Friday Favorites~a weekly series where we share our favorite books, decor, fashion finds, recipes, podcasts, articles and more.
FRIDAY FAVORITES NO. 579
Good morning friends! How was your week? I am tired, it was a busy week and for some reason I didn’t sleep well. Aside from that it was a great week. We have a fun weekend ahead, tonight we are having drinks with friends, Saturday we are going to the carriage races and Sunday planting containers.
Speaking of which, do you follow Emily at Eleven Gables?
Recently, she shared a great tip this week about ferns. She said to take them out of the container and cut them into four separate plants using a serrated knife. I did it to the 2 ferns that I purchased and they are doing fabulous in the 8 containers that I planted them in. Now I have room in the pots to plant a few other things instead of just a fern. If you already knew about this tip let me know.
Ok, enough about me, let’s get to the good stuff I discovered this week.
FOOD
Homemade pimento cheese dip is easy to make and a delicious appetizer to make for all of your spring and summer parties and sports events.
Grilled chicken avocado salad; grilled chicken, tomatoes, crispy bacon, avocados, and hard-boiled eggs on a bed of crisp romaine lettuce with croutons and a creamy dressing.
Spring couscous bowls with chickpeas, roasted asparagus, fresh herbs, roasted pistachios, drizzled with a lemon feta vinaigrette. Yum! I cannot wait to make this.
Pasta Primavera with white wine cream sauce, asparagus, and peas looks delicious.
Blueberry crumble bars, these bars are so easy to make and they are delicious. You can use any berries that you like, not just blueberries.
LINKS TO READ+WATCH+LISTEN
Olympic teams must find way to beat heat as eco-friendly Paris shuns AC
Should cookbook reviews be more critical?
Why the French Love American Fast Food
6 Ways to Keep Your Cut Flowers Fresher for Longer
Wining and dining in France with Patricia Wells
Venus Williams launches an AI interior design platform called Palazzo
We Need to Talk About Trader Joes
Would You Buy a $1.5 Million Copy of Breakfast at Tiffany’s?
Everything you need to know about the upcoming solar eclipse.
Books
The French Ingredient
When Jane Bertch was seventeen, her mother took her on a graduation trip to Paris. Thrilled to use her high school French, Jane found her halting attempts greeted with withering condescension by every waiter and shopkeeper she encountered. At the end of the trip, she vowed she would never return.
Yet a decade later she found herself back in Paris, transferred there by the American bank she worked for. She became fluent in the language and excelled in her new position. But she had a different dream: to start a cooking school for foreigners like her, who wanted to take a few classes in French cuisine in a friendly setting, then bring their new skills to their kitchens back home. Predictably, Jane faced the skeptical French—how dare an American banker start a cooking school in Paris?—as well as real-estate nightmares, and a long struggle to find and attract clients.
Thanks to Jane’s perseverance, La Cuisine Paris opened in 2009. Now the school is thriving, welcoming international visitors to come in and knead dough, whisk bechamel, whip meringue, and learn the care, precision, patience, and beauty involved in French cooking.
The French Ingredient is the story of a young female entrepreneur building a life in a city and culture she grew to love. As she established her school, Jane learned how to charm, how to project confidence, and how to give it right back to rude waiters. Having finally made peace with the city she swore to never revisit,she now offers a love letter to France, and a master class in Parisian cooking—and living.
Lily Fleury used to love visiting her eccentric grandmother Sylvia in Ireland, taking long sunset walks on the beach and exploring the nooks and crannies of the family’s old home Magnolia Manor. But when she arrives from Dublin broken-hearted, hoping to heal in Sylvia’s warm embrace, she finds the once ornate Georgian house in disrepair and the gardens wildly overgrown. Sylvia has always been fiercely independent, but Lily can’t believe she hasn’t told anyone she’s been struggling.
Lily knows she can’t leave until she gets Sylvia back on her feet. Although mysterious local builder Dominic agrees to help, from the moment Lily looks into his fierce green eyes they clash over how to fix the sprawling estate. It’s only when she hears the soft Irish lilt of his voice as he sings in the local pub that their arguments ignite a spark of passion neither can ignore…
But when Lily finds a trunk of tattered letters in the gatehouse, she discovers a devastating secret Sylvia has been hiding about Magnolia Manor. And she soon learns the real reason Dominic agreed to help out.
Build the Life You Want
In Build the Life You Want, Arthur C. Brooks and Oprah Winfrey invite you to begin a journey toward greater happiness no matter how challenging your circumstances. Drawing on cutting-edge science and their years of helping people translate ideas into action, they show you how to improve your life right now instead of waiting for the outside world to change.
With insight, compassion, and hope, Brooks and Winfrey reveal how the tools of emotional self-management can change your life―immediately. They recommend practical, research-based practices to build the four pillars of happiness: family, friendship, work, and faith. And along the way, they share hard-earned wisdom from their own lives and careers as well as the witness of regular people whose lives are joyful despite setbacks and hardship.
Equipped with the tools of emotional self-management and ready to build your four pillars, you can take control of your present and future rather than hoping and waiting for your circumstances to improve. Build the Life You Want is your blueprint for a better life.
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.
SHOPPING
OUTFIT OF THE DAY
Doesn’t this outfit look comfortable? The casual, yet dressy blue tie blouse paired with the white linen pants is classic and effortless. Both pieces are so versatile and can be worn with many other pieces in your wardrobe. The blouse with shorts, a skirt, jeans or even over your swimsuit. And the white pants with pretty much anything you own. I added a slide sandal, wicker bag and sea glass earrings. You can shop the outfit below and on LTK.
Alternative outfit additions and substitutions.
Here are a few of my other favorite pieces from J. Crew and a few other shops.
UNTIL TOMORROW
I hope you enjoyed the recipes, links and books I discovered this week on Friday Favorites. Thank you for spending part of your day with me. Have a wonderful weekend.
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Don’t forget that Kim, Juliet and I will be back tomorrow on Weekend Meanderings!
If you have missed a Friday Favorites post you can find them all here.
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