes, but they are quite rare to find anywhere. There are also a few pages dedicated to theme parties such as cheese night or Spanish tapas which can help with party planning.
If you’re looking for one book about canapes and hors d’oeuvres to buy this entertaining season, make it the Martha Stewart Hors D’oeurvre Handbook.
