Crab Cocktail With the Guru of Good Life

I have been cooking a lot lately, and it's made me very popular this summer -- I'm averaging two or three dinner parties a week.

But as much as I absolutely love cooking, even I have begun to search for time-saving shortcuts.

There are two ways to approach cooking for people: One is to meticulously find your favorite recipes, learn them and serve them every time you entertain -- and just hope that your friends don't notice.

I have a friend who serves chicken marengo (a Napoleonic-era dish made with chicken pieces browned then slowly simmered with tomatoes, garlic, parsley, white wine and cognac, and served with fried eggs on the side) almost every time she entertains. But it's such a winner, nobody seems to mind.

The other strategy is too riff off what you come across at the market, which is what I usually do.

Ingredients inspire me as I look through the aisles of produce, meat and fish. Meal ideas start to pop into my head, which makes shopping fun. But there is a downside -- the risk that the new dish you dream up won't taste very good. That's where the tried-and-true strategy is stronger.

Since I have been cooking so much lately, my familiar tactic of turning to the market for inspiration and inventing new dishes every time I cook is becoming increasingly inconvenient. ...