Friday Favorites~a weekly series where we share our favorite books, decor,  fashion finds, recipes, podcasts, articles and more.

Good morning friends, happy Friday Favorites. How was your week and the start to the new year? Short weeks are a challenge. I cannot get into a routine, especially this week as I took so much time off between Christmas and NYE. Every free moment of reading, walking, cuddling on the couch, cooking, baking and napping was enjoyed. It was the perfect staycation after a long and busy 2023.  Hopefully next week will have me back on track.

A quick question, is there something that you would like to see more or less of on the blog this year? Pinecones & Acorns is a lifestyle blog and I try to feature a wide variety of things I think most of the readers will like including easy recipes, books, armchair travel, fashion, decor, etc.  If there is something you enjoy on the blog or that you don’t(be kind) please let me know.

Ok, on to Friday Favorites!

FRIDAY FAVORITES NO. 566

FOOD

Golden healing soup is one of my favorites to make in the winter, it is an easy and delicious cauliflower soup.

Stuffed Spaghetti Squash Lasagna Boats with turkey Bolognese and mozzarella cheese.  I cannot wait to make these.

Avocado Mojo Bowls with Sweet Potato and Chicken, an easy bowl meal for weekday dinners.

Bookmark these lemon cookies they look delicious.

After the holidays you might not feel like baking but still want a little something sweet, try these Individual apple crisps.

LINKS TO READ+WATCH+LISTEN

The Best Documentaries of 2023

Schools don’t want kids on cellphones. Is banning them the solution?

7 Easy Food Goals to Improve Your Health Without Dieting

Why Big Numbers Break Our Brain

Everyone Should Eat More Cottage Cheese

From Amazon to Facebook and Google, here’s how platforms can ‘decay’

Have You Already Broken Your New Years Resolution?

Unusual boxes and 7,000-year-old trove found locked in ice

The Worst House Emergencies That Come Without Warning (and How to Prepare for Them)

For Truly Crispy Air Fryer Veggies, Make This Batter

The Brooklyn Bridge, Now Empty of Street Vendors

Is Your Home “Dated” Millennial Beige? It’s Time to Add Color & Personality

YIKES! What is going on? Hoards of people are stampeding stores to get Stanley’s limited edition Valentine’s Day cups, and resales are going for more than $100

BOOKS~ ON MY LIST AND MY BEDSIDE TABLE

The Storm We Made

Malaya, 1945. Cecily Alcantara’s family is in terrible danger: her fifteen-year-old son, Abel, has disappeared, and her youngest daughter, Jasmin, is confined in a basement to prevent being pressed into service at the comfort stations. Her eldest daughter Jujube, who works at a tea house frequented by drunk Japanese soldiers, becomes angrier by the day.

Cecily knows two things: that this is all her fault; and that her family must never learn the truth.

A decade prior, Cecily had been desperate to be more than a housewife to a low-level bureaucrat in British-colonized Malaya. A chance meeting with the charismatic General Fuijwara lured her into a life of espionage, pursuing dreams of an “Asia for Asians.” Instead, Cecily helped usher in an even more brutal occupation by the Japanese. Ten years later as the war reaches its apex, her actions have caught up with her. Now her family is on the brink of destruction—and she will do anything to save them.

Spanning years of pain and triumph, told from the perspectives of four unforgettable characters, The Storm We Made is a dazzling saga about the horrors of war; the fraught relationships between the colonized and their oppressors, and the ambiguity of right and wrong when survival is at stake.

Poison in Paddington

When Cassie Coburn moved to London, she never thought she’d be involved in a quadruple homicide.

After a car accident ended her medical career before it even started, Cassie moved to London on a whim, expecting to see the sights and live the typical tourist backpacker lifestyle.

Instead she finds herself accompanying a French private detective, Violet Despuis, as they attempt to find out who poisoned four people in the middle of London. Cassie’s life soon includes this crazy detective, an ancient landlady with a curious past, a mischievous orange cat who likes going for walks on a leash, and a super hot pathologist that Cassie is sure is out of her league.

And they haven’t even found the murderer yet…

Will there be wine?

Austen Keller was living her dream. She landed a career-defining job which moved her and her husband to Paris. Shortly thereafter, she was divorced. This wasn’t the plan. Yet there she was—pushing 40 and starting over.

A decade after she’d last been single, Austen enters the dating scene playing by a new set of rules in a different language, culture, and lingerie standards. She experiences every type of miserable first date imaginable and lives to tell the tales of Pierre the Mansplainer, Simon the Snoozer, Emile the Over-Sharer, Guillaume of the Gym Shorts, and many more. On most dates, she struggles to get past one glass of Bordeaux without wanting to bolt. Even worse, no one chases after her when she runs. It doesn’t take long for her to realize that whoever said French men were romantic deserves a swift kick in the pants.

A rewarding and high-powered career.

Fabulous female friendships.

True love.

Austen continues to ask herself: Is “having it all” too much to ask?

A genuine and tragically hilarious novel about an ex-pat woman’s journey of self-discovery through a string of disastrous dates, relationships forged in a deep cultural divide, world travels, and wine. A lot of wine.

MORE BOOKS

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

FINDS

Outfit of the Day

I prefer skirts to pants, I think you can dress them up or down and still be comfortable and stylish.

This skirt is a classic piece for your wardrobe, add a sweater, blouse or both and you can go to work or out to dinner. I paired it with this asymmetrical sweater and boots for a more casual weekend look and a cross body bag. Add a spritz of your favorite perfume and a little lipstick and some earrings and you are set.

Mango has a less expensive and similar skirt and boots and bag. 

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, why not get ahead start on your cards, notes and gifts?

UNTIL TOMMORROW

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!

Kim, Juliet and I will be back tomorrow on Weekend Meanderings! We are excited to be back for the first post of 2024!

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

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