Friday, July 21, 2023

It’s Friday again (eek!) and that means time to link up with Andrea and Erika for our weekly favorites.

As usual, I have a random set of photos from the old camera roll – lol!

Also, if you missed my Wine Down Wednesday post and you are a wine drinker, go back and check the comments for some suggestions and thank you for helping a girl out with her wineducation!

I think we are into summer enough that we are taking some things for granted, so check out my things that are making me happy post and maybe consider doing a list of your own.

I plan to do a Summer List report card next week to let you know how I have done.

Ok, on to my favorites…

I love egg salad! I used 3 eggs but only one of the egg yolks to make a single serving for my boat lunch Sunday. Do you like egg salad? I kind of forget about it. Growing up, we only had it at Easter and the egg salad was colorful because of the egg dye getting to the whites a bit. Also, my mom didn’t make deviled eggs. We only had those at church potlucks! Gosh, that is some good food. We often stayed after church for those. Did you?

We had Slender Kitchen’s beef bulgogi one night this week – it has become a family fave. I cooked the carrot and cucumber this time and I will go back to quick pickling them next time. I didn’t like this as much.

I picked up two good books from the library and sadly, had to make some hard decisions with books I had. I returned the majority of my stack that I wasn’t as excited about. Lol! So many books and so little time.

I really have not been shopping at Target as much in the last few years. I was just dropping so much money on impulse purchases and kind of using Target as my stress reliever. I did have a mission – to buy some Lume deodorant and a new lunch bag that Jack can use for his lunches at his opera program and that I could use when school starts. I avoided this section but took a funny picture to put on IG for my students, mostly.

I finally tried the Chick Fil A cobb salad with the ranch and buffalo mixed and I can attest that it is “fire” as the kids say. I also like my lettuce very chopped so I did that and mixed it all really well in a big mixing bowl with tongs. I will be doing this again.

I got a bag of ice! Will I do it again? – probably not. But, it was on my Summer List. I realized that I don’t mind my standard icemaker ice. Lol! And, never would I buy a countertop maker. I don’t care THAT much about the shape. I do like my big blocky ice cube tray for bourbon, though.

I used it in my iced coffee along with my water. I found it melted super fast.

It seems like all bloggers talk about the weather at some point, right? We have had a weird summer. I can’t remember having this much rain. Remember that we had a really severe storm at the end of June and lost power for 36 hours. There was some major damage in my area. Anyway, we have had so many days that started out rainy and then turned ok and lots of incorrect forecasts, too. So, it’s been hard to make plans. My friend Beth and I tried to go to the pool last week and then again this week. We decided to just go even though the day was iffy. We lucked out and got two hours of mostly sun but then the skies looked like this and we had to get out due to thunder, so we just ended our pool time. Neither of us belong to a pool so we go to one where you can pay as you go but the price has gone up to $16! It does have the adult pool and you can use your floats in it.

We really enjoyed my two “saddle” floats from last year.

I came home from the pool and Mason was off work and wanted to cook dinner with me. Um, ok! We did the whole shebang of looking for recipes, shopping at Kroger together, and then cooking. Darn if it didn’t take us about 3 hours, but we did it. He settled on a French dinner!

We made:

Bacon wrapped Boursin chicken:

Potatoes au gratin:

Haricot verts (French green beans):

Baguette:

Chocolate souffle that fell but still tasted great:

It was so much fun and we even played French music while cooking. We have decided we will definitely make it again!

I had a happy hour with my friend Victoria at Caffe Classico – one of my faves.

We had some wine and some Belgian frites with dipping sauces and I had a side salad.

I made a dinner with crescent rolls, fig jam, ham, and Havarti cheese. I rolled out two cans of dough. On the bottom one, I spread fig jam, then added the ham and Havarti. I covered it with the second can of dough and then put a mix of butter, Worcestershire, and brown sugar, and then added everything but the bagel seasoning. I baked at 375 for about 15 minutes I think – until it was golden. This was delish and I got some compliments. I also have some puff pastry in the freezer and I bet that would be next level.

This book is taking me forever but I do like it!

Hoping to finish it this weekend!

What were your favorites this week?

I hope you had many!

Amy

21 thoughts on “Friday Favorites”

  1. Oh yes, I hate that book conundrum. I often check out more books than I can read in the allotted time. The meal you and your son made sounds delicious.

