I’m so relieved to have made it to another Friday. I usually love my weekdays, but virtual school is SO HARD for my family of six that these days I’m ecstatic for a two-day break. And while our Friday night pizza routine has been disrupted by circumstances, I’m still looking forward to good books, long walks, a thorough vacuuming (it’s seriously my favorite household chore), and one final typo-check for the Summer Reading Guide.
I hope you have a lovely weekend ahead of you.
My favorite finds from around the web:
- Mark Ruffalo Fights (and Comforts) Himself for ‘I Know This Much Is True.’ I forgot this adaptation was happening; this interview is terrific.
- A very kind friend gave me this excellent face wash as a gift—and now that I’ve just about emptied the container and looking to reorder, I’m realizing just what a nice gift it was! The good news is that it lasted for a full year.
- Claire Saffitz and the Joy of Cooking Failure. “But I, like these other internet commentators, do love Claire’s willingness to fail, to mess up, to go down the wrong path, and sometimes even to give up.”
- Tana French has a new book on the way. She promises it’s less depressing. A reader kindly alerted me to this news the other month and I can’t wait!
- FabFitFun just launched their new summer box! Use code FLOWERS at checkout and get 20% off.
- How Reading Got Farm Women Through the Depression. “Let the floor go unswept if necessary; simplify your meals; but make time for reading, studying and thinking.”
- How Infectious Disease Defined the American Bathroom. The more you know.
- 14 Self-Love Books You Want to Read More Than Once. So cool to see Don’t Overthink It in Cosmopolitan!
- The 20 Greatest Recipes of All Time. Well THIS is a bold claim. (I’ve made exactly two of them.)
- Reading Challenge folks: Announcing the 2020 Edgar Award Winners.
Don’t miss these posts:
- 7 things my mother taught me about how to live (and dress, and pay my bills). “If it’s grey and rainy out, don’t wear black, wear something cheerful. Everyone’s happiness (including yours) needs a boost on a gloomy day.”
- 17 books everyone will be talking about this summer. It’s always fun to take a look back.
Have a great weekend!
34 comments
Glad to see that Angie Kim’s Miracle Creek won the Edgar for Best First Novel. I found it controversial and we talked about it for weeks at my house after everyone finished reading it, but I think that’s one of the first signs of a good book.
It’s been on my shelf for ages but I haven’t read it yet. Your comments are definitely inspiring!
I read it this weekend and really liked it. I love courtroom dramas
Trader Joe’s sells these amazing pizza crusts by Monteli in the frozen section! Are your favorite topping to the cart and you’ve still got pizza night!
I’ve never bought the frozen ones, just the fresh dough. I miss Trader Joe’s; we haven’t been since our shelter in place took effect. I will definitely pick these up when I make it back there.
Well when you are able to get back I must tell you that Trader Joe’s has done and amazing job with their safety measures. I normally split my grocery shopping between grocery store pick-up and Trader Joe’s. However, since this all started I have switched exclusively to Trader Joe’s because of the lengths that they have gone to to make me feel safe while I am shopping. Before everyone else was doing it they were wiping down carts, only allowing a limited number of people in the store, wearing masks, keeping people 6 feet apart at check out and cashing out, etc.. It’s the only store I shop in person right now. So when you do get back to it, know that Trader Joe’s has got your back. 🙂 And, of course, tossing a new bouquet of fresh flowers in my cart has been a great source of happiness and normalcy during all of this. Stay safe.
I like grating a brick of pepperoni rather than slices, and then mixing it in with the grated cheese. Greasy but DELICIOUS!
I’ve never heard of this!
I am making pizza tonight. I do not have pepperoni, but I will remember the idea of grating pepperoni with the cheese. I am going to try that.
I make pizza bun mix for the freezer and this is such a fabulous hack! I learn about more than just great books through Anne’s work (and her great readers). Thank you for this lovely little corner of the internet.
If you love vacuuming as much as I do, do you have strong opinions on vacuums? My favorite is the Miele… you?
That’s what we have, too.
We have been doing a charcuterie board on Friday night! It is really fun to put together. everyone gets to choose their favorite foods and it looks so cool when we’re finished. So many pictures have been taken!
That sounds amazing!
