I'm thrilled to announce the launch of a new Southern Living column, the Half-Hour Hostess, starting with the October issue. Each month, we'll provide quick and tasty recipes to help pull together any occasion you may be celebrating.

Take a look at some of my favorite ways to keep your get together real:

Entertaining Tips from Rebecca Gordon

Click here for the recipe: Mustard-Dill Tortellini Salad Skewers

Look for it and let me know what you think. I'd Love to hear your feedback!

I use to carry a secret as I walked the halls here at Southern Living. I don't really like cornbread, I know absolutely shocking! A member of the THE test kitchen that doesn't like cornbread?!?!?! It took a culinary epiphany to realize why, I have been doing it all wrong. I felt like Micheal Keaton in the movie Mr. Mom. He's in the car pool line for the first time and there's a knock at the window by an angry patrol mom........"SIR, SIR YOUR DOING IT WRONG hello sirrrrrrrrr your doing it wrong," as she bangs recklessly on the woody station wagon window (he is entering the car pool line clearly going in the wrong direction) O-M-G! I was totally him, behind the wheel of some pitiful quick bread.

April was Spring Cleaning month in the Southern Living Test Kitchens and we were all determined to put things in order and simplify our lives.  

So, I was fixing dinner the other night on the grill: chicken tenderloins (easy-- thaw, season, cook) and an assortment of grilled vegetables. I even tossed a few hot dogs on to enjoy another time. Then, suddenly it hit me, an undeniable craving for potato salad. All of this healthy food (sans the hot dogs) had me really needing a mayonnaise based quick fix. I scurried into the kitchen and scanned the pantry and refrigerator for the essentials and really, the basics. Dinner was already a grillin'.

Potatoes, check. Mayonnaise, check. Spicy brown mustard, it'll do. Pickle relish, check. Salt and pepper-- of course. Cooking method-- hmmm, dare I do it? Microwave potato salad? Could it be done? I basically had no choice, time was a wastin'.

I rinsed 2 medium Idaho potatoes under the faucet, pierced them several times with a fork, and let them go for about 6 to 7 minutes on HIGH power. After they sat a few minutes, I found that the skins pulled back easily and I diced them in short order. Next, I tossed them in the refrigerator door concoction and added salt and pepper to taste...not bad, for potato salad in a pinch.

What are your on-the-fly suppertime solutions?

Calling all cooks! Food Lover’s Companion by Sharon Tyler Herbst is a must-have for every kitchen novice and foodie out there.  This little book is fully-loaded with culinary terms and definitions, helpful charts on cuts of meat, spice pairings, and so very much more. I keep a copy at home AND at work. I also like to give a copy to friends getting married. It’s a life-saver for those friends who hardly ever don an apron!!

We love this little book so much at SL that we keep a copy in the Test Kitchens.  It comes in handy for many a tasting-table discussion.  Whether you’re a busy mom with little time to spare or a foodie at heart, this book has something for everyone.  Trust me. It’s the ultimate go-to for much-needed kitchen info like…. 

Cheese confusion – When’s the last time you stood glaring at the cheese assortment in a haze of confusion?  What do I sub for provolone? Hmmm, ripened cheese? Do I cut the rind off of brie?

Herb haze – did the recipe call for lemon balm, lemon grass, or lemon verbena?  What’s the difference?

“Term” trauma – this custard recipe calls for a bain marie.  If you don’t speak French, no worries. 

Grab this quickie food reference book and get cookin’.  Let me know what you think.  I suspect you’ll want to thank me for the head’s up!

It’s that time of year – pollen is in the air, flowers are in bloom, and cleaning is on the agenda.  Purging the kitchen was on my to-do list especially since I look at its clutter at least twice a day.  First stop – the pantry.  I decided to reorganize AND inspect all the goods for shelf-life dates.  As you can imagine, the pantry prowl was a little intense, but I definitely recommend combining the task!

If you’re like me, it’s difficult to find and decode the “best used by” dates, and spices are especially tricky. Best advice – check company websites where you can plug in codes on spice bottles to separate the keepers from those past their prime.

Check out these spice trackers:  McCormick http://www.mccormick.com/Spices101/HowOldSpices.aspx,  Spice Islands http://www.spiceislands.com/RegisterSpices.aspx and http://www.spiceislands.com/ReplacingSpices.aspx

As for cans and jars, check around the label seams for coded dates.  Boxed items typically display coded dates on the top or bottom lid.  If you can’t break the code, check out the company’s website.  If you’re completely in doubt or you think you remembered moving it from your last house, it’s probably safe to let it go!

Next stop - the refrigerator.  Seriously, I must have a collector’s addiction when it comes to condiment jars. They clutter the refrigerator in a way that makes me cringe.  So, out with the old, in with the new!  It was refreshing!

If you haven’t purged the pantry or spice rack in a while, go for it!  And don’t forget to recycle all those glass jars you free up.

Image courtesy faeryboots at Flickr

As the current intern at Southern Living I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with many of you over the phone over the last several months.  I’ve sorted through recipes from the late 1970s to find your favorite chocolate cake, answered questions about menu planning, and guided you through our recipe collection on myrecipes.com.

But one question that keeps coming up more often than others is, “Can I freeze that?”  With our lives getting busier by the minute, preparing food ahead of time, freezing, and using it in the future can be a great time saver.  But do resist the desire to freeze anything and everything—not every dish is meant for the freezer.