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New Year. Rev up the fun with your entertaining this year and learn how to enjoy the more leisurely pace of meals like a fondue with family and friends. Nadine Hughes shows you how to put the fun back into entertaining.  

How to Put the Fun Back into Entertaining  

The Groove Mamma Goes Gourmet

By Nadine Hughes - WINNER GOURMAND WORLD COOKBOOK AWARDS

Food personality, cooking teacher, mom and serial home entertainer Nadine Hughes, author of the new E-Book: “The Groove Mamma Goes Gourmet: Easy Ways to Put the Fun Back into Entertaining,” has recently won the prestigious Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in the Best Entertaining Cookbook category for Canada. “With over 26 000 cookbooks being published around the world every year, it’s an honour and a joy to have been selected amongst so many entries,” says Hughes.

The Gourmand World Cookbook Awards was founded by Edward Cointreau in 1995 (originally titled The World Cookbook Awards). The awards are designed to honour those who “cook with words” and due to “The Groove Mamma Goes Gourmet’s” impressive win, Hughes has a chance to compete in the Best in the World cookbook category in Paris in February, 2010. This is particularly impressive because Hughes’ book is an E-Book and not a traditional print offering.

Part of the cookbook’s massive appeal is that Hughes understands just how time-strapped many of us are, which is why she offers a host of elegant menus, recipes and tips designed to get the party started right. Flavour-packed, accessible recipes and tips that deliver are the book’s mainstay, as is Hughes’s “no-stress” cooking approach. This is a one-stop party-planning resource - from providing general tips on planning and hosting a party, to providing menu and recipe ideas.  Hughes also provides many useful tips on getting organized in advance – including insights on preparing a room, setting a table as well as a detailed schedule for starting your preparations. "What a thrill to be recognized by Gourmand!  The Groove Mamma is an extension of me so to have my words and thoughts bestowed this award is a great inspiration for me to keep on doing what I do!" says an excited Nadine.

To learn more about “The Groove Mamma” or to interview Gourmand World Cookbook Award winning author Nadine Hughes, please contact Kimberly Plumley at Publicity Mavens at 250-390-9285 or via email at kim@publicitymavens.com.

About the Author

Nadine Hughes is the creator and owner of, The Cook’s Companion, through which she offers kitchen consultations and menu planning services as well as a cooking and entertaining school that offers classes for adults and teens throughout Southern Ontario. She is also a published writer and avid blogger who is often called upon for “emergency” cooking and entertaining advice. In addition to The Cook’s Companion, Nadine launched the internet based The Menu Companion in February 2008, which markets and sells comprehensive menu planners that focus on the planning and preparation of dinner parties. This concise e-book is the perfect stress saver – and who better to take sage party advice from than the original partying mamma herself!  

Are you looking for easy how to ways to make the most of your time spent in the kitchen and improve your eating habits? Here are a few simple organizing tips from Nadine’s article on Changing Gears that will save you money and make meal preparation easier.  

Try this easy and fun cheese fondue at your next gathering.

Classic Cheese Fondue by Nadine Hughes

Serves 10
Preparation Time - 15 minutes
Cooking Time - 10 minutes

Note: The fondue can be prepared the night before and refrigerated.  Reheat on the stove top over low heat when ready to serve.  Use a variety of dipping items to satisfy all the tastes at the table.  

Ingredients:
•500g (1lb) Gruyere Cheese, coarsely grated
•250g ( ½ lb) Emmentaler Cheese, coarsely grated
•1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
•1 garlic clove, cut in half
•250ml (1 cup) dry white wine (substitute chicken stock)
•1 tablespoon Kirsch (cherry brandy but can omit)
•Slat and freshly ground white pepper to taste
•Crusty bread cubes, hard cured meats such as salami, small dill pickles, raw or slightly steamed vegetables such as broccoli flowerets, cauliflower flowerets, small mushroom caps.
1.In a bowl, toss the two cheeses with the cornstarch.
2.Rub the inside of a cheese fondue pot or medium, enameled cast-iron casserole with the garlic halves, then add the wine and bring to a simmer over medium heat.  Add the cheese mixture and using a wooden spoon, stir over moderately low heat just until the cheese is melted and smooth, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the Kirsch and season with salt and pepper.
3.Serve with the bread, meats and vegetables

Nadine Hughes, Cooking & Entertaining with Nadine Hughes.