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