I remember big dinnersholiday meals with the whole family, Sunday dinners with the grandparents, big tables, big food, big memories. Life, alas, runs faster these days. There’s no time for big dinners, not even small family dinners; more often it’s take-out fast food eaten by the TV. Now Tom Douglas invites us back to the table with a collection of 13 varied feasts for the body and soul. All the individual recipes are wonderful, but complete dinner menus are inspired: The “Chinook Salmon Roast” starts with crab dip with russet potato chips; “Greek Vacation” features lamb skewers with red wine and honey glaze; “Spring Chickens” winds up with a buttermilk cake with bay cr譥 fraiche and brandied cherries; and the “Pike Place Market Menu” stars fresh corn cr갥s with goat cheese and roasted peppers. The book’s subtitle”Big-Time Home Cooking for Families and Friends”doesn’t say anything about one person having to carry the full weight: Call up your friends, divvy up the courses, fax round the recipes, and host a big dinner that everyone contributes to. As Tom says: “It’s better for your soul than reality TV.” LUCILLA

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