A little cookout for myself and friends...

In the spirit of summertime and fun, a couple of close friends and I got together for dinner and drinks. They were in charge of bringing the ingredients and helping me get dinner ready. There is nothing that I love more than cooking for and entertaining others. We prepared pork tenderloin with a Hoisin and orange juice glaze, shrimp skewers with zucchini, tomotoes, and peppers marinated in orange juice, brown sugar, rice wine vinegar, and basil; grilled asparagus and portobellas, and I made quinoa for the first time. I decided to treat the quinoa kind of like a risotto. I toasted the quinoa in butter with shallots and garlic, cooked it in chicken stock with fresh thyme, and finished it with a little butter and parmesan cheese. All in all, the meal was a great success. I plan on organizing and throwing as many dinner parties as I can over this summer.