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"  It&amp;#039;s fall, but forget about Thanksgiving. How about a Day of the Dead party, the first and second day of November, when, in Mexico, revelers parade from door to door swilling tequila, then meet at graveyards at midnight to celebrate the departed. It&amp;#039;s just the sort of overthe- top theme party that fashion designer Nicole Miller takes on as an endorphinous challenge.  You may know Miller as the pixieish, red-haired powerhouse who perfected the body-conscious cocktail dress back in the &amp;#039;80s and novelty-print silk ties, then grew her company into what it is today\u2014a multimillion- dollar lifestyle brand. Her hold on form-flattering dresses remains, and she&amp;#039;s mastered the elegant staple separate; all-ages customers, from Anjelica Huston to Beyonc\u00E9 Knowles, flock to her for stress-free eventwear. But if she hadn&amp;#039;t channeled pr\u00EAt-\u00E0-porter, she could easily have wound up a Martha Stewart-y guru.  Miller masterminds up to 20 parties a year and obsessively posts recipes (Nicole&amp;#039;s Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie! Nicole&amp;#039;s Baked Clams With Chorizo!) on Facebook and Twitter. And, yes, between designing multiple collections, not to mention eyewear, fragrances, and a bed and bath line, the freckled 58-year-old, who somehow manages to give off the carefree air of a teenager, is in the midst of penning a book on entertaining. Recalling one of Miller&amp;#039;s infamous DIY lunches\u2014this one with a seafood theme\u2014philanthropist Marcia Mishaan said, &amp;quot;Nicole literally went out into the bay behind the house, rolled up her pants, and dug the clams herself.&amp;quot;  To accommodate his wife&amp;#039;s chronic socializing, Miller&amp;#039;s husband, the financier Kim Taipale, added on a special soupedup party porch to their Sag Harbor, New York, beach house (see: outdoor sound system, canopyesque weather guards, and air-conditioning and heat in case of pesky temperature fluctuations). The couple, heavily into midcentury modern design, bought the neo-traditional shingled estate 14 years ago shortly after the birth of their son, Palmer, and did their best to rid the retreat of all quaint ornamentation. But her feasts are beyond baroque. They almost always have a wanderlust theme\u2014sort of living souvenirs of Miller&amp;#039;s global hopscotching. Last year was Turkey (guests left wearing their evil-eye napkin-holders as bracelets); another time it was Frida Kahlo.  &amp;quot;The next day there were unibrows all over the floor,&amp;quot; giggles Miller.  This, her second-ever Mexican-themed night, was in part dreamed up in homage to beloved south-of-the-border escapes: Oaxaca, San Miguel de Allende, Acapulco, and Mexico City. But then there&amp;#039;s the Donald Baechler skull painting. Here&amp;#039;s Miller&amp;#039;s obsessive- collector logic: After it arrived from New York&amp;#039;s Cheim &amp;amp;amp; Read gallery, it had to have a proper Hamptons debut. And it is now hanging, sphinxlike, in the living room among works by her artist coterie: David Salle, Eric Fischl, and April Gornik.  Miller launched her fashion line during Bright Lights, Big City New York, when contemporary art, fashion, and clubbing coalesced with finance to launch a generation of superstars and megabrands such as Calvin Klein and Donna Karan. (A pre\u2013Sex in the City Candace Bushnell was Taipale&amp;#039;s then girlfriend.) Miller showed herself to be a shrewd rebel independent in an industry dominated by corporate buyouts and investment deals. She and her business partner of 28 years, Bud Konheim, still own their self-built empire with 20 boutiques and $650 million in annual sales.  Miller parlays her deft skill as a powercreative into her role as a hostess. In one post-waterskiing afternoon, Miller has single-handedly transformed her parlors with suitcase loads of collectibles crammed into a closet upstairs. Embroidered skeleton throw pillows appear atop the 1950s George Nelson couch, ceramic &amp;quot;circle of friends&amp;quot; candle holders from San Miguel de Allende have been placed on the bar, and brilliantly colored paper flowers from a scouting trip to El Paso, Texas, brighten every bare corner.  Her social engineering is as precise as a runway collection: (1) Put the place cards on the table after all the guests have arrived. &amp;quot;That way if someone doesn&amp;#039;t show or someone brings an uninvited friend, there are no embarrassing moments.&amp;quot; (2) Have a table that can be expanded or made smaller to avoid any holes or crowding. (3) Always have a theme cocktail, &amp;quot;but don&amp;#039;t drink too many yourself,&amp;quot; says Miller, passing on the freshly shaken margaritas and opting for a lower-alcohol glass of white wine. The dinner table, set for 35, now resembles a scrumptious pi\u00F1ata. Brightly colored papel picado banners line the walls of the party porch and mats woven in Oaxaca and painted skull tiles mark each place. (Palmer and the junior set are holed up in the TV room.)  &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s so boring to just hire a fancy caterer and have them do everything,&amp;quot; says Miller, still in the kitchen dicing heirloom tomatoes last minute, with little concern for splotching her white embroidered peasant blouse. Her Parisian mother can be thanked for the laissez-faire entertaining genes. From her Lenox, Massachusetts, kitchen, the expat Mme Miller effortlessly tossed together complex but homey confections such as coq au vin, rago\u00FBt de mouton, homemade bread, and &amp;quot;wonderful desserts like oeufs \u00E0 la neige.&amp;quot;  Intuiting the du jour passion for upmarket takes on Mexican street food, the bar is piled high with Day of the Dead yummies: pork tamales, chocolaty chicken mole, homemade tortilla chips, and the showpiece: a giant margarita glass lined with sliced limes and filed with spicy chipotle shrimp on delicate skewers. (For big Hamptons dinners, Miller generally plans the menu with chef Robert Gurvich, with whom she sealed a culinary relationship during a marathon duck confit cooking lesson.)  Foodie (and Billy Joel ex) Katie Lee shows up looking glam in high high heels and a surf instructor in tow. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;ve been thinking a lot about gourmet Mexican food lately,&amp;quot; she says. Lee spent last January in Punta Mita, Mexico, north of Puerto Vallarta, writing a novel and sampling copious amounts of fish tacos that she calls &amp;quot;the new $25 hamburger.&amp;quot;  In typical Millerian style, when the guests gather to break tortillas, Miller spares us the long-winded accolades. Glasses clink-clink for a toast, but all she says is, &amp;quot;Let&amp;#039;s eat.&amp;quot; As easy as a perfect cocktail dress. Click here for Nicole Miller&amp;#039;s party-perfecting recipes.  Click here for photos of Miller&amp;#039;s fantastic fiesta and a few of the designer&amp;#039;s must-haves.     GREEN RICE, FROM THE RECIPE FILES OF NICOLE MILLER Serves four Ingredients:   1 cup long-grain white rice 3 poblano chilies, seeds, veins, and stem end removed 2 tablespoons olive oil 1/2 cup diced white onion 2 cups chicken broth 1/2 cup chopped cilantro 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from 1 or 2 limes) 1 teaspoon salt Directions:  Soak the rice in hot water for 15 minutes, then drain it, rinse it in cold water, and drain it again. Puree the poblano peppers with 1/4 cup water in a blender until almost smooth. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the rice and onion. Saut\u00E9, stirring frequently, until the rice is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the chilies and saut\u00E9 the mixture for another 2 minutes. Add the chicken broth, cilantro, lime juice, and salt, and stir. When the liquid comes to a boil, lower the heat, cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid, and let it simmer until cooked, about 15 minutes. When the rice is cooked, transfer it to a large platter and serve.  MEXICAN CHOCOLATE GANACHE TART AND DULCE DE LECHE SAUCE By Robert Gurvich Ingredients:   Tart shell 3 tablespoons slivered blanched almonds 6 tablespoons sugar 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour Pinch of salt 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (cold and cut into small, even pieces)  Filling 1 1/4 cups heavy cream 12 ounces bittersweet Mexican chocolate (chopped) such as Mayordomo from Oaxaca 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract  Sauce 1 can sweetened condensed milk 1 1/2 cups milk 1/2 cup of cr\u00E8me fraiche  Garnish Mint, crushed almonds, or berries Directions:  Preheat oven to 325\u00B0 F.  To make the dough: In a food processor, pulse the almonds, sugar, flour, and salt just until combined. Add the butter and pulse until the dough begins to form small pieces that resemble coarse meal. Put the dough into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Dip your fingers into melted butter or water and form the crust to make an even layer on the sides and bottom.  Bake it in the center of oven until it is golden brown (about 25 to 30 minutes). Remove the tart shell and allow it to cool completely. To make the ganache: In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a boil, then pour it over the chocolate in a large mixing bowl and stir them together until the mixture is smooth. Mix in the vanilla. Pour the chocolate mixture into the cooled tart shell and chill for two hours. It is best served slightly warmer than refrigerator temperature. To make the sauce: Boil the can of condensed milk in water for 2 hours, keeping the can completely covered with water. Allow the can to cool in the cooking water. Mix the still-warm condensed milk with the regular milk and then fold in cr\u00E8me fraiche. Allow the sauce to cool to room temperature before using. Spoon the sauce onto a plate and place tart on top or on the side. Garnish. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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