Five on Friday - April 11, 2025

We’ve finally made it to Friday—and you know what that means: it’s time for Five on Friday! This week felt like a long one, and I wasn’t sure we’d ever get here. But now, just one more workday stands between me and the weekend. Let’s get things started with my five for today!

1.  Your Friends and Neighbors with Jon Hamm

Apple TV's new show Your Friends and Neighbors debuts today!  Two episodes are dropping today, then the next seven will come on Fridays until May 30.  It's starring my favorite St. Louis Blues fan, Jon Hamm, along with Amanda Peet and Olivia Munn.  We've been catching the previews and it looks great!  Here's the summary ~

When a financial titan (Jon Hamm) suddenly finds himself divorced and jobless, he starts robbing his wealthy neighbors to stay afloat.  Stealing from his own social circle strangely exhilarates him - but he gradually gets tangled in a deadly web.

2.  Every Day with Babs

The complete title of this new cookbook says it all:  Every Day with Babs:  101 Family-Friendly Dinners for Every Day of the Week.  If you're like me, one of the hardest things to do at the end of the day is to come up with what you will have for dinner.  I'm putting this cookbook on my wishlist and hoping to unwrap it on Mother's Day.  Then I'm planning to take my meal planning straight from the pages within the book!  

From her years of experience feeding her family as a mother of four and now a grandmother of nine, Barbara Costello has perfected her roster of comforting and delicious family-approved meals. Now all the mealtime ingenuity that has been passed down to her, or that she’s earned through trial and error, is here in this book, for you! Every Day with Babs will be your go-to dinner resource, with Babs as your surrogate mom or grandma helping to get delicious meals organized, prepped, and on the table in no time, every night of the week.

In the pages of Every Day, Babs has done all the thinking for you because with so much on your plate already, you shouldn’t have to stress about dinner! The chapters are organized by day of the week, each with a particular theme or cooking method that keeps in mind the rhythm of the week. We all know making dinner on a Monday feels very different than a Sunday, so there are recipes to suit everyone’s mood, schedule, and cooking style:

Get Your “Sheet” (Pan) Together Monday: Sheet-pan recipes such as Roasted Sausage, Peppers & Gnocchi, Maple-Lime Salmon with Coconut Rice, Lemon Basil Chicken & Couscous, and Family Fajita Night

Eat Twice Twosday: Batch cooking at its best, with Grammie’s Chicken Cutlets, I Nailed Falafel with Tzatziki Slaw, Sesame Chicken Noodle Salad, and Minnie’s Meatballs

One and Only Wednesday: One-pot meals such as Warm Hug Bacon Pasta, Salsa Verde Fish Tostadas, Mini-Van Pepperoni Pizza Chicken, and Spinach-Artichoke Rice & Bean

BakeThrifty Thursday: Dinners that use pantry staples, like Cook’s Secret Weeknight Beef Stew, Chicken & Rice Casserole for the Soul, Beth’s Sloppy Joe Casserole, and Clean Your Fridge Frittata

Fri-Yay: Fun crowd-pleasers like Spicy Tuna Sushi Bake, Pimento Cheese Patty Melts, The BEST Fish & Chips, and Reuben Pastry Pockets                             

Low and Slow Saturday: Hands-off slow cooker recipes such as French Onion Soup Pot Roast, Finger Lickin’ Good Sweet & Sour Ribs, and Not to Be Missed Moroccan Chickpea Apricot Stew

Sunday Supper: Special meals to share, including Lobster Roll Cobb Salad, Pesto Rack of Lamb with Tomato-Mozzarella Salad, and Aunt Louise’s Eggplant ParmesanSweet Tooth: Easy and nostalgic desserts like Babs’ Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies, Key Lime Icebox Cake, Caramel Apple Crisp, and Scotcheroos

No matter how you’re feeling by dinner, there is a recipe in here that will fit the bill. Your family will soon be part of the clean plate club and you will be considered a virtual magician in the kitchen, too! Don’t panic, it's easier than you think. Babs has you covered!

Available HERE

3.  Wendy's Frosty Swirls 

Wendy's is bringing us a new treat to try starting today!  The wait is over for the Frosty Swirls.  Starting today, they will be available on the Wendy's app and in stores starting Tuesday, April 15.  According to Wendy's, the Frosty Swirls add a twist of sauce to your choice of a vanilla or chocolate Frosty.  Fans can choose strawberry, caramel or brownie batter sauce to make the dessert their own.  Sounds pretty yummy!

