Tune in to Tune Up Your Fall Parties!

Today I will be appearing on the Martha Stewart Living Radio Show discussing some of my favorite tips for the fall season. I love to host parties almost as much as I enjoy planning parties for others, and one thing that you must remember when throwing a gathering for any size is how the experience begins and how it ends. It begins with the first thing your guests smell and ends with the last thing they taste. Also, shop at home- always have staples like chicken or vegetable stock, seasonal fruit, items you can pull together for any type of party! Its FALL so time to change your home fragrance. Candle scents that are great to spread throughout your home are the smells of sandalwood, fig, almond, pumpkin. Ralph Lauren's Estate scent captures the season perfectly.

A great fall menu will also be one of the topics discussed on Martha. Crock-pot cooking and stews are always house warming and soul warming as the weather cools. My favorite introduction to fall is my sherried winter squash soup recipe. It takes 20 minutes to prepare but it tastes like you prepared for days!

David's Squash Soup
8 Servings
41/2 cups cooked and pureed butternut squash (it can be frozen squash)
11/2 cans chicken broth
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/2 tablespoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon curry powder
1/2 bottle Tio Pepe Gonzalez Byass Jerez dry sherry
3 tabelspoons butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup heavy cream

I follow that up with a fabulous, fun main course of Cheese. A four course Cheese Course as the main meal. Its unconventional, but you will find it a crowd pleaser. I have partnered up with Artisanalcheese.com/DavidMonnCheeseCourse to offer my very own suggestions of how you present a cheese course and what to serve along with it.

As far as desserts go, Romertopf, seasonal fruit toppings for cakes and ice cream, is definitely a great finale for an already delicious meal. One of my favorite fall desserts is Betty's Carrot Cake http://www.bettybakery.com/. It is one of my fall staples for entertaining. Seasonal gourds and baskets of apples create striking centerpiece displays for your dinner table and throughout your home.

Tune in to Martha Stewart Living on Sirius Radio today at 9am to hear more details about what I am doing this fall and what you can do to expand your home experience!