Picking music for a dinner party can be a pain. Who's coming and what do they like? Will it be too fast? Will it be too slow and put people to sleep? A dinner party isn't a disco, so some care is involved. But let's make it easy.

If you've already got an extensive music library, this probably isn't an issue for you. You know what you like and you're going to play it. This direction is for people who walk into a music store and stare blindly at all of the new offerings, not knowing what's what. Even if you go to the jazz section, for example, you don't know if this is cutting-edge jazz, late-night jazz, fusion jazz, or classic jazz. It just all jumbles together. And you have no time to listen to this stuff and decide, so what to do?

One thing you can do is join a music club. Yep, those obnoxious ads that fall out of your Sunday paper can come in handy. You'll pay more for the CDs, but you can tell them you like modern jazz, and voilá, every month the latest and greatest will show up on your doorstep, ready to pop into your player. Ninety-nine out of 100 of these are perfect for dinner parties. Believe me. Zola knows.

You can go to places like Pier One or Pottery Barn or Cost Plus and you'll find themed CDs. These will have a mixture of music from different artists. They are also set up for different events. You might find a Latin one that you can play when you want to serve Southwestern or Mexican food. You'll find summer ones for outdoor parties, etc. Some of these have a real kick to them and are exotic enough to make people think you really know your music!

The next thing is to decide what you'll play when. If your party is going to be three hours long, you'll need three or four CDs. Normally, I'll play something thematic that goes with the dinner ingredients at cocktail time. French food, "Dinner in Paris" CD. There are even CD mixes that are titled "Cocktail Hour." CDs like this work great. After the Cocktail Hour CD, the second CD in your changer would be either jazz or an upbeat classical to go along with dinner. No dance music now or you'll have people chewing so fast they'll have indigestion and won't eat your dessert. The third CD can go back to your theme music or just continue along the same lines as the second one.

Then you have to decide what the after-dinner music should be. Do you want to wind them down with classical or late-night smooth jazz? Or do you want to move them to the bar and get them moving, talking and laughing louder while you do cognac and cigars and play pool? If that's the case, get out the Oldies (your choice, depending on how old your party-goers are). The late '60s and early '70s work for most groups because they were either the current hits of their time or they were little kids then and they know the words. Then again, there's always Dean Martin. Everyone remembers the words to his songs, for some reason.

One more thing. No music coordinates with a cat in heat. Awhile back at a dinner party, no matter what music I played for our guests, our Abyssinian Tattoo would go into the hallway about every 10 minutes and "beller out" a plaintive screaming stream in hopes that some "man cat" would break into our house and have his way with her. Guests were covering their ears. It was her first "concert" at one year old. Since then she's had her kittens. Titi and Tut are 14 weeks and starting dinner antics of their own.

Here's a dessert that is cool for summer but looks beautiful all year 'round. When someone asks you to bring something to a party, say, "I'll bring dessert" and make this.

Lemon Fruit Tart

Ingredients:

1 sheet of puff pastry (They come two sheets to a box.)
1 cup lemon curd or pie filling
1 cup whipped topping (e.g., Cool Whip)
2 Tbl of apricot jam
Various summer fruits. Your choice; pick 4 or more of different colors. You'll need 1/2 cup or 5 or 6 of each strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, green grapes, red grapes, raspberries, or blackberries. Those are the easy ones. You can also make life a little more challenging by doing peaches (peeled), mango, papaya, pineapple, etc. Don't pick apples or bananas. Anything that turns brown after you cut it would be an unwise choice.

Assembly:

Lay out your puff pastry on the counter 15 to 30 minutes before you want to get started. It needs to soften up. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Lightly flour your counter or a cutting board and roll your puff pastry until it's the size of a small cookie sheet. Keep it in the rectangle shape as you roll. Then slice it in half the long way to make two long rectangles. (You have enough pastry for two tarts. If you want to make two, you'll just need more fruit and filling. With one can of pie filling and one container of Cool Whip, you'll have enough for two to cover the filling part. Just add more fruit to your list.)

Once you have your half, take your pizza cutter and slice a three quarter inch border off all four sides. You are making a rim. Brush the main pastry edge with water and then take your slices and put them around the edge on top of the main piece. The water helps the pieces stick to each other so you make a long "box." Cut the edges and squish the ends a little to make them stick. Carefully transfer your pastry box to your cookie sheet. You can slide it off the cutting board or counter onto the sheet pretty easily.

Prick the puff pastry with your fork in about 10 places to keep it from rising too much during baking.

Bake 15 minutes at 350 or until lightly golden.

Remove from oven. Take the back of a spoon and press down any "wayward" bubbles. Let the pastry cool.

Now for the fun part. Stir together the whipped topping and the lemon curd in a bowl. Then transfer it into the rectangle using a soup spoon so you don't get too much at once. You'll want your filling about one half inch thick, but it's important to "stay inside the box" with the filling.

Wash your fruit and wipe or drain off excess water. Then decorate your tart. Cut strawberries and grapes in half so they lay flat. Peel the kiwi and make slices. I always use a little extra kiwi so I get to eat the ends and not use them on the tart. (Kiwis are a little unpredictable, so buy an extra one.) Lay the fruit on the filling in sections. You might have a row of strawberries, then two inches of blueberries, then a strip of kiwi. You can start to repeat your pattern and have a row of grapes here and there. It's all up to you. For variety, you can lay the fruit the long way or even on diagonals. Just lay the fruits close to each other so you don't see a lot of filling squishing out.

Melt your apricot jam in the microwave on medium heat or on the stove. Take your pastry brush and "paint" the fruit so it has a glossy shine. Don't paint the pastry unless you like a gooey crust.

Refrigerate until just before serving. Taking it out 15 minutes ahead will get rid of the refrigerator taste. Slice it by rocking a large (chef) knife between the rows of fruit. If you use pressure and rock the knife instead of slicing you'll keep the filling "inside the box" instead of dragging it out with your knife.

Finding a serving tray for a long pastry can be a challenge, but the long tart looks so cool. You can make a square or a round tart if you choose. The French way to serve the long tarts would be to serve them on a cutting board like they do in the French countryside. You can drape the board with a tea towel or clean, pretty dish towel for a less-formal look.

This should make 8 to 10 slices per tart. http://www.apexperformancesystems.com/recipes/recipeImages/52_small1.jpg to see a picture of the lemon tart.

Enjoy! Zola