Friday Favorites from Half Baked Harvest, What’s Gabby Cooking, Foodtasia and More

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Good Friday morning to you friends. How was your week? I seem to have lost all track of time, everyday seems to run together some weeks. Over the last month we have missed garbage day twice because we forgot what day it is. Otherwise we are great! Healthy, getting out in the sun, working and grateful to be able to talk to our families daily.

I found lots of articles and food that you will enjoy this week. 

Food 

Tiegen from Half Baked Harvest creates beautiful and interesting meals and this Crispy lemon feta with spiced chickpeas and basil orzo is no exception. 

Classic Lasagna from Foodtasia is perfect for a weekend dinner when you have more time to cook and sit around with the family enjoying a meal. 

Somosa Pizza from What’s Gabby Cooking.

Espresso Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies from Baker by Nature

6 Classic French Cocktails to Make at Home

Articles

The Importance of Human Connection

The Shortest Map to Happiness (Ted Talk)

Stunning water color paintings by artist Denise Ramsay

The Hacker Who Saved the Internet

These Insects are Not “Murder Hornet” So PLEASE STOP Killing Them

What Shopping Will Be Like Post Pandemic

Johns Hopkins is offering a free contact tracing course for amateur disease detectives.

French serial-killer expert admits serial lies, including murder of imaginary wife. 

PBS is now streaming plays from its Great Performances series for free.

WOW. Even just one sugary drink per day may increase your risk of cardiovascular disease. 

Books 

I told you about Flora An Artistic Voyage Through the World of Plants  last week and I have to tell you this book exceeded my expectations. I received it a few days ago and I love it. It is a boxed set and comes with 36 frameable prints. If you love flowers and plants you will enjoy this book by famed botanist Sandra Knapp. 

Illustrated Step By Step Baking

The ultimate guide to classic bakes and modern favorites that doesn’t just tell you what to do – it shows you.

What’s the difference between beating and folding? What should “soft peaks” look like? How do you line a pastry crust? When it comes to baking, knowing what an instruction means can be the difference between a showstopper and a soggy bottom. That’s where Illustrated Step-by-Step Baking comes in.

Each of the 80 classic recipes in this essential collection is fully illustrated, with photographs of every stage of the baking process. See what other baking books only tell you: how to knead the dough, rub together butter and flour, and create a pastry lattice to top a pie or tart. Then try your hand at more than 250 variations on those classics, or use them as inspiration to build on what you’ve learned and experiment with your own baking creations.

If you’re spoilt for choice, at-a-glance recipe choosers help you find the right recipe for any occasion, while tips on freezing help you to prepare your bakes ahead of time. With sweet and savory recipes that everyone will enjoy, it’s time to roll up your sleeves, flour your work surface, and whip up something superb with Illustrated Step-by-Step Baking.

Golden Poppies(free on Amazon Prime First Reads)

From the bestselling author of Yellow Crocus and Mustard Seed comes the empowering novel of two generations of American women connected by the past and fighting for a brighter future.

It’s 1894. Jordan Wallace and Sadie Wagner appear to have little in common. Jordan, a middle-aged black teacher, lives in segregated Chicago. Two thousand miles away, Sadie, the white wife of an ambitious German businessman, lives in more tolerant Oakland, California. But years ago, their families intertwined on a plantation in Virginia. There, Jordan’s and Sadie’s mothers developed a bond stronger than blood, despite the fact that one was enslaved and the other was the privileged daughter of the plantation’s owner.

With Jordan’s mother on her deathbed, Sadie leaves her disapproving husband to make the arduous train journey with her mother to Chicago. But the reunion between two families is soon fraught with personal and political challenges.

As the harsh realities of racial divides and the injustices of the Gilded Age conspire to hold them back, the women find they need each other more than ever. Their courage, their loyalty, and the ties that bind their families will be tested. Amid the tumult of a quickly changing nation, their destiny depends on what they’re willing to risk for liberation.

Burying the Honeysuckle Girls(free on Kindle Unlimited )

Althea Bell is still heartbroken by her mother’s tragic, premature death—and tormented by the last, frantic words she whispered into young Althea’s ear: Wait for her. For the honeysuckle girl. She’ll find you, I think, but if she doesn’t, you find her.

Adrift ever since, Althea is now fresh out of rehab and returning to her family home in Mobile, Alabama, determined to reconnect with her estranged, ailing father. While Althea doesn’t expect him, or her politically ambitious brother, to welcome her with open arms, she’s not prepared for the chilling revelation of a grim, long-buried family secret. Fragile and desperate, Althea escapes with an old flame to uncover the truth about her lineage. Drawn deeper into her ancestors’ lives, Althea begins to unearth their disturbing history…and the part she’s meant to play in it.

Gripping and visceral, this unforgettable debut delves straight into the heart of dark family secrets and into one woman’s emotional journey to save herself from a sinister inheritance.

A View Across the Rooftops

A heartbreakingly beautiful story about courage against the odds, perfect for fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, All The Light We Cannot See, and The Nightingale.

Finds

I ordered these plates and the whale platter to use this summer, even if the only people I entertain are my husband and myself. 

Nautical Appetizer Plates

Melamine Whale Serving Plate

That is it for this week! I hope that you share your finds from this week! Have a happy and safe weekend. Remember, we are all in this together and together we are stronger and safer.