Friday Entertaining

Something about this interesting kitchen ignites my sense of imagination.

 I have chosen it to be the debut photo for my new Friday entertaining series called "Kitchen and Dish". I'll pair an interesting kitchen with one of my favorite recipes and maybe an unusual floral arrangement, placesetting, tablescape or venue.

I would imagine this is a chef's kitchen and the 'organized clutter' reflects the chef's love of collecting and entertaining. This chef has a seasoned cast iron skillet and loves to share his methods with his guests while he cooks. His table is eclectic, mixing vintage finds with silver and french linen.

For tonight's dinner the chef prepares:

Mac and Cheese Roasted Chicken and Goat Cheese

Doesn't this look delicious! The recipe features savory ingredients that have big impact like rosemary and goat cheese. It would be easy to prepare and allow the hostess time to socialize with her guests. I would keep it simple and serve this with a big salad dressed with a homemade herb vinaigrette.

I love this image of old silver and pearl handled flatware. It embodied how i like to entertain...use interesting things and present them in a casual, familiar way. I can easily see handing this tray over to a friend and having them set the table or simply placing the tray on the table and serving family style.

Little Flower School by Nicolette and Sarah

This natural arrangement could have been pulled together by a savvy gardener and would be so pretty in the entrance hall to welcome guests. It is the creation of Saipua Ryhanen and Nicolette Camille Owen, two boutique floral designers from Brooklyn who come together to teach at the Little Flower School. 

If you like arranging flowers, you will love this article from the NY Times about this talented duo. Here's a little snippet from the article:

Owen and Ryhanen encourage deli-flower shoppers to buy in tiers: bulky, real-estate-hogging items like cherry blossom branches, heather and lilies to create form, structure and a foundation (first tier); showy “face” flowers like tea roses and hyacinths to give a bouquet focus (second); and a gestural, attention-getting element like anemones or tiny undeveloped carnation buds for a sense of finish (third). “The face flowers you usually want to do in clusters of two or three — don’t spread them around, but do stagger their heights,” Owen says. “In placing them you want to avoid any suggestion of eyes, headlights, ears, antennas, arms or boobs. The massing rule also applies to color: like tones together.” Above all, as Ryhanen always tells her students, resist the impulse to build a pyramid: “Asymmetry creates movement....(read more here)

Tonight's dinner is served in the orchard in the late afternoon.

The lovely image above is from one of my favorite new sources of inspiration Kinfolk Magazine. I just subscribed so I could get the gorgeous quarterly soft bound volumes in the mail.

My favorite guilty pleasure is to sit in the sunshine on my front porch and flip through the pages of my newly delivered design magazine.

"Kinfolk is a collaborative effort to encourage a more natural approach to entertaining. It's the marriage of 

our appreciation for art and our love for spending time with family and friends."

Have a wonderful weekend!

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