Easy recipes to add to your meal plan, books recommendations, fashion finds and more this week on Friday Favorites.
Good morning friends. It has been a week of celebrations, Pi Day, “spring ahead”, St.Patrick’s day” and of course disappointment as the war in Ukraine rages on. It’s been 4 weeks since the war started and there seems to be no end in sight. In Ukraine life as they know it has stopped, for the rest of us our lives keep going. I urge you, keep Ukraine in your heart and in your prayers, don’t forget their sacrifices and suffering.
I hope you find something to make, read and enjoy this week on Friday Favorites, it is my favorite post to write each week.
Friday Favorites: Food, Finds, Books and More
Food
Grilled chicken burrito bowls, refreshing, easy and a great addition to your meal plan.
Image Modern Farmhouse Eats
Creamy Dijon Chicken with Mashed Potatoes is the perfect meal for Sunday dinner.
Image Family Style Food
Creamy Lemon Pasta looks easy, delicious and comforting.
Image Nurtured Homes
Pickled carrots perfect for salads, tacos and more.
In case you missed it, this week I shared how to make easy and delicious bakery style cream cheese danish at home.
House, Home and Garden
12 Simple Ways To Add Colour To Your Home This Spring, Danish Style
23 Gorgeous Sunroom Ideas for Creating Your Own Slice of Paradise
Interesting Reads
What We Wear: A Reading List on Fashion and Our Complex Relationship to Clothes
How to Stop Overthinking and Start Trusting Your Gut
How to Use the Two-Week Rule to Optimize Your Bucket List
We’re Killing Ourselves with Work
Harriet Tubman Was Also a Naturalist
Janet Sobel: The Woman Written Out of History
Diane Keaton answers 37 of life’s most pressing questions. Dian Keaton has a new book coming out this month, you can preorder it on Amazon.
Discover Europe’s Under The Radar Gems
Shrinkflation:How Companies Are Hiding Inflation Without Charging You More
Inside the Succession Drama at Scholastic, Where ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Clifford’ Hang in the Balance
Inside Putin’s Circle — the Real Russian Elite
Books
The Storyteller of Casablanca
Morocco, 1941. With France having fallen to Nazi occupation, twelve-year-old Josie has fled with her family to Casablanca, where they await safe passage to America. Life here is as intense as the sun, every sight, smell and sound overwhelming to the senses in a city filled with extraordinary characters. It’s a world away from the trouble back home—and Josie loves it.
Seventy years later, another new arrival in the intoxicating port city, Zoe, is struggling—with her marriage, her baby daughter and her new life as an expat in an unfamiliar place. But when she discovers a small wooden box and a diary from the 1940s beneath the floorboards of her daughter’s bedroom, Zoe enters the inner world of young Josie, who once looked out on the same view of the Atlantic Ocean, but who knew a very different Casablanca.
It’s not long before Zoe begins to see her adopted city through Josie’s eyes. But can a new perspective help her turn tragedy into hope, and find the comfort she needs to heal her broken heart?
Borderland
Borderland tells the story of Ukraine. A thousand years ago it was the center of the first great Slav civilization, Kievan Rus. In 1240, the Mongols invaded from the east, and for the next seven centureies, Ukraine was split between warring neighbors: Lithuanians, Poles, Russians, Austrians, and Tatars. Again and again, borderland turned into battlefield: during the Cossack risings of the seventeenth century, Russia’s wars with Sweden in the eighteenth, the Civil War of 1918-1920, and under Nazi occupation. Ukraine finally won independence in 1991, with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Bigger than France and a populous as Britain, it has the potential to become one of the most powerful states in Europe. In this finely written and penetrating book, Anna Reid combines research and her own experiences to chart Ukraine’s tragic past. Talking to peasants and politicians, rabbis and racketeers, dissidents and paramilitaries, survivors of Stalin’s famine and of Nazi labor camps, she reveals the layers of myth and propaganda that wrap this divided land. From the Polish churches of Lviv to the coal mines of the Russian-speaking Donbass, from the Galician shtetlech to the Tatar shantytowns of Crimea, the book explores Ukraine’s struggle to build itself a national identity, and identity that faces up to a bloody past, and embraces all the peoples within its borders.
