Welcome to Friday Favorites, a weekly series where I share interesting articles, books, fashion finds, recipes and more.
Good Friday Favorites morning to you friends. It has been a crazy week, that is for sure. In case you missed it, our county of 40,000 customers( roughly 179,000 people) lost power last Saturday because our substations were vandalized. Finally after a long week most of the power was restored yesterday.
We were very lucky because we found a generator last Sunday and then our power came back a few days before the majority of other customers. I have no idea why, although we believe it is because we are on the same grid as the hospital.
It was very strange to look out my back windows and see complete darkness, the people that live on the other side of the green had no power until yesterday. We felt horrible to even turn our lights on when so many others were without heat, lights, water.
Thankfully things are returning back to normal, hopefully soon they will find out who did this.
I have lots to share today, tasty appetizers, a copycat Starbucks white hot chocolate, some great books, lots of links you may have missed and so much more.
Grab your hot chocolate and let’s get to it.
FRIDAY FAVORITES NO. 510
Food
Bread is one of my favorite things to eat and this Christmas tree focaccia is gorgeous and looks delicious.
French Onion Dip, always a favorite.
Cheese Log with Cranberries, Pistachios, Bacon and Honey , perfect for cocktail night.
Ham and Swiss cheese puff pastry, this is easy to make and delicious! I have this on my menu for Christmas brunch.
You can’t go wrong with this copycat copycat Starbucks White Chocolate.
Add this almond braid pastry to your holiday baking list! You will love it!
Interesting Links
America’s Worst Christmas Candy
Advice on how to better navigate the overwhelm of the holidays
These are the words, movies and people that Americans searched for on Google in 2022
A 900-year-old abbey decorated with foliage and flowers from its 30-acre garden
Gardening 101: What to Do in the Winter for Healthier Soil in the Spring
Check Out This Amazing Winter Wonderland
The Best Places to visit in 2023
Step inside one of the earliest prototypes of the Western American mountain cabin.
10 New Year’s Affirmations for 2023: Why You Should Set an Intention, Not a Resolution
Classical music lovers, here are the 10 best classics albums of 2022.
Identity Crisis, fascinating article about identify people in a natural disaster.
The Taste of Water, Explained by Water Sommeliers
Books
FREE with First Reads on Amazon. I just finished it last night and loved it.
A bighearted novel about motherhood, friendship, moving on, and love of all kinds.
Ever since Beth Bailey was a girl, she’s been in love with her best friend’s older brother, Mark. She’s continued to hold out hope that maybe, someday, he’ll love her back. But now Beth is thirty-five years old, and on the day of Mark’s wedding to another woman, she finally accepts the wake-up call she needs to move on.
Beth’s dream of marrying her first love may be over, but her other biggest desire is still within reach: becoming a mother. Having lost her own parents very young, there’s nothing Beth wants more in life, and nothing she’ll stop at to make her wish come true.
Over the course of five years, and with unexpected twists along the way, Beth will come to startling realisations about family, friendship, the meaning of love, and most importantly, herself on the winding path to happiness and, she hopes, to motherhood.
Ninety-one-year-old Gretel Fernsby has lived in the same well-to-do mansion block in London for decades. She lives a quiet, comfortable life, despite her deeply disturbing, dark past. She doesn’t talk about her escape from Nazi Germany at age 12. She doesn’t talk about the grim post-war years in France with her mother. Most of all, she doesn’t talk about her father, who was the commandant of one of the Reich’s most notorious extermination camps.
Then, a new family moves into the apartment below her. In spite of herself, Gretel can’t help but begin a friendship with the little boy, Henry, though his presence brings back memories she would rather forget. One night, she witnesses a disturbing, violent argument between Henry’s beautiful mother and his arrogant father, one that threatens Gretel’s hard-won, self-contained existence.
All The Broken Places moves back and forth in time between Gretel’s girlhood in Germany to present-day London as a woman whose life has been haunted by the past. Now, Gretel faces a similar crossroads to one she encountered long ago. Back then, she denied her own complicity, but now, faced with a chance to interrogate her guilt, grief and remorse, she can choose to save a young boy. If she does, she will be forced to reveal the secrets she has spent a lifetime protecting. This time, she can make a different choice than before—whatever the cost to herself….
Finds
sequin sweater//pink skirt//earrings// brooch //shoes//bag
Love this best seller list from Tuckernuck,
Boden
Chico’s Finds
H&M
Talbots
Anthropologie
Target
UNTIL TOMORROW
Have a great day friends, I hope you found something to read, make or enjoy on Friday Favorites. Thank you for spending part of your day with me, I always appreciate it. If you have missed a Friday Favorites post you can find them all here.
I hope to see you back here tomorrow for Weekend Meanderings with Kim and Juliet!
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P.S.
Check out my Holiday Shop on the blog. You can find Christmas decor including trees, wreaths, pillows and more. You can also find holiday outfits, plaid finds , Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him , Hostess Gifts, toys and and so much more. You can also shop my Amazon storefront for gift ideas.
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So glad to hear the power is back on and the community is returning back to a sense of normalcy. I feel so badly for everyone. The retailers must be thrilled. This attack could not had come at the worst time of year.
Thank you Katherine. I feel horrible for the people who are already stretched and have suffered this week. The rotten food, the lost work and all of the rest.
Take care and have a wonderful weekend.
So happy that life is returning to a semblance of normal there. We are in another part of North Carolina and watched with horror what was happening to all of you. Yes, hope they find the perks and throw the book at them for hurting so many innocent folks. Sadly, it was a statement about our society now. Hopefully the holiday spirit will return. Thaǹks for the white hot chocolate recipe. Yum!
Thank you! It has been sad to see all of the people suffering. I think they need to offer a larger reward to find these people.
Enjoy the hot chocolate!
That pink flared skirt is adorable. You have so much choice in the US. A lot of our stores just have cheap and nasty stuff from China in fabrics I would never wear and styles that don’t really flatter older women. But I also don’t like purchasing online as I like to try things on. Anyway, I am sure I can recycle some of the things already in my wardrobe and buy a couple of things from the better high street brands to freshen things up.
Lorna, we have lots or cheap and nasty stuff here too.
I haven’t really bought too much this year, I am recycling a lot of my old favorites too.
Have a wonderful weekend.
I don’t know why anyone would vandalize substations. But then, there’s lots of things going on in this world that leave me speechless. The bread and cheese log appeal the most to me for some reason. I’m now craving them!
Brenda
Brenda, there are so many weird and scary things going on in the world to protest something or other. I hope that you make the bread. Have a wonderful weekend. Elizabeth
Oh Elizabeth, what a terrible situation. I am so glad you have electricity now. People are so cruel…..
you have shared so many yummy ideas and I cannot wait to read one of your books. Honestly, I would like to hide for about a week and just read. WIshing you a very Merry Christmas.
Thank you Wendy! I hope you find even 30 minutes to relax and read. Happy holidays!
Where I live now, I can only think of a single power outage.
Wow, really? That is great.