I love the idea of inviting people over to share in a beautiful, thoughtfully curated spread on a beautifully decorated table. I can see it in my head. But then everything goes wrong, and they show up to a bag of Doritos, warm soda, and some mustard. I need help getting from idea to execution, and fortunately, Shelly Westerhausen Worcel is here to guide me. Her newest cookbook, Tables and Spreads, is designed for those of us who want to be a domestic goddess and instead just keep turning into dramatic oddness.

Worcel lays everything out step by step, so that her readers can plan, prep, and execute a dinner party, an informal gathering, or even a weeknight dinner that is a well-organized, lovely, inviting spread of finger foods and dips that includes a variety of flavors and textures to satisfy any palette. She thinks of everything I don’t: the design of the table, the theme which you can use to unify the experience, the prep and storage of all your ingredients. She even includes diagrams of wine glasses and cheeses and cheese utensils. She tells you how to cut and cook your vegetables, how to make your meats look abundant on the board, how to add jams or sauces or pickles or dried fruits to add sweetness or tang, and how to fold your napkins to impress.

With checklists and schedules and a chart that shows how much food to buy per guest, Worcel makes the planning so much easier, and she helps you plan out not just the foods but also the tableware, the linens, drinks, the color palette, and the music. She helps you with “The Wow Factor,” making sure your spreads are as memorable for their inviting beauty as they are for the bold flavors and generous mix of foods. She includes over 20 different themes you can choose from, or she helps you plan if you want to go free form. And with over 65 recipes, you can find something that everyone will love.

Each theme comes with a wealth of information and ideas and a few new recipes to add interest and depth. For a classic example, there is The Standard, a classic cheese board featuring 3 different cheeses as well as olives, crackers, honey, and some dried fruit. Then she adds in recipes for Spicy Cantaloupe Jam, Pickled Zucchini Ribbons, and Herby Brown Sugar Nuts. But if you don’t have time to make those, there are store-bought suggestions that will work just as well. She offers ideas for styling and drinks pairing and make-ahead suggestions to make the celebration easier for hosting. And Worcel’s husband Wyatt adds his sidebar with meat suggestions, since she is a vegetarian.

Each of these themes are put together like this, with a wealth of ideas and information to help your event go smoothly. Need something to start your dinner party? Try the Fall Grazing Board, the Burrata Board, or Dips for Dinner. Is it Girls’ Night Out? Go with the Boozy Bloody Mary Bar, the Ladies’ Night Lettuce Wraps, or Valentine’s Day Chocolate Fondue. For holidays, there is the Mother’s Day Spring Minestrone Spread, Christmas Morning Dutch Baby Party, or New Year’s Eve Martini Bar. And there are so many more ideas, for birthdays, breakfast for dinner, Thanksgiving desserts, simple family dinners, or outdoor barbecues.

With fun and flair, flowers and flavors, Worcel brings ideas and inspiration for spreads of all kinds in Tables and Spreads. The photography is gorgeous, bringing these ideas to life in full color, and the creativity is boundless.

There is a lot of information in Tables and Spreads that I can use to be a better host, and I look forward to trying out what I’ve learned. Will I use Worcel’s pre-planned themes? I’m not sure. Some just aren’t right for me (I’m not that much of a drinker, so I probably wouldn’t use any of the spreads dedicated to alcohol), but I love how seeing her spread ideas makes me think of things that will work for me. Overall, I love the organization and creativity of Tables and Spreads, and I think it could help anyone else who struggles with putting together a great spread for family and friends.

Egalleys for Tables and Spreads were provided by Chronicle Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.

A lovely collection of recipes and tips for putting together tables and boards.It is both recipe book and style guide and a good resource for anyone looking forward to entertaining in the future. And the included pictures are inspirational and well laid out.

This is such a fantastic book! I loved this book! I love having party and people over for dinner. The book goes into details and is divided in four sections that make it easier to follow. It includes all the basics and tons of helpful details.

Great cookbook!

This is the third cookbook by Shelly Westerhausen Worcel that I own. I have really enjoyed cooking from Shelly's cookbooks and blog Vegetarian 'Ventures in the last couple of years. This new cookbook is another lovely collection of recipes. I already tried the brown butter pound cake and I'm happy to report that it got rave reviews. I have already bookmarked lots of recipes to try in the future as well. My only "complaint" would be that this type of meal is not ideal during this pandemic so for now I will be preparing single recipes rather than spreads.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for simple but innovative recipes with a modern twist.

What a great book! The pictures are beautiful and it's full of great ideas. (definitely better physical than digital though!)

I loved this book! It was perfectly arranged, full of how tos, set up, decor ideas and recipes. This is a wonderful addition for anyone who loves to entertain.

Great guide for entertaining, very tasteful (and tasty!) spreads, lots of options and inspiration. Will definitely used once allowed to have people over.

A food styling bible.

This book takes the idea of a beautifully laid table or a plethora of boards and breaks it down almost with a scientific approach. In a nutshell, it is the blueprint of how to style food for your guests or your social media photos. I truly appreciated the thorough attention to detail from color, to silverware and glassware, Its educational and inspiring. The methods are visually pleasing but the author understands the why of it all.

Recommend.

This is a lovely books with is divided into two parts. Part one shows you many different way of how to set up a beautifully decorated table for entertaining. Part two contains some recipes for the different themed dinner parties. The photography of the food is beautiful and very inspiring.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this cookbook! It was great and I will be using many recipes from it!