Friday’s Daughter
Teensie MacAllester’s two elder sisters consider her an insignificant appendage to their illustrious family. For fifteen years they have been delighted to let her care for their ailing relatives. After all, Teensie is both a nurse and a Friday’s child, naturally loving and giving.
As Teensie deferred her life, a dream sustained her: autocratic King MacAllester promised her the bulk of his estate. But when King’s will is read it divides his property equally among his daughters. Teensie’s share is scarcely enough to make a new start. Her sisters have a solution: Teensie can continue to serve as the family care-giver. But Teensie is determined to claim a life of her own. Throwing off the yoke of family expectations, Teensie sets in motion some surprising changes.
The Mask Carvers Son
Set in turn of the century Japan in the world of the Noh theater, and in Paris during the heady days when French Impressionism was the avant-garde, this heartbreaking, beautifully written novel tells of a young Japanese artist who sacrifices everything: family, love and wealth for his art.
A Master Noh mask carver dedicates his life to his art, turning his back on love after a series of tragic events leaves him devastated. Kiyoki, his only son, defies his father and the demands of cultural tradition to follow his dream of becoming a painter in the western style. Kiyoki journeys to Paris, where he lives the life of an exile, unable to break the bonds of tradition, until he finds his heart leads him back to Japan, where he at last discovers himself as an artist.
Finds
I have flowers and gardens on my mind this week. I thought this tablecloth would be perfect not only for Spring, but Easter and all summer long as well. I also like these blue and white napkins, the set comes with some flowered and some polk a dot.
Boden just released some beautiful and colorful pieces for summer, including this linen shirt, this classic green dress and this fun tote.
Did you read anything interesting this week? Do you have a book, podcast, tv or movie recommendation? Or a new recipe that you think we should try? Please share your thoughts, finds and more in the comments.
That is it for this week my friends, thank you for spending part of your day with me. Have a wonderful and safe weekend. Don’t forget to stop by tomorrow and join Kim, Juliet and I as we share out Saturday meanderings.
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Friday Favorites
I always love your Friday favorites. You solved what’s for dinner tonight and once again have pinned many things you’ve shared. Always a joy to share Fridays with you!
Thank you Leslie! Have a wonderful day!
Elizabeth, I’m so thankful for our democratic country and so heartbroken to see the Ukraine bombings and lost lives. I remind myself daily of the sacrifices the Ukranian citizens are making in their fight for freedom while we carry on with our daily routines unaffected by war. Prayers for protection of the Ukranian citizens and for an end to the horrible invasion of Ukraine.
RECOMMENDATION…………never eat pasta with a spoon!Only if its a soup!
Thank you Elizabeth!
That burrito bowl looks really appetizing! Good books you’ve chosen too.
Brenda
Thank you Brenda. Have a wonderful weekend.
The pickled shredded carrots is a great must try that!
I thought so too. I cannot wait to make them.
Dijon chicken sounds good.
I think the recipe looks delicious. Have a wonderful weekend William.
Elizabeth, I am always stumped for what to cook for the next week by the weekend and you without fail, give me something fun to try. This post looks so good and the pickled carrots are pretty and what a good thing to have for everyday dishes and salads? I have ordered the Ukraine book. The history is just so unbelievable in this region. My family is Lithuanian and I feel a kinship to them and what they re going through my family also experienced once before they came here. I also need some good fiction, so thank you again for all these! I am loving your spring dresses here you linked to and of course the tote! later I’m reading all your links. It’s a rainy day here and I will grab some tea and curl up with it all – and your Friday post. Have a beautiful weekend Elizabeth! xo