If you are looking for a new book, a delicious recipe or a fashion find you have come to the right place. Friday Favorites has all of that and more.
Friday Favorites- Inspired by Charm, The Kitchen is My Playground, Modern Honey and More
Good morning friends. It’s Friday, my favorite day of the week, not only because it is Friday Favorites here on the blog but also because it is the gateway to the weekend.
Did you have a good week? Do you have big plans for the weekend?
We have a few fun things on the schedule, cocktails with friends and the opening day of the carriages races on Saturday. I’ve never been to carriage races before so I will share my experience on Monday.
I have lots to share this week. Delicious recipes from Inspired by Charm and Modern Honey, interesting articles, a few books that I am currently reading and some I have on order and a few Spring/Summer fashion finds. Grab a seat and a drink and enjoy.
Friday Favorites Recipes
Image Inspired by Charm
Roasted carrot salad with cranberries and blue cheese is a beautiful and healthy meal that can be eaten alone as a meal or served with a quiche or tart or even as an accompaniment to holiday hams.
Stovetop Smoked Gouda Macaroni and Cheese! I could eat this entire pan myself. This is a great recipe to file away for the holidays, it is easy to make and perfect for your holiday meal, especially if you have kids or grandkids.
Image from Modern Honey
Carrot cake blondies, a cross between carrot cake and brownie.
In case you missed it, I shared Ina Garten’s Sour Cream Coffee Cake this week. This delicious cake is perfect for Easter and Mother’s Day brunch.
Image Sugar & Charm
How about a cocktail for the weekend? Sugar & Charm shared this Golden Margarita which you could taste test this weekend to be sure it is good enough to serve at your Cinco de Maya party.
Interesting Articles
Wake Up to a Happy Home: How to Design a Feelgood House
The World’s Favorite Scent Is Vanilla, According to Science
How Long Does Frozen Meat Last? Here’s What You Need to Know About Freezing Meat
Your Life Is Under Threat. You Might Have To Run Any Second. What Do You Take?
Building Healthy Habits When You’re Truly Exhausted
Before Wordle, There Was Cross-Word Mania
How to Turn Yourself Into a Fossil
A Million Little Pieces: The Race to Rebuild the World’s Coral Reefs
Why Are Grocery Prices Going Up? 8 Items That Are Most Expensive Right Now
Feel Good Foods That Make You Happy
The stories that reveal the soul of Ukraine
17 Shows Thant You Can Binge Watch In One Day
Live Out Your ‘Bridgerton’ Fantasy at These Regal Estates
I love this “feel good” story.
Friday Favorites Books
Rhonda Carmen and I go way back, back to old days of blogging that is. I discovered All The Best(her blog) over 10 years ago when she moved from Texas to Scotland. Her writing, entertaining, soup recipes and tartan fabric are amazing. The Art of Pantry Cooking is her latest book.
Join Ronda Carman as she cooks from her pantry and readily available items in the refrigerator. A bountiful cupboard provides everything you need to prepare the batter for coconut pancakes, a bowl of chickpea soup with pesto, or a batch of pignoli cookies. Organized alphabetically, from almonds to za’atar, these ingredients are the foundation for creating meals that reflect today’s palette. Each section covers a single staple that can be used for numerous recipes. From dried fruits and grains for an instant breakfast to beans and pastas for a main course and polenta for a tasty lemon cake, every meal throughout the day is covered. With over 100 easy-to-follow recipes and stunning photography showing creative ways to present dishes, this prac-tical cookbook features original takes on Caramelized Onion Anchovy Butter, Lemon Orzo with Tuna and Artichoke Hearts, and Pasta with Sardines, Breadcrumbs, and Capers. Each seasonal dish is infused with nuanced flavors. The Art of Pantry Cooking is a must-have for those passionate about cooking.
Unlikely Animals(pre-order)
Unlikely animals is one of the “most anticipated” books of the year and although it isn’t the kind of book I typically read I am first on the list at my library when the book arrives.
Natural-born healer Emma Starling once had big plans for her life, but she’s lost her way. A medical school dropout, she’s come back to small-town Everton, New Hampshire, to care for her father, who is dying from a mysterious brain disease. Clive Starling has been hallucinating small animals, as well as having visions of the ghost of a long-dead naturalist, Ernest Harold Baynes, once known for letting wild animals live in his house. This ghost has been giving Clive some ideas on how to spend his final days.
