Friday Favorites No.481

Welcome to Friday Favorites, a weekly series where I share interesting articles, books, fashion finds, recipes and more!

Good morning friends, it is Friday and that means it is time for Friday Favorites! Are you ready for the weekend? I am, it feels like I have been running non-stop this week. I am very excited because yesterday they delivered our kitchen island and new dining table. The kitchen remodel doesn’t start for a few more weeks but we are inching closer and that is all that matters.

I have lots to share with you this week, including dessert recipes that you may want to make this weekend a few books to add to your stack and some beautiful finds. Get yourself a coffee, tea or chocolate and settle in for a nice long Friday favorites post.

FRIDAY FAVORITES, FOOD, FINDS, BOOKS AND MORE

Food

Burrata with Balsamic Strawberries & Basil a refreshing take on a summer appetizer.

Blueberry, Feta and Honey-Caramelized Onion Naan Pizza, yes please! I love pizza, to be honest I prefer it with cheese and tomatoes but lately I have been branching out and now I have one more topping to add to my list, blueberries!

It’s strawberry season and they are being sold on every corner here, you can also pick your own. This Strawberry Delight is a beautiful dessert to use up some of your berries and to impress your guests.

Have you ever heard of a Cold Oven Pound Cake? I have not and am quite intrigued by this recipe from Savor the Best. I will be making it for a Memorial Day weekend party that we are going to.

 

If you are looking for a signature cocktail for your summer parties this Strawberry Mojito, looks beautiful and tastes delicious.

Interesting Articles

Man Ray’s ‘Le Violon d’Ingres’ photograph sells for record $12.4 million

Who owns Einstein? The battle for the world’s most famous face

A patent raises the question of whether General Mills has cracked the code to produce almond-flavoring without any allergens.

Who needs recipes? Why it’s time to trust your senses and cook intuitively

A rocket scientist designed a solution for your moldy strawberries

Why do people, like, say, ‘like’ so much?

The Most Overrated Tourist Destinations (and Where to Go Instead) Do you agree or disagree?

How London plans to ‘rewild’ the city

Millions of women left the workforce during the pandemic. Many of them are back and confront the same problems that drove them out in the first place.

How does hating someone compare with anger, contempt or disgust? A clearer picture of what makes it unique is emerging.

He’s Studied Mental Illness for 50 Years. Here Are All the Things We’re Doing Wrong.

‘The New York Times’ can’t shake the cloud over a 90-year-old Pulitzer Prize

Waking Up From the “Nap Dress”

It is wedding planning season! If you are looking for tips to plan a beautiful wedding with the most perfect details check out Juliet’s post.

Books

The Mayfair Bookshop

1938: She was one of the six sparkling Mitford sisters, known for her stinging quips, stylish dress, and bright green eyes. But Nancy Mitford’s seemingly dazzling life was really one of turmoil: with a perpetually unfaithful and broke husband, two Nazi sympathizer sisters, and her hopes of motherhood dashed forever. With war imminent, Nancy finds respite by taking a job at the Heywood Hill Bookshop in Mayfair, hoping to make ends meet, and discovers a new life.

Present Day: When book curator Lucy St. Clair lands a gig working at Heywood Hill she can’t get on the plane fast enough. Not only can she start the healing process from the loss of her mother, it’s a dream come true to set foot in the legendary store. Doubly exciting: she brings with her a first edition of Nancy’s work, one with a somewhat mysterious inscription from the author. Soon, she discovers her life and Nancy’s are intertwined, and it all comes back to the little London bookshop—a place that changes the lives of two women from different eras in the most surprising ways. 

The Magnolia Palace

Eight months since losing her mother in the Spanish flu outbreak of 1919, twenty-one-year-old Lillian Carter’s life has completely fallen apart. For the past six years, under the moniker Angelica, Lillian was one of the most sought-after artists’ models in New York City, with statues based on her figure gracing landmarks from the Plaza Hotel to the Brooklyn Bridge. But with her mother gone, a grieving Lillian is rudderless and desperate—the work has dried up and a looming scandal has left her entirely without a safe haven. So when she stumbles upon an employment opportunity at the Frick mansion—a building that, ironically, bears her own visage—Lillian jumps at the chance. But the longer she works as a private secretary to the imperious and demanding Helen Frick, the daughter and heiress of industrialist and art patron Henry Clay Frick, the more deeply her life gets intertwined with that of the family—pulling her into a tangled web of romantic trysts, stolen jewels, and family drama that runs so deep, the stakes just may be life or death.

Nearly fifty years later, mod English model Veronica Weber has her own chance to make her career—and with it, earn the money she needs to support her family back home—within the walls of the former Frick residence, now converted into one of New York City’s most impressive museums. But when she—along with a charming intern/budding art curator named Joshua—is dismissed from the Vogueshoot taking place at the Frick Collection, she chances upon a series of hidden messages in the museum: messages that will lead her and Joshua on a hunt that could not only solve Veronica’s financial woes, but could finally reveal the truth behind a decades-old murder in the infamous Frick family.

Elegance

Louise C. wants what Jackie O had . . .

Unhappy with her looks, her life, and her empty marriage, Louise Canova needs help—and she finds it in a secondhand bookstore. A forty-year-old encyclopedia of style titled Elegance, the slim volume by formidable French fashion expert Madame Dariaux promises to transform even the plainest of women into creatures of poise and grace. It is a fairy godmother in print, an A-to-Z manual with essential advice that Louise vows to take to heart. But within its pages lie not only clues from her past, but also powerful lessons for the future.

And as the old Louise gives way to the stunning new, she’s about to find out that there’s more to every life than what appears on the surface … and that everything, even elegance, has its price.

Just a reminder

You can find all of my book recommendations on “My Bookshop” Pinterest Board

Finds

I don’t know about where you are but the bugs are already out here, I have been getting bit every evening as I sit on my porch. I just purchase 6 of these candles. I will let you know how well they work. I might also get a few bat boxes/houses, I read that they eat the bugs and help keep them out of your yard.

Woven chargers,  for all of your summer tablescapes, inside or out.

Blue and white lovers this dress is for you! This dress is perfect for a summer wedding.

If you would like to see more of my “Finds”, visit My Daily Finds

Don’t Forget Weekend Meanderings

I hope you enjoyed my Friday Favorites and that you found something to make or to read. Don’t forget to stop by tomorrow for “weekend meanderings” Kim and Juliet.

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