Good recipes, good reads, and the floral dresses I cannot stop thinking about
This spring I seem to have had two things on my mind: the weather and the peonies. If you are tired of hearing me fawn over these flowers, skip ahead to the recipes, I will not take it personally.
Between the gray cool mornings and the little rain we have had on and off, my front beds look amazing, if I do say so myself. The peonies seemed to have popped overnight. Within five days every plant had big beautiful blooms. The entire back bloomed at once. It has been a colorful and wonderful joy to wake up to each morning. Sadly, the end is near.
Thank you to everyone who has offered gardening tips, by the way. This is all relatively new to me and I am not very good at it yet. I have made a list of your suggestions, especially about the fertilizer.
And on another gardening note, yesterday my first poppy bloomed. Four years of planting and not a single flower, and then yesterday morning I looked out the window into the circle and there was a little orange flower waving proudly in the morning breeze. If you thought the peonies made me smile, that poppy had me grinning from ear to ear.
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Friday Food
Cinco de Mayo is coming up fast and these three caught my eye this week. I have a feeling at least one of them is going to happen at our house. I do realize this is a Mexican holiday but I think these recipes will still work.
Cheesy Beef Empanadas — The Novice Chef Golden, crispy pastry pockets stuffed with seasoned ground beef and cheese. They are the kind of thing that disappears the moment you set them out — party food that actually does the work of a party. Make a double batch you will need them.
Cuban Pork Tenderloin — A Chef’s Kitchen Pork tenderloin marinated in a bright, citrusy mojo sauce — orange, lime, garlic, cumin. It is fast enough for a weeknight but interesting enough to serve when you have people over. The kind of recipe that makes you look more organized than you actually are.
Margarita Beef — The Modern Proper Flank steak marinated in lime juice, tequila, and spices, then grilled. Serve it sliced over rice or tucked into tortillas with whatever you have in the refrigerator. This one looks like exactly the thing to make when you want Cinco de Mayo to feel like a real celebration without spending all day in the kitchen.
And you are going to need dessert. I have just the thing on the blog.
Raspberry Margarita Cream Tarts Buttery tart shells filled with a lime cream and topped with fresh raspberries. They are as pretty as they are easy, and they feel festive without being fussy. The margarita flavor in the cream is subtle — just enough to be interesting.
Read, Watch, Listen
Ten things from around the internet this week — the fascinating, the useful, the infuriating, and one update on a whale named Timmy.
Archaeologists reconstruct the face of a man fleeing the Pompeii eruption using AI
14 Fascinating Houses to Visit in Britain and Europe
12 most contaminated fruits and veggies
7 Things you should ever store in your refridgerator door
Elizabeth Smart is now a bodybuilder. See the picture and her empowering message.
#ToddlerSkincare: the ‘dark and exploitative’ world of children’s beauty videos on TikTok(this is frightening, what are we doing to our kids?)
Update on Timmy the humpback whale, A barge carrying Timmy the humpback whale journeys to the North Sea
The 130-Year-Old Secret: Why Every Tootsie Roll Contains a Piece of History
Scientists Visualize the Complex, Dynamic World Inside a Human Cell
Books On the Nightstand
Three books I cannot wait to get to — my stack is dangerously tall right now and I am not sorry about it.
The Last Castle by Denise Kiernan. The Biltmore Estate, the Vanderbilt family, the Gilded Age, and Asheville — which is practically in our backyard. This one has been on my list for a while and I finally have a copy.
The Queen of Wishful Thinking by Milly Johnson. A British novel about a woman starting over that I have been hearing about for months. Milly Johnson has a devoted following for good reason and I am looking forward to finding out why.
I Love Decorating by Nathan Turner. Part decorating guide, part visual feast. This is the kind of book I will read in sections, a chapter here, a chapter there, and probably end up keeping on the coffee table.
Looking for more books? Everything I have recommended can be found on My Bookshop. Most are also available from Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, and on Libby from your local library.
Shopping — Outfit of the Day
What I’m Wearing
This weeks’ outfit is a beautiful Farm Rio skirt(skirt is a splurge) paired with a plain white t-shirt, and a yellow  cardigan. I added a tote, one of my favorite perfumes and a pair of sandals, you could also wear flats.
Florals are having a genuine moment this spring — searches for floral dresses and skirts are at record highs, and I have been deep in the rabbit hole. The brown floral dress in particular has been everywhere and for good reason. It photographs beautifully, works for almost any occasion you cannot quite name, and feels more grown-up than a pink floral without being as expected as a black one. Chiffon maxis, wrap midis, floral skirts paired with a simple white blouse, all of it is pretty right now. I have pulled together a few of my favorites below.
Happy Friday, friends. I hope your week had at least one moment that surprised you with how good it felt. A first bloom, an unexpected phone call, a book you could not put down. Those are the things worth collecting.
Tell me, do you have peonies, and if so, are yours blooming yet? And are you celebrating Cinco de Mayo this year?
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You Are Not Invisible. You Are Just Done Preforming
Hi Elizabeth,
I can appreciate everything you said about seeing your flowers show up that brings smiles and so much joy. Then to get an unexpected surprise like a poppy must had been a big thrill.
Our rose garden brings me the same amount of joy. We had roses late into the fall but last year. This year our season was very unusual they came out super early because of the early unexpected heat, they popped then that was it. It was the strangest thing. I even had to go out and buy fresh flowers for the table in April. In past years we had roses I think even in May. Mother nature shows you some curves.
My Master Gardener AKA: “The Rose King” understands his garden (our children) after explaining to me why and how come, then I get it. I’m not into gardening. I’m in charge of pretty. Going to the nursery and being among flowers is my happy place. It’s a great date out for me. It’s the little things in life that bring me the most joy like going out for a thirty minute walk in the morning before the day starts for most people.
Have a lovely rest of your day. I will respond to your personal note soon. I was very happy to hear from you.