4.  Flower Garden for Kids

While searching Amazon for the perfect birthday gift for a little girl, I struck gold with the flower garden set! With 238 colorful pieces, it offers endless building fun. Kids can mix, match, build, and rebuild to their heart's content. The set even comes in a handy portable box, making cleanup and storage super easy. It would make a fantastic surprise from the Easter Bunny, too!

Available HERE

5.  Hmmm...

Hope you have a wonderful weekend! We’re heading out with friends tomorrow night to try a restaurant that’s new to us—I’m really looking forward to it, and even more excited to share the experience with good company. Then on Sunday, we’re bringing a few special guests to church and hosting lunch at our place afterward. It’s shaping up to be a great weekend! Hope to see you next week!

Five on Friday - March 7, 2025

 Hello!  I'm undigging from being away for a girls' trip, and this week has been busy.  But it was so, so worth it!  I can't wait to share my trip details with you.  But for today, let's dig into my Five on Friday ~

1.  Super Italian Cookbook

One of my favorite chefs, Giada De Laurentiis, has a brand new cookbook out this week!  It promises more than 110 indulgent recipes using Italy's healthiest foods.  Yes please!  It's going on my wish list for Mother's Day (if I can wait that long to get it).  Here's the summary ~

From the day Giada De Laurentiis started cooking professionally, her fundamental formula for making meals memorable has not changed: Good Cooking = Technique + Ingredients + Ambience. This same formula is the key to good health when you choose ingredients that promote wellness, cook them simply, and eat them joyfully. In her skillful hands, a pantry of Italian superfoods is the starting point to better health and longevity.

Super-Italian helps you stock your shelves with healthy Italian superfoods and create meals that are nutritionally dense, supportive of health, and still downright craveable. The superfoods featured and incorporated into every recipe are:

Olives + olive oil: Umbrian Chicken Stew with Green Olives, Kale Salsa Verde, and Grilled Swordfish with Olive Bagna Cauda
Beans + Legumes: Artichoke Dip with White Beans, Crunchy Roasted Butter Beans, and Creamy Cannellini Beans
Cruciferous vegetables: Winter Beans and Greens Soup, Orecchiette with Almond Pesto and Broccoli Rabe, and Green Gazpacho
Small fish: Caesar Aioli, Pasta Assassina, and Anchovy Pasta with Walnuts
Vinegar: Balsamic Chocolate Truffles, Grilled Endive Salad with Citrus and Pancetta, and Filet Mignon with Gorgonzola and Balsamic
Tomatoes: Sicilian Pesto, Tomatoes Gratinata, and Calabrian Pomodoro

By using carbs and fats mindfully and amplifying vegetables, lean proteins, and flavor-boosting superfoods at every meal, Giada shows how easy it is to eat like an Italian. With 100 stunning photographs of finished meals and their superfood components, Giada teaches us that when you start with truly excellent, minimally processed ingredients, simply prepared, you can have your pasta and eat it too!

Available HERE

2.  The Americas

Have you had a chance to watch The Americas on Peacock?  Eric and I are really enjoying it!  The Americas is a 10-part nature documentary series narrated by Tom Hanks.  It explores the diverse ecosystems and wildlife across North and South America.  The cinematography is amazing!  The show premiered on February 23 and airs on Sunday nights.  It's a show for the whole family.

3.  Desk Fan

On my trip last week, I packed my portable desk fan.  I'm so used to sleeping with a fan at night and I didn't know if there would be a fan at our condo.  This little gem did the trick!  It's so funny, I hadn't really thought about using it anywhere except on my desk before.  Now I see the possibilities are endless!  With the plug being a USB port, I can use it in the car or outside with my computer.  It's definitely going to be traveling with me more!

Available HERE

4.  Road Trip Games

With spring break and summer coming up, many of you may be hitting the roads with the kiddos in tow.  What are you going to do with those hours in the car?  Prepare yourself with these road trip games!  The games will help build memories and have fun, instead of just remembering the long and boring trip in the car.  

Available HERE

5.  Haven't we all been there...

Have a great weekend!  We have several fun things happening - lunch with a friend, celebrating our son's birthday, our small group gathering from church, and dinner with friends.  Lots to look forward to!  And don't forget to set your clocks forward this weekend.  See you next week.