About the journal

Sharon Myers is the title of this journal, not a byline. Like the old newspaper food pages that ran under a name on the masthead, the name sits at the top of every page, and the pieces underneath are signed by the people who wrote them. Nobody here writes as Sharon Myers.

The journal is about the food that appears when people gather: hors d'oeuvres and cheese boards, soups and salads that hold on a buffet, roasts and fish for a dinner party, cakes and pies made a day ahead, and the menus, quantities and timelines that keep a party calm. It is written from New England kitchens, so sugaring season, summer gardens, apple time and the holidays come round in it every year.

What you will find here

• Recipes: the archive of recipes, many of them on the addresses where an earlier recipe of the month once sat, rewritten with fuller methods and notes for cooking in quantity.
• Sample menus: complete menus for showers, dinner parties, buffets and weddings at home, with quantities and a prep plan.
• Catering guides: how full-service, drop-off and dessert-only catering work, written for hosts who hire help or do it themselves.
• Entertaining: new recipes and planning pieces, newest first.

What the journal is not

This is a cooking journal. It is not a catering company, a bakery or a cooking school. We do not quote, cater, bake to order or take bookings, and nothing on the site is for sale from us. Some pages carry a clearly marked partner box; how that works is explained on the privacy page.

Who writes it

Five home cooks who feed a lot of people: Lorna Dufresne on menus and planning, Wes Kittredge on the grill and the roasting pan, Abigail Thurlow on cakes, pies and bread, Nell Underhill on soups, salads and the seasons, and Tomoko Wexler on party food and the habits that keep it safe. Their pages are under the kitchen hands.

Corrections are welcome. If an amount is wrong or a step does not work in your kitchen, write to us and the piece will be fixed.