A Insta story of Daisy ‘not liking the rain’ would bring me immense joy. 🤣👏🏻 Tell her I said hi 👋🏻
Duly noted! She wants you to know she’s eager for you to make a return visit. ♥️
I’m with Daisy, I hate rain! That’s always an excuse not to exercise.
And I was fascinated with the article on bathrooms, historically…I’d like to know more. All the phases, all the situations (one bathroom for each floor in a tenement building.)
Angie Kim’s Miracle Creek winning the Edgar makes me want to read it.
And one of MY favorite Moms is Mrs. Bennett!! Not a GOOD Mom, but a favorite!
Flew through Miracle Creek this weekend! Such a good way to bust a reading slump! Thoroughly recommend it!
This issue of Links I Love is one of the best you’ve done, yet! Loved and was drawn in by every link you shared. Excellent curation — thank you for always being a light in my days!
Nicole, I’m happy to hear this. Thank you for the kind words.
I think I need to make Marcella Hazan’s Bolognese stat!
Agreed!
If your family does love pizza, we use the frozen Trader Joe’s pizza crust and then let everyone make their own — I just provide the sauce, meats, veggies, and cheeses. Everyone is happy and some days, that is what you need when it comes to mealtime. Good luck!
Homemade pizza!!! OR upside down pizza, its more like a casserole. There are various recipes and you can trade up for whatever ingredients you want. Here’s an example! https://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/upside-down-pizza/4b15869b-1776-4bc6-abee-80db32d28a83
I’ve never heard of upside-down style, thank you!
I enjoyed the list of recipes. I’ve made the Chicken Marbella and the Beef Bourguignon, both long ago. My daughter made the pan banging chocolate chip cookies recently and left one on my front porch. It was delicious. I’d recommend them, if you are looking for an all day project!
Yay for Cosmopolitan! Woo hoo!!! Blue hates the rain too. 🙂 I’m intrigued by that face wash… Thanks for sharing.
The River was on my TBR, so now I might bump it up to hit that category. We’re still rocking pizza night over here. Home-made dough is surprisingly easy (we use the recipe from ‘How to Cook Everything’ you just throw all the ingredients in a food processor, then let rise), and I’ve finally mastered the pizza stone (the key is to get it pre-heated, so the bottom crisps quickly and then it won’t stick). We split our dough so everyone gets their own personal pizza.
Homemade pizza is pretty easy, especially with older kids like yours – each person can roll out their own bit of dough and top it how they like. (It’s very challenging for me these days with a toddler climbing up my legs and my kitchen is too small for me to work together with my older kids.) Search for Barbara Kingsolver’s ‘Animal, Vegetable, Miracle’ Friday Night Pizza for a great recipe that isn’t on an annoying ad-fueled blog site. (You’d enjoy the book, too, but that’s not necessary to make the pizza!) I know in the past you’ve mentioned that you prefer to avoid grains, but you didn’t mention that here so I’m assuming family pizza night is normal – I can see where trying to fit a special diet (homemade cauliflower crust is …. an aquired taste) with current restrictions would be extra difficult.
I have now see Macella Hazan’s bolognese recipe 2x in 1 week. I take that as a sign I am going to need to make it. I also recommend her EASY tomato sauce recipe for a busy night.
I love the links on Friday. They are always fun and/or informative.
Thanks for such a great collection of links! I’m looking forward to reading the JSTOR article. I think it will provide some good information I can share with my students next year. Reading the comments made me feel like I was listening to a conversation with friends.
I want to know which two of the ‘greatest recipes of all times’ you’ve made! I’ve made one…but am making a second (because of the list) in just moments. LOL! Thanks for sharing. Two tops were the Rufalo interview and the farm wives during the depression article. Fascinating reads, both. 🙂
Flew through Miracle Creek this weekend! So good! And feels great to check something off (nominated for award in 2020) the list before I turn to Summer Reading goals.
“Let the floor go unswept if necessary; simplify your meals; but make time for reading, studying and thinking.” – what a beautiful sentiment!! I remember my father telling me about a similar thing he told my grandmother when she was looking after me (when I was very young). She was all panicked about making sure that the house was clean but also wanting to do fun things with me and he said something to the effect of “The dust will still be there next week, next month, next year, but Sheree won’t be this age forever”. And sure enough, I treasure those early memories with my Nan and don’t remember or care a dot about the state of the house at the time.