Friday Favorites

So you’ve heard me say it before that I have been reading food blogs obsessively for years, right? It’s allowed me to figure out what kind of photos I like, what kind of writing draws me in, and what kind of recipes actually get me cooking versus the ones that just inspire me.  I’m partial to the blogs that tell me stories, where I get to know the person who’s creating it all, and often find myself “tuning in” just so I can see the world through someone else’s eyes for a few minutes, instead of my own. It’s an escape, my own little oasis on the web. The food is secondary sometimes, because I’ve become interested in these strangers’ worlds.  When Shauna wrote about adopting her son, my heart filled up. When Merry-Jennifer wrote about her father in the months before he died, I kept reading even when she had no recipes to share, because her experience rang bells for me. She shared a letter he wrote to her when she was nine, and it’s stuck with me months later. An oncologist with two kids, her blog is for her own sanity and it’s beautiful. I read everything Phyllis posts because of her honesty and because she makes me laugh, and because how she writes about motherhood is awesome.

One construct that you see frequently on food blogs is the collection of “Friday Favorites.” People use different names, like Friday Round-up, The Friday Five, and Link Love, and while I tried to think of some catchy new title, I decided to just call it what it is. I’ll be posting a quick selection of things that I feel are worth your time; they may be food related, and they may not. They’ll be things that have brought something into my life in one way or another, so if you see something on the list that strikes you, I would love to hear about it in the comments. The links are there to click on (as they are in all the posts I write! Try them, they lead to cool things and aren’t just there for show!,) so hopefully this gives you another reason to look forward to Fridays! Happy reading.

I have been following Molly Wizenberg’s writing for years, and have been dying to read her new book, Delancey. A review on Poor Man’s Feast (another favorite) makes me want to read it NOW, especially after seeing this description which seems pretty appropriate for some things happening in my own life: “Molly’s newest memoir, and the story of the birth of the restaurant during the freshest days of her life together with Brandon is not only the tale of one couple building a dream. It’s the story of building a dream when you don’t even know that that dream is, in fact, your dream; it’s about risk-taking and trust and what it means to put one foot in front of the other and walk through the next stage of your life with the person you adore.” (Elissa Altman)

I admit, I am a huge fan of the pumpkin spiced coffee/latte, but rarely buy them. But I absolutely plan on making this real maple pumpkin spiced syrup mix to have at home and pour in my coffee this week. It doesn’t look complicated, and you can keep it in your fridge for 3 weeks!

It’s hard to believe it’s been five years since I bought Brian the 25th anniversary box set of The Cosby Show, but it gets a lot of play in our house. Many of our parenting strategies are thanks to the Huxtables, and apparently, we’re not alone.

I read an article in The Washington Post this week by Nancy L. Wolf, called “About That Mom Who’s Not Bragging About Her Kid,” and I hope you do too.

I’ve been an American Sign Language interpreter for 18 years now, and have been lucky to be a part of the Deaf world even longer, and this version of  Pharrell Williams’s “Happy” in ASL just makes me…happy. Really. If you need a smile today, watch this video that was made by kids and staff from Deaf Film Camp at Camp Mark Seven. It’s fantastic.

That’s it for this week. I figure short and sweet to start with, but I am sure the list will grow. I’d love to hear what you think!

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