It's party time! A gaggle of new entertaining cookbooks hits the shelves

When cold weather meets a stubborn economy it's time for a party at home. A bevy of new books on entertaining offers tips, techniques and recipes for elegant meals, glamorous tables, and fetching cocktails. Many of the ideas are worthy of the holidays that lurk just around the corner.

-

-"Martha Stewart's Dinner at Home" by Martha Stewart (Clarkson Potter, 2009)

Martha has done it again. In a new book filled with gorgeous photographs, the domestic diva offers plans of attack for 52 enticing seasonal menus designed to take no more than an hour.

Among the more than 200 recipes is a fall feast of watercress-cauliflower soup and roasted pork followed by a dessert of pears with candied walnuts and gorgonzola. In winter, chocolate truffles cap a meal of spice-rubbed beef filets, port-glazed pearl onions and potato puree.

A specific and well-laid preparation schedule accompanies each menu and makes it look easy. The book is also stuffed with Martha-esque tips - creating the perfect cheese platter, making caramel, selecting an appropriate chocolate - to fine tune your entertaining skills. As always, the approach is simple: good ingredients, well-prepared and beautifully presented, will elevate any meal.

-"The Comfort Table" by Katie Lee (Simon Spotlight Entertainment, 2009)

Cookbook meets party guide in this little ditty from celebrity hostess Katie Lee. More than 100 recipes are organized according to event, from a retro cocktail party and Super Bowl to Thanksgiving and Cinco De Mayo.

This is straightforward comfort food: meatloaf sliders made with ketchup, bacon-wrapped dates, pot roast with chive-buttered egg noodles. For each menu, Lee suggests appropriate wine or cocktail pairings and a party-fueling playlist. What to dial up for Steakhouse Night? Why Sinatra and Dean Martin, of course. For a Sunday supper of tomato and Vidalia onion salad, fried chicken and simmered collard greens? Lynyrd Skynyrd.

-"Casual Entertaining" by Ross Dobson (Ryland, Peters&Small, 2009)

Australian food writer Ross Dobson has created a party passport that's actually organized the way many people entertain. A chapter on "Grazing" offers easy finger foods like phyllo cigars with halloumi, chili salt squid and a smoked trout salad that inspire stand-around munching (cocktail recipes included).

His "Cheap and Cheerful" chapter drains the stress - and expense - from dinner parties with dishes like fresh mussels with fennel aioli, coq au leftover red wine, and a spicy pork curry with lemon rice.

"Food in a Flash" promises easy weeknight entertaining, while "Chic Eats" features slow cooked lamb shanks, Spanish bouillabaisse and truffled egg linguine for those extra special events. Lots of inventive ideas here for putting on a tastefully tasty party.

-"Stonewall Kitchen Winter Celebrations" by Jonathan King, Jim Stott and Kathy Gunst (Chronicle Books, 2009)

This collection from specialty food producer Stonewall Kitchen was made for a cold night and that bottle of good Pinot you've been saving. In dozens of recipes designed for entertaining, the authors make excellent use of winter's bounty, from mashed parsnips and pears to acorn squash and beet salad, fennel and potato gratin, and sauteed Brussels sprouts with pancetta breadcrumbs.