Emma arrives home knowing she must face her dad’s illness, her mom’s judgment, and her younger brother’s recent stint in rehab, but she’s unprepared to find that her former best friend from high school is missing, with no one bothering to look for her. The police say they don’t spend much time looking for drug addicts. Emma’s dad is the only one convinced the young woman might still be alive, and Emma is hopeful he could be right. Someone should look for her, at least. Emma isn’t really trying to be a hero, but somehow she and her father bring about just the kind of miracle the town needs.
Black Cake
We can’t choose what we inherit. But can we choose who we become?
In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett’s death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. The heartbreaking tale Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their lineage and themselves.
The Heirloom Garden
Iris Maynard lost her husband in World War II, her daughter to illness and, finally, her reason to live. Walled off from the world for decades behind the towering fence surrounding her home, Iris has built a new family…of flowers. Iris propagates her own daylilies and roses while tending to a garden filled with the heirloom starts that keep the memories of her loved ones alive.
When Abby Peterson moves next door with her family—a husband traumatized by his service in the Iraq War and a young daughter searching for stability—Iris is reluctantly yet inevitably drawn into her boisterous neighbor’s life, where, united by loss and a love of flowers, she and Abby tentatively unearth their secrets, and help each other discover how much life they have yet to live.
In Bloom: Growing, Harvesting, and Arranging Homegrown Flowers All Year Round
Inside this book, 272 pages are packed with hundreds of photos to help you plan, plant, and maintain a bountiful home flower garden. You’ll find information on how to choose your plants, position your patch, and grow luxurious flowers; cultivation tips for annuals, biennials, bulbs, corms, tubers, rhizomes, perennials, shrubs, trees, climbers, foliage, and fillers; when and how to harvest; how to make your flowers last longer; a styling guide to help you create stunning arrangements that look like they came from a fine flower shop; and expert advice from experienced interiors stylist and lifestyle editor Clare Nolan.
Grow your own flower shop at the bottom of your garden, and learn how to style gorgeous arrangements, with In Bloom!
In this beautifully designed book brimming with inspirational photographs, Clare Nolan reveals her secrets for growing a bountiful harvest, as well as styling spectacular displays that will fill your home with color and the gorgeous scent of the garden year-round!
Finds
Gingham fans run to your nearest store for these fabulous espadrilles, they come in red and white, black and white, a beautiful blue pattern and several others as well.
An easy breezy toile dress to wear this summer.
Speaking of dresses, Target, Boden and H&M have some great pieces that you might want to add to your summer wardrobe. Boden is a little more expensive but they have a lot of sales.
This sweatshirt is a classic wardrobe staple.
Pin Me for Later
That is it for this weeks edition of Friday Favorites, I hope that you found something to read, make and enjoy. Don’t forget to stop by tomorrow for Weekend Meanderings with my friends Juliet and Kim.
Have a happy and safe weekend friends.
This post contains affiliate links, if you make a purchase I will earn a small commission.
Paloma Contreras, Wightwick Manor, Fall Interior design books, and more on Weekend Meanderings. 
Friday Favorites No. 551 from Camille Styles, The Endless Meal, Eleanor Rose Home and More
Athena Calderone, Jules Buono, Lessons in Chemistry and more on Weekend Meanderings. 
Friday Favorites from Taste Better from Scratch, From a Chef’s Kitchen, Most Lovely Things and More
Baking, books and shopping… oh hello Friday! Thanks for another selection of inspiration to have a look at. Enjoyed reading with a coffee.
Thank you Rachel! Loved your new video! You are doing an amazing job!
I always enjoy your Friday posts full of info. Interesting about food prices, bird speak, dyes, and now I’m going to go over to check out the FeelGood House.
Brenda
Brenda, I appreciate you saying that. I am also happy to know that you read the articles, there are so many interesting things to learn. Have a wonderful weekend.
So nice to read your post this Saturday morning. Been working at HIgh Point Market for a few weeks so enjoying relaxing and catching up this morning. At our house we do love our daily World.
Linda, I have been following along as you were at HighPoint! I loved seeing all of the photos. How did you end up working there? Tell me all about the beautiful finds and whatever else you did there that was exciting.
Have a great weekend!
Loved this post. Lots of good reading suggestions.
I’d love to shop the espadrilles, but the link doesn’t seem to work. Can you check?
Enjoy your weekend and thank you for always offering such a great bevy of decor ideas, delicious recipes and fun, seasonal ideas.
Karen B.
Hello Karen, I apologize. Here is the link https://shopstyle.it/l/bFWl2 I hope you find some shoes you like.
What a great post for my Saturday morning read! thank you so much for sharing!
Thank you Melba! I hope your weekend is going well. How are your seedlings?
So many great recipes and I love the dress. I can’t wait to try the coffee cake! Great cocktail too!