This is a beautiful guide to creating stunning platters and spreads of food. It is part cookbook and part styling guide. It is loaded with color photos and helpful illustrations and charts. This book is a guide to creating those oh-so-photogenic cheese and snack trays that you see all over social media. It includes step-by-step instructions on how to plan and layout your spread with helpful charts that guide your timeline. There are several different sorts of spreads covered, including the aforementioned cheese tray and other things like a holiday dessert display and a Bloody Mary Bar (yes please!).

I highly recommend this guide to foodies and social media mavens.

This was a very nice cookbook. I found the layout to flow well and the recipes were easy to understand and follow along to. I look forward to trying some of them out for my family.

Thank you to NetGalley and Chronicle for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of Tables & Spreads. We purchased Shelly's previous book, Platters & Boards, for the library and it has proved quite popular. Naturally, we were interested in this book as well. The photographs are gorgeous and the care taken in putting the book together is evident. Reading this book is like sitting down with the author and being offered an insider's look and masterclass of this unique style of entertaining. Full of attention to detail, helpful advice, and clear directions, the information in Tables & Spreads can be adapted to multiple budgets, goals, and personal styles. Easily accessible for beginners while also offering valuable insight to veteran hosts, Tables & Spreads is an instant classic.

Tables and Spreads is an accessible and *useful* guide to putting together inviting tables from the smallest gatherings to feasts. Due out 4th May 2021 from Chronicle Books, it's 288 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats.

This is a complete guide from the planning phase (what, how many, season, where, resources) through to completion for beautiful, timely, appropriate, inviting, and tastefully presented spreads - from the simplest nibbles with friends, to a lush extravaganza. I really felt as though this book was like a well equipped and experienced event planner, reassuring and sensible and with an enviable sense of style. I loved that there are charts and questionnaires to fill out to help readers define the scope of their event and get a solid idea of planning and making a timeline (that was worth the price of the book to me).

There are so many practical takeaways here - everything from choosing flavors and balancing flavors and textures, to serving utensils, containers, glassware, dinnerware, and more. This is the stuff which those of us who grew up without a subscription to Southern Living and Town & Country probably missed out on. Tablescaping is given its own chapter (including flowers, music, tablecloths and runners, and general wow-factor), as well as different spreads for consideration.

The recipe section is full of appetizing recipes which are included in numerous casual to fancy spreads - there are brunches (of course), but there are also year round holiday spreads which will turn any holiday into a showstopper.

Ingredient measurements are supplied in American standard measurements with some metric measures included (yay!). The nutritional information is not included. Each recipe includes a header with a short description of the recipe and approximate servings. Extra tips or recipe alternatives are listed in text boxes in the recipes. The recipes themselves are fairly straightforward and are made for the most part with easily sourced ingredients. Many are very simple, none of them are overly complex. The photography is abundant and clear and the recipes are illustrated simply and clearly. The photography is one of the highlights of this book.

This would make a great choice for the cook's home library. It's a really good solid volume on entertaining and it also includes quite a good selection of finger-foods, appetizers, small bites, and brunch dishes as well as lots of holiday special type dishes (not just Christmas/Hanukkah) .

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Got a party coming up? Just want to hang out with a few friends? This books has something for you.not only does it contain easily adjustable recipes for groups of any size, but it'll give you ideas of how to pair, plate and decorate around them for any occasion.

This book is fantastic! The amount of info and color photos in here are great and would guide anyone in putting together a wonderful table/board/spread of foods. There is a "choose your own adventure" page, checklists, and guides for buying/storing/prepping meats, cheeses, veggies, and fruits. There's also info on garnishes and tools and glassware. A tablescapes section covers linens, flowers, napkins, and colors for decor.
Then a large portion of the book is dedicated to themed spreads, with ingredient lists and recipes to accompany the items. One group is for basic spreads, one for interactive (where guests do some assembly of things like lettuce wraps or participate in making something), another is holiday showstoppers (and covers holidays/occasions throughout the year).
I think there's even opportunity from this book to mix and match items you have particular interest in from different sections, or to choose to do only parts of a spread's list and still have a great outcome.

This was an amazing book to dive in (and resurface hungry!). It offers detailed instructions and suggestions about spreads and decorating the table so that even complete beginners can master the art. In addition, there are numerous delicious recipes included with clear instructions and suggestions about what to combine certain dishes with. The photos are mouthwatering.

I am a big fan of charcuterie and other table spreads and this one did not disappoint!! The beginning is an informational guide on how to put things together, figure out how much you need, what to serve together and more. It goes into detail, which I very much appreciate. The second half is full of delicious looking recipes with stunning pictures! I love all the tips on presentations and themes!! This would look gorgeous on a coffee table and would make a great gift for someone who loves to entertain. Thank you NetGalley for my Advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Tables and Spreads is a guide for styling tables and includes recipes that can be incorporated. My biggest complaint is not really about the book itself, but the fact that I received it while we are still dealing with COVID and, therefore, not seeing enough people for me to feel like I can put this to use. How much would I LOVE to pick out a theme and have friends over for a spread (we've always been a group that's very into themes)? It did put me in a "once this is all over" daydream of all of the gatherings we'll have and how beautifully food will be orchestrated into our events. I really liked that there are instructional pictures and guides for how much of a food you should have for each person (I am absolutely horrible at this). Hopefully we'll be much closer to having parties when it comes out in May so I can plan out the rest of my year with themed gatherings.

NetGalley provided me with an advanced copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

Such a cool concept! I loved all the photos and there is a great range of boards for all occasions. Can’t wait to try some of the recipes.