Stressed About Thanksgiving Dinner? Read ‘Reluctant Entertainer’!

Are you stressed about Thanksgiving Dinner or Holiday Entertaining?  You need to read Reluctant Entertainer!

Sandy Coughlin provides daily inspiration, casual elegant entertaining ideas on her popular blog, Reluctant Entertainer. Sandy’s blog gives real world advice to those of us who like to entertain but aren’t Martha Stewart.  The Reluctant Entertainer is about real entertaining for real people.

Sandy loves to cook and entertain in her home, and look for creative ways to give back to other people.  Coughlin is a mom to 3 teens, wife to one awesome man, and she wants to help others take the stress out of entertaining!

The Reluctant Entertainer has become so popular as a blog—and it will be a book soon! Sandy’s book, the Reluctant Entertainer, will be released summer 2010.

Why the name Reluctant Entertainer?

I’m not a big event planner, and I’ve never wanted to be one! My love of entertaining is simply in opening up my home, and helping encourage people to feel comfortable in their own skin, their own kitchen, their own home – imperfections and all – and in learning what it feels like to be free to invite and be real with people.  I call it real entertaining for real people.

What’s your favorite meal to serve when you entertain?

My favorite meal would consist of a very simple appetizer, like a hunk of Dubliner cheese served with sliced Granny Smith apples and crackers, and maybe some glazed walnuts. Then I’d serve salmon, a vegetable, and maybe a scoop of sweet potatoes. To top it off – chocolate-something – a dessert that is always a hit!

How do you get inspired?  Do you have blogs, books or TV shows that give you inspiration to be creative?

I love to read recipe books and magazines! That is what gets my juices flowing, and gets me in the kitchen trying new recipes. I’m also inspired when I take the FIRST STEP to entertaining: Inviting! Once I get a date on the calendar, I then plan and get ready for my guests. The inspiration sets in.

How do you de-stress? Do you have a favorite comfort food?

I have the best husband in the world. Making sure my priorities are in order, by putting my marriage first and prioritizing date nights where we get to talk things out, is essential. And then of course there’s the hot tub at night, and a good dose of chocolate during the day!

What is your favorite “tip” for entertaining?

My favorite tip for entertaining is to embrace imperfect! Focus on your guests and don’t worry about things having to be perfect, clean, or organized. People come to your home to see YOU and your family, to get to know one another. Not to see a perfectly, orderly home!

What celebrity you would like to have over for dinner?

Long before the movie Julie and Julia came out, I was a huge Meryl Streep fan. I’d invite Meryl and her family over today, if she only lived closer.  Dream scenario would be for her whole family to join my family for dinner, in my backyard, and she’d sing a song from Mama Mia for us, and then of course my kids would join in and play some violin and piano for her.

Visit Sandy on Reluctant Entertainer (http://reluctantentertainer.com) and keep an eye out for her Reluctant Entertainer book, coming in 2010!