Take those chicken breasts, either split the thickness...or pound to 1/4 inch and roll up with a slice of proscuitto and a "stick" of mozzerella and fasten with a tooth pick. Set aside in the refrig. Make crumbs out of something...panko, stale bread, crackers...ands eason with a bit of ground chili and a very little bit of crumbled rosemary...very little! Dip the chicken rolls in beaten egg and then in the crumbs and brown in a bit of oil in a fry pan....when theya re browned on all sides, put them in a small baking dish...don't want a lot of room around them....and deglaze the pan with a bit of white wine or broth and pour it over the chicken and pop it into a 350 oven for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile you have washed and tipped and tailed the beans, and have a large frypan going with at least one onion slices slowly caramelizing in butter... Blanch the beans in a bit of boiling water for about 2 minutes, just until they turn bright green and toss with the onions and a generous grind of black pepper... And at the same time....sautee 4 or 5 of those mushrooms and about 1/2 a red pepper and 4 or 5 scallions in a fry pan....and in your small Le C Dutch oven, bring 2 T EVOO to hot and add a cup of brown rice ( or arborio if you have some) and fry the rice until it becomes opaque. Add a schlurp of white wine and 1 3/4 cups of chicken broth, cover and bring to a boil. Shut off the burner while you make a salad... Break up the lettuce, add some skinny slices of sweet onion and some fruit...apple slices, pear, grapefruit...even strawberries or kiwi...crumble on it some blue veined cheese...blue or gorgonzola....and toss with EVOO until every leaf is oily,,,add the juice of 1/2 a lemon, 1/2 tsp sugar and a smadrizzle of balsamic. Stir the rice...check the chicken...is it too dry? better add a bit of wine and grate some parm on top...rice done? maybe best turn on the heat and give it a little more cook time... When the rice is aldente add a generous handful of chopped parsley, slice one of those fresh tomatoes for a side and plate up. I hope you have some lovely home made rolls to go with it all. Linda C

IMHO, you are probably just trying too hard. Lots of good advice above, but here are my own house rules: [1] I only prepare tried and true recipes for entertaining. My go-to entertaining meal is lasagne, which can be made a day ahead and is also a great choice when some of the guests are children. When guests arrive, I simply pop the lasagne in the oven and let it cook while I sit and enjoy my guests. [2] I have one menu star; everything else is simple prep, such as salad, steamed green beans, etc. Since I am not a baker, dessert is often just purchased, but if I were to make dessert, it would also need to fall into the make a few days ahead category. [3] Regarding wine; don't go overboard. There are plenty of great, drinkable wines for [4] Deep clean your house a week before the party. A day before the party, spruce up with a quick vacuum and dusting and re-clean the bathrooms. The day of the party, cleaning should consist only of picking up and spit-spotting. [5] Casseroles and other one dish meals might be considered old fashioned, but they are a real timesaver and host's best friend. Don't discount them. [6] Instead of formal service at the table, consider either setting up a buffet style line so guests can serve themselves, or have the food at the table family style. [7] The dishes can wait, just clear the dining room, rinse and stack in the sink until the next day.

I had some left over salmon from the freshly caught stuff from my neignbor, a handful of Swiss chard from the garden just picked and some left over spaghetti pasta.....I sauteed the chard with onions and garlic, added the spaghetti and just heated the salmon to the perfect temperature. Then I squeezed some freshly picked lemon on top and loved every single bite.

It looks like we may finally get a break from the rain tomorrow. Cooler than norma for July though. I went grocery shopping this evening & was planning to fix spinach tortellini. DH is working late out of town & I was running late by the time I was done, so I decided on something simpler. Whole Foods was having one of their holiday "bundle deals", so we're having bbq sandwiches with coleslaw. Will have a chocolate chip cookie for dessert as that was part of the bundle. We almost never keep any kind of sweets around the house, so it's a treat for us.