Bite by Bite: 100 Stylish Little Plates You Can Make for Any Party

One would have to be extremely committed, with an obsessive attention to detail, to nail even one of these awe-inducing appetizers by Callahan, owner of Callahan Catering in New York City, let alone a fleet of them to service a party. Callahan's dishes are irresistibly adorable and inspired: tiny hand-twisted pretzels paired with shots of beer, or a mini meatball topped with its own little fork-swirled mound of pasta. Baked beans are served in bacon cups molded from mini muffin tins; miniature loaves of bread for grilled cheese sandwiches are baked in little pans; chicken parmesan bites manifest themselves as lollipops; pancakes the size of nickels, dimes, and quarters are stacked and glued together with dots of maple syrup. Commonplace savory items (burgers, bagels with cream cheese and lox) are transformed into desserts: chocolate ice cream "burgers" with meringue "buns," profiterole "bagels" with vanilla pudding for the cream cheese and mango or papaya slices for the lox. This book is for advanced cooks, but Callahan does offer some helpful tips and shortcuts for home cooks, like substituting store-bought for homemade ingredients. (Aug.)