SOCIAL CLIMES / TIME OUT : The Guy Knows How to Throw a Party

It’s 9 a.m. and something inside Don Ernstein’s house smells good. Really good--buttery, sweet, eggy. “I never eat like this,” he confesses, browning fat triangles of French toast stuffed with peanut butter and bananas in a pool of melted butter. “I have cereal for breakfast.”

But today Ernstein is making his breakfast party menu from “The Complete Party Book” (Viking Studio Books) to demonstrate there doesn’t have to be high anxiety when throwing a party--even if something flops.

“I already burned the chicken-apple sausages this morning,” he admits. “But that’s OK--I just thought, ‘I’ll make more.’ That’s the thing about parties. If something goes wrong, you can always have another party.

“When you’re doing a catered party, usually everything is going to go fine because you’re working with professionals,” he says. “When you’re doing it at home . . . something could happen. But you just sort of have to hang loose.”

Ernstein lives by the advice he doles out. His 12-year-old Los Angeles-based catering and party-planning company--Wonderful Parties, Wonderful Foods--has thrown fetes for Jane Fonda, Tina Brown and Bill Clinton. His book came out of a desire to demystify and simplify the party-giving process, offer creative and inexpensive decorating tips, and give complete menus for everything from a brunch to a dessert party to an appetizer buffet to a late supper.

“Do I get nervous at my parties? No,” says the former graphic designer. “I have shpilkis like a week before the party--and I’m not talking over the top, but I’m just aware that there’s stuff to be done. The day of the party I’m relaxed.”

What are some tricks of his trade that non-pros can use?

* Do as much ahead of time as possible. “I love to set the table the day before because I can play around with it.”

* Concentrate on what you like to do. “If you only like doing the flowers, then serve takeout,” or have the party catered. (Ernstein orders Chinese food and serves it in takeout cartons.)

* See your home in a new light. “I’ll sit in a room and look at it and listen to it. . . . There are certain things that are going to work better than others.”

* Use the unexpected for decorations--a bouquet of flowers mixed with fresh herbs, some colorful peppers. A bowl of purple and white eggplants can be a centerpiece one day, ratatouille the next.

* If you don’t live formally, don’t entertain that way. “I think people are intimidated by that.”

* Know your etiquette if you’re the host or a guest. “People bring flowers to your house . . . but they don’t always know your taste, and you may have spent all this time making sure everything looks the way you want. So you run into the kitchen and throw them in the sink and put in a little water and deal with them later.

* “And make sure you clean out your bathroom cabinets,” Ernstein says. “People go through them. If I were to tell you that I didn’t open cabinets, I’d be lying to you. I don’t always do it, but I’ve done it. It’s human nature.”

What’s Ernstein’s favorite kind of party to give in his own home?

“Dinner for eight to 12 people. I’d use the dining room table as a buffet and I’d have fried chicken and mashed potatoes and great bread--corn muffins or something--and chocolate cake. I just love basic food.

“If (entertaining) isn’t something you’ve been brought up with, you can still establish your own style,” he says. “You may hate the way your mother did things, maybe it was always formal and you had to sit in the living room.

“You can do a buffet on the kitchen counter. And you can go to a restaurant and see how they do things there, or go to Crate & Barrel and see how they set a table. You just have to have the desire to do it.”

Ernstein says his love of cooking and party-giving can be traced to his grandmother: “She loved having people over. The bottom line was that she always wanted people around her, and I want people around me.”