Recently, a friend of mine threw her annual summer party. Every year it’s something different and this year’s theme was Around the World.

No, she didn’t mean Around the World in 80 Days, the famous story of Phileas Fogg the most punctual man in the world. She provided a culinary and artistic world tour for her lucky guests. And she told me she could not have done it without the library.

There was tea and sushi in a Japanese garden. A German Biergarten. Shrimp on the barbie ala our mates in Australia. Indian cuisine. Asian. Every continent was represented. She even had a table of cookies with a red and white striped pole nearby labeled North Pole.

And the music! Depending on where you wandered in her house and yard, you could hear everything from Celtic harp to Caribbean steel drums.

How was the library involved? All of the recipes she used came from cookbooks she borrowed from the library. Wonderful titles such as My Paris Kitchen, It’s All Greek to Me, and Simple Thai Food stood proudly on each table. Guests could thumb through the books for interesting international recipes.

The music was all from Putumayo, a company devoted to world music. The background music consisted of World Party, Vintage France, Italian Café, Celtic Tides and many, many others.

My friend told me she got the idea for the party from the wide range of international cookbooks she saw on display at the library. When she confided her project to me, I had mentioned that she could also get a variety of world music at the library, too.

It was a memorable, multicultural evening. a world tour that never left town. I can hardly wait to see what next year’s party brings.

And, in case you were wondering, on the table that held the cookies from the North Pole, all the recipes cards simply said Mrs. Claus.

Check out our Putumayo collection and our cookbook collection: