Friday Favorites No. 552 from Wandering Chickpea, Recipetin Eats, The Yellow Butterfly and More

Friday Favorites~a weekly series where we share interesting articles, books, fashion finds, recipes and more.

Good morning friends! How was your week? It was a busy one here. I had appointments the last 3 days and another one today, so I am ready to be at home this weekend to catch up. Why is it that when you have appointments in the middle of the day it is like a whole day wasted? Or is that just me?

Aside from that the weather at night has been cool enough to sleep with the windows open. I love the sounds of the crickets and the wind through the trees. We are still having warm days what about you?

Today on Friday Favorites, we have cozy one pot meals, taste treats, books, outfits and more so lets’ get to it! Grab your coffee and settle in for a nice long read.

FRIDAY FAVORITES NO. 552

FOOD~RECIPES TO TRY

Easy green chili enchiladas, an easy and delicious comfort food all year long.

One Pot Greek Chicken and Lemon Rice – best chicken and rice ever!  I am going to have to try this, my husband loves rice.

French onion pasta! Doesn’t that sound amazing? A soup and pasta combination.

Yes please, Brownie Cheesecake Bars with Dulce de Leche. Or if you are not a cheesecake fan, try these dulce de leche brownies INSTEAD.

Read+Watch+Listen

Why Quality Time Is the New Wellness Ritual

Vacation Ideas for Every Decade of Your Life

10 of the Best Butter Croissants in Paris

7 Ways Batch Cooking Can Save You Money

Vulnerability, Death and Dinner

Bama Rush Is a Strange, Sparkly Window Into How America Shops

Do One Things to Prevent Clutter in Your Home

Here’s why drinking a cup of tea with your breakfast or healthy snack might be making it less nutritious

46 Classic Church Recipes Southerners Serve Every Sunday

How to Create When Feeling Overwhelmed

Airlines Are Just Banks Now

Revisit 51 Years of Giant Pandas at the National Zoo, From Beloved Babies to Fun in the Snow

BOOKS~On My Stack

Spring Rain: A Life Lived in a Garden

Best enjoyed in a single sitting under the shade of a tree, this inventive and curative book captures the moment when an adventurous young boy who traveled the world in his mind meets the old man he becomes. Together, they build a new garden from a neglected plot behind his house on the edge of town.

Retired professional gardener Marc Hamer has always found the answers to life’s questions in the natural world, whether as a child watching ants, as a young man living homeless in the countryside, or as a professional gardener creating places of calm and restoration for others. Now in his sixties, he is finally creating a garden for himself, at his home in Cardiff, Wales. This moving memoir follows his process as he shares what he’s learned, from the spring of youth to his autumn years, and reflects on how we reconcile our childhoods with where we end up.

In Hamer’s own words, “Spring Rain is about the joy of your own back garden. It is a story about the joy of small things, the world in a grain of sand, a universe in a small garden, with love for all the insects and slugs and flowers and weeds and seeds and roots and boundaries and shade and weather that the garden contains.”

Pretty Young Rebel

The year is 1746. The Jacobite rebellion has failed catastrophically and Scotland is reeling in the devastating aftermath of the battle of Culloden. Far to the west, on an island in the Outer Hebrides, twenty-four-year-old Flora Macdonald is woken in the dead of night by a messenger with urgent intelligence.

Bonnie Prince Charlie is outside, begging for her help.

With Flora’s assistance, the Stuart prince is disguised as an Irish maid and smuggled to the Isle of Skye, evading government troops. Flora’s bravery and determination will see her immortalised in ballads and proclaimed a Scottish heroine. But her efforts also result in her capture and detention in London. Released the following year and returning to Skye, Flora goes on to marry and emigrate to North Carolina, only then to be caught up in the American Revolutionary War.

In Pretty Young Rebel, award-winning biographer Flora Fraser tells the remarkable story of Flora Macdonald. It is a tale of adventure and daring, wit and charm, struggle and survival, and of a woman who showed extraordinary courage in the face of great danger

Map of Another Town

I was a brash newcomer to it, and yet when I first felt the rhythm of its streets and smelled its ancient smells, I said, ‘Of course,’ for I was once more in my own place, an invader of what was already mine.’

M.F.K. Fisher moved to Aix-en-Provence with her daughters after the Second World War. In Map of Another Town, she traces the history of this ancient and famous town, known for its tree-lined avenues, pretty fountains and ornate façades. Beyond the tourist sights, Fisher introduces us to its inhabitants: the waiters and landladies, down-and-outs and local characters all recovering from the affects of the war in a drastically new France.

I Give it You You

When Jan Vidor, an American writer and academic, rents an apartment in a Tuscan villa for the summer, she plans to spend her break working on a novel about Mussolini. Instead, she finds herself captivated by her aristocratic landlady, the elegant, acerbic Beatrice Salviati Bartolo Doyle, whose family has owned Villa Chiara for generations. Jan is intrigued by Beatrice’s stories of World War II, particularly by the tragic fate of her uncle Sandro, who was mysteriously murdered in the driveway of the villa at the conclusion of the war. Day by day, Beatrice makes Jan privy to her family history. 
 
As years go by and the friendship is sustained by infrequent meetings, Jan finds she can’t resist writing Beatrice’s story. But as she works on the novel, it becomes clear that the villa itself is at risk and that Beatrice is incapable of saving it. Jan understands that she is telling the story of a catastrophe her friend might prefer to conceal. She presses on.

NEED MORE BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS?

If you have already read these books or missed something I have featured before on the blog check out My Bookshop on Amazon. 

FINDS & SALES

All the details for the outfit of the day:sweater//pants//ballet flats//bag//nails/perfume//scarf.

Don’t forget to check out J. Crew, lots of new J.Crew styles are 30-50% off today with the code ‘SHOPNOW’

Boden is having a sale, up to 50% off!

UNTIL TOMORROW

I hope you enjoyed the recipes, links and books I discovered this week on Friday Favorites. If you did please share the post on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter!

If you have missed a Friday Favorites post you can find them all here.

Don’t forget to stop by tomorrow for Weekend Meanderings with Kim and Juliet. Have a wonderful weekend.

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