We’re in the warm-weather groove in southern Oregon, which is the perfect weather for outdoor entertaining. Today I’m sharing a delicious summer appetizer: Apricot Ricotta Honey Basil Bites.

Apricot Ricotta Honey Basil Bites

Easy to prepare and fresh in flavor, especially with the basil and sweetness of the apricots. Add the balsamic glaze for the ultimate bite!  You may also want serve these on this lunch sandwich board. (more…)

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Friends, inviting others over for dinner is sometimes the best gift that you can give. Not only giving them the gift of a hospitable spirit, but a nourishing, healthy, tasty meal as well!

We are loving our new outdoor entertaining area, with 2 decks, one with the morning sun, one with the afternoon sun. The front of our house has a very sweet patio for a small dinner party!

Patio Season with Q Squared NYC

How you set a table for an outdoor dinner party is usually a reflection of the mood of an event. For us in our new mountain home, we’ll be hosting more casual dinners now, which I’m excited about. (more…)

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Last night I took my friends dinner. Having just come home from Jeannie’s treatment in the hospital, she was exhausted, in bed, but her husband met me outside with a smile on his tired face. Happy to have a home-cooked meal, he graciously took the food from my hands, and invited me inside. (more…)

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Recently Le Creuset launched a new Cuisines of the World Collection, that allows cooks to experiment at home with new flavors and cooking styles from Indian, China, Spain and Morocco. There are four pieces available in both Cast Iron cookware and oven-to-table Stoneware, and each piece can go straight from the stovetop or oven to the table.

After returning from Africa and Turkey this past summer, my world and palate were opened to other cultures and delicious foods, like our first night in Turkey, where we ate an amazing, heavily seasoned lamb tagine. It was brought to our table, with the deepest and most intense flavors steaming in a tagine, and we savored every bite over a bed of rice.

I’m excited that ONE reader today is eligble to win one of these beautiful pieces!

I chose the green (palm), with a beautiful glazed stoneware “coolie” style lid, that sits on a cast iron base, ideal for use on any heat source, or as a baking /roasting dish in the oven. (more…)

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Hello, Friends! It’s the day after the big feast, BLACK FRIDAY, and our refrigerators are laden with leftovers galore, but hopefully our cooking spirits aren’t a-fadin.

Leftover cooking for some is not an option, but quite honestly, if you have the right cookware, it becomes very simple – affordable and delicious!

Why I love Swiss Diamond.

I am fed up with replacing nonstick pans for 20+ years. As careful as we try to be to not to scratch them, they are just not as durable as anodized or stainless. Yet anodized and stainless steel cookware does not have the nonstick properties needed in some cooking applications. Why can’t we just have both in the same pan?

I’m here to tell you that Swiss Diamond® is the perfect combination of a hard-anodized and nonstick pan communion.
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Last weekend we hosted friends for dinner, and I served Beef Tenderloin with a delicious, fresh Chimichurri Sauce. Dinner was so simple, one of my favorite summertime meals, and everyone seemed pretty happy. That always makes me smile, when I know our guests are happy. :)

Electric knife.

My husband is really helpful when it comes to dinner parties. He helps in the kitchen, getting the music ready, does outside chores, and he’s always game to use the electric knife in the kitchen. :) It’s funny, the reaction from guests when he uses an electric knife. Some feel this tool is from the dark ages, some embrace the “ease” and talk about how much they love their tool. I grew up with an electric knife, so for me it was a “must have” in our kitchen, and works great on bread, too.

I was actually proud of myself. We were outside having so much fun with appetizers, drinks, walking through the garden, getting some “girlfriend pics,” (our friend Judy just turned 50!), I forgot about the meat in the oven. (more…)

The post Cooking Beef Tenderloin with Fresh Herbs appeared first on Reluctant Entertainer.

The kitchen really is the heart of our home, where we often sit and talk, eat, snack, enjoy appetizers and drinks around the center island, and then when company comes, we move over to the table for dinner.

The goal.

The goal for my kitchen is to take what I’ve been given, and turn around and use it for “good,” which is why we have so many people into our home to share a meal! I didn’t always have a beautiful kitchen, and over the years, if we had been told that our kitchen had to look a certain way before entertaining, I think of all the dinner parties we would have missed out on, and friends we’ve really gotten to know around our table.

Don’t miss out.

There are always kitchens that will be neater, bigger, better designed, with “perfect” natural light, better floors, and appliances. In due season, you may or may not have your dream kitchen, but in the meantime, don’t miss out on hospitable moments!

Don’t compare, don’t give up, and keep on cooking and sharing food and love with others!

New fridge.

Today I’m sharing about a new appliance from KitchenAid that’s now in my kitchen, for those who are planning a new kitchen, or are looking for new appliances. Head over to KitchenAid’s blog to see more details about this KitchenAid® 29 Cu. Ft. Standard-Depth French Door Architect® Series II refrigerator!

Top 10 favorite foods.

I’m also sharing my top 10 favorite foods that are in my refrigerator, over at Aggie’s Kitchen today, a new series that she has recently started. Click, here, to visit Aggie’s site. You can learn more about the fridge, and actually see inside. Fun!

Well-stocked.

I always rejoice when my fridge is well-stocked. It makes me grateful, thankful, happy, and also it reminds me of how we can bless others with what we’ve been given, because I know in different seasons of life, not everyone has a well stocked kitchen!

Use it for good.

My hope for this new beauty in my kitchen is not only its use for family and friends, dinner parties, and holidays, but for blessing neighbors, taking meals to others in need, and really using it as a tool to getting to know others better.

The kitchen is where we let our guards down, join together with friends and family—mingle, catch up, and get the party started!

Are you content with your fridge, or what features do you wish you had?

KitchenAid® provided me with this refrigerator, but as always, all opinions are my own.

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