In 1898， a slim volume of local East Hampton \"receipts\" appeared，
published by the newly formed Ladies Village Improvement Society
for the purpose of raising funds to aid them in their work. Every
decade or so， a new collection was gotten together， each a little
larger than before. They enjoyed great popularity and some of the
older ones are now considered collector s items. This， the eleventh， is
a radical departure from its predecessors. First it reflects food as a
life-style rather than only food indigenous to the area. Secondly， it is
a menu cookbook. For why we eat what we do， and how， and when，
is no longer based only on local custom and availability (although that
certainly plays a part). Our large artists community， an ever-growing
group of second-home owners and their guests of widely divergent
ethnic and national backgrounds， with palates honed by travel， have
made once exotic dishes like ratatouille and moussaka as common
fare as East End clam pie.
The second home， now likely to be kept open most of the year and
servantless all of it， comes to life on the weekend and demands meal
planning of a high order. The family piles out of the car hungry and
has to be fed. There is precious little time for shopping and cooking;
one wants something a bit festive and special. Houseguests， a firmly
entrenched custom， complicate the picture further. Thoughts about
food for the weekend often begin on Wednesday; thinking in terms of
whole menus can expedite planning and shopping. So can working
around dishes that can be prepared largely ahead with relatively little
fuss， using seasonally available ingredients.
The menus and recipes in this book have been gathered with that，
as well as the overall country life-style， in mind. The food is， for the
most part， hearty and simple， though not necessarily easy. Conve-
nience foods appear rarely. We are extremely fortunate to have still
NTRODUCTION xv
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