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      1. It’s funny that I feel so guilty and bad when I return books I never got to read but I have to remind myself that no one cares and I can always check the book out another time if I want to.

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  3. I LOVE that Mason wanted to cook dinner with you. How sweet is that? Also, what he settled on looks amazing! I would all of that in a heartbeat. Maybe you can share the recipe for that chicken soon? I feel like it would be a crowd pleaser for all of us here. I am glad to hear that you got in some pool time this week, even if only a couple of hours. That’s better than nothing! That’s how I felt last week, and I skipped it this week because it was too miserable outside all week. I’m already looking forward to going next week, though! I miss swimming when I don’t swim regularly. I am totally going to a “things that make me happy” summer post next week. Thanks for the inspiration! Have a great day, my friend.

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    1. It was so fun! The chicken was so easy. We just spread Boursin on the thin chicken breast and rolled it up in bacon and stuck two toothpicks in and baked it until done. I actually used to make a recipe similar with cream cheese.
      When I go to the pool and it’s so hot I have to stay in the water! I’m glad we got two hours in!

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  5. I love how you and your son cooked a delicious dinner together! Your crescent roll dinner looks and sounds delicious. We don’t have crescent rolls here and I really wish that we did! We just have frozen puff pastry or shortcrust pastry but I imagine that crescent rolls might be soft and more like the texture of bread.

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  6. I love the story of you and Mason cooking and having a theme! What a great favorite to create these fun memories!
    Yes, being in our 50’s and being a blogger causes us to talk about this crazy summer weather. We had more storms last night.
    Enjoy your weekend.

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  7. Hi Amy,
    I just discovered your blog and I really like it! I am in the same stage of life as you are with parenting, and I love to read as well. We have one feisty Westie named Pippa rounding out our family.
    Greetings from Nebraska!

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  8. That French dinner you and Mason made looks great and I love that he wanted to make it with you! All the food in this post is making my mouth water.
    I need to request an actual book from my library, haven’t done that in AGES!!! I keep reading on my Kindle app but darn, I love a book.
    xo,
    Kellyann

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  9. I hope you like the books you exchanged others for. . .it’s hard b/c it seems all the ones I “want” come in at the same time. . .and then I, too, have to decide which ones to let go. Again, not as much on the reading train this year as in the past. . .but not as much outdoor time either, probably due to the rain and the fact that I am working more. Oh well. Glad you were able to stay out of the school supply aisle — and your students were probably happy to see your endorsement of THEM staying away too – ha! Glad you have this time with friends and family. . .cooking with your kids is just the best, right? And I’m sure the rest of your family appreciates your efforts too!! Our oldest daughter has moved back in with us and she generally makes a meal every week and it is MUCH appreciated!! Have a great weekend – hopefully the weather looks good for you 🙂

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  10. So sweet that Mason wanted to cook with you. Y’all went all out! I love that CFA salad too. My books are starting to pile up too. Ugh.
    I don’t do egg salad – Mayo, right? I don’t like Mayo which eliminates chicken salad too haha

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  11. My favorite this week was the over 1 inch of rain we got so we didn’t have to water for a couple of days. We moved last year and have brand new trees and bushes. When I go to Target, I go in for specific things because if I go in and wander, I do turn into one of those memes! Your food all looks so good…especially those green beans…is that weird?

    I hope you have a fabulous weekend!

    https://marshainthemiddle.com/

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  12. I love egg salad, especially in buns. Yum, yum!
    My daughter is really loving our library at the moment. She is at the point where there’s all of these books with not enough time to read them all.
    We have had so much rain here in the UK too. Apparently we’re getting a months worth this weekend.
    All of your food looks so good, it’s making me hungry.

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  14. I have been trying to read Someone Else’s Shoes for months now. I got maybe halfway through and I never wanted to pick it up. It’s on the shelf.

    I gave in and bought Wells’ school supplies this week. I figured I’d just get it over with. He doesn’t need much but I’m the only who always sees things I “need”.

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  15. Gimme that chicken and au gratin potatoes!!!

    I do love egg salad but I’m super picky about it. I want mayo, no mustard, and the only things that can be mixed in are onions & celery but I’m fine with just the eggs. Seasonings can only be salt, lemon pepper, basil, and I forget what my other choice is if I’m not using basil. Is it oregano? I don’t remember so best to stick with the basil.

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