Friday Favorites~a weekly series where we share our favorite books, decor, fashion finds, recipes, podcasts, articles and more.
FRIDAY FAVORITES NO. 554
Good morning friends, how was your week?
My heart is heavy this week with all that has been going on in Israel. It is difficult to wrap your mind around the evil in this world. And hard to believe that there will ever be peace.
We had a busy week of travel and it is nice to be home. This weekend I have a lot of catching up to do but I also want to relax. What about you? How was your week? What are your plans for the weekend?
I have lots to share this week on Friday Favorites, comforting Fall foods, books, fashion and so much more, so let’s get to it.
FOOD~RECIPES TO TRY
Rosemary Roasted Butternut Squash Pizza, is the perfect mix of fall flavors.
Creamy Pumpkin Sausage Pasta is one of my favorite Fall recipes. Creamy, cheesy pasta, it doesn’t get any better.
Tuscan Ribollita soup (Ribollita Toscana) is an Italian, vegetable & white bean soup. Something new to try this Fall.
Conchas a type of pan dulce or sweet roll, are beloved in Mexico. They are easy to make and delicious for breakfast or as a treat with a cup of tea.
LINKS TO READ+WATCH+LISTEN
A close read of Hamas’s founding documents clearly shows their intentions
Mapping the conflict in Israel and Gaza
The Best Holiday Gift? Keeping Your Mouth Shut About My Body
The Best Almond Extract for Cookies, Cakes, and More. Good to know for the holidays.
How to Make the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie
Tuition hikes at 23 public California colleges make students question: ‘Is it even worth it?’
The Nation’s Obsession With True Crime Meets a Mother’s Grief
How Taylor Swift reflects every possible version of ourselves.
These 183,000 Books Are Fueling the Biggest Fight in Publishing and Tech
Books
Fall inspired books to read this week, a couple of my favorites and some new ones as well.
The Great Witch of Brittany
Set in the late 1700s, a tale of magic and fate, triumph and heartbreak, and the powerful bonds between mothers and daughters unfolds in this spellbinding novel from a master storyteller.
Brittany, 1762
There hasn’t been a witch born in the Orchière clan for generations. According to the elders, that line is dead, leaving the clan vulnerable to the whims of superstitious villagers and the prejudices of fearmongering bishops.
Ursule Orchière has been raised on stories of the great witches of the past. But the only magic she knows is the false spells her mother weaves over the gullible women who visit their fortune-telling caravan. Everything changes when Ursule comes of age and a spark of power flares to life. Thrilled to be chosen, she has no idea how magic will twist and shape her future.
Guided by an ancient grimoire and the whispers of her ancestors, Ursule is destined to walk the same path as the great witches of old. But first, the Orchière magical lineage must survive. And danger hovers over her, whether it’s the bloodlust of the mob or the flames of the pyre.
Of the many permutations of the macabre or bizarre, Dahl was always especially fascinated by the classic ghost story. As he relates in the erudite introduction to this volume, he read some 749 supernatural tales at the British Museum Library before selecting the 14 that comprise this anthology. “Spookiness is, after all, the real purpose of the ghost story,” Dahl writes. “It should give you the creeps and disturb your thoughts.”
For this superbly disquieting collection, Dahl offers favorite tales by such masterful storytellers as E. F. Benson, J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Rosemary Timperley, and Edith Wharton.
The Little Shop of Found Things
An antique shop haunted by a ghost.
A silver treasure with an injustice in its story.
An adventure to the past she’ll never forget.
Xanthe and her mother Flora leave London behind for a fresh start, taking over an antique shop in the historic town of Marlborough. Xanthe has always had an affinity with some of the antiques she finds. When she touches them, she can sense something of the past they come from and the stories they hold. When she has an intense connection to a beautiful silver chatelaine, she has to know more.
It is while she’s examining the chatelaine that she’s transported back to the seventeenth century, where she discovers an injustice in its history. The spirit that inhabits her new home confronts her and charges her with saving her daughter’s life, threatening to take Flora’s if she fails.
While Xanthe fights to save the girl in 1605, she meets architect Samuel Appleby. He may be the person who can help her succeed. He may also be the reason she can’t bring herself to leave.
With its rich historical detail, strong mother-daughter relationship, and picturesque English village, The Little Shop of Found Things delivers a heartfelt page-turner.
First Frost
Claire Waverley has started a successful new venture, Waverley’s Candies. Though her handcrafted confections — rose to recall lost love, lavender to promote happiness and lemon verbena to soothe throats and minds — are singularly effective, the business of selling them is costing her the everyday joys of her family, and her belief in her own precious gifts.
Sydney Waverley, too, is losing her balance. With each passing day she longs more for a baby — a namesake for her wonderful Henry. Yet the longer she tries, the more her desire becomes an unquenchable thirst, stealing the pleasure out of the life she already has.
Sydney’s daughter, Bay, has lost her heart to the boy she knows it belongs to…if only he could see it, too. But how can he, when he is so far outside her grasp that he appears to her as little more than a puff of smoke?
When a mysterious stranger shows up and challenges the very heart of their family, each of them must make choices they have never confronted before. And through it all, the Waverley sisters must search for a way to hold their family together through their troublesome season of change, waiting for that extraordinary event that is First Frost.
If you have already read these books or missed something I have featured before on the blog check out My Bookshop on Amazon.
Christmas Gifts Book Ideas
FINDS & SALES
Outfit of the Day
Outfit details:boots//culottes//sweater//bag//earrings//perfume.
Do you like animal print?
It’s never too early to start shopping for the holidays.
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.
PIN ME FOR LATER
Ribollita is a favorite to make during the cooler months. Thanks for sharing your favorites with all of us every week!
I have never made Ribolita! I cannot wait to try it. Have a wonderful weekend Mary.
So glad fall is finally here! No more hot days. We are waiting for color here in Lancaster but farm stands are full of pumpkins. Have a good weekend.
Me too! The weather is still toasty some days and no changes yet in the color.
Have a wonderful weekend Linda.