Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly blog post about five things that caught my attention this week. I cannot believe it is March 2021, it seems like yesterday it was March 2020.
1) I saw Clinton Kelly on the Rachael Ray Show making a no-bake dessert that I knew my husband would enjoy- Banoffee Pie. It's a simple dessert, but one part is time consuming. You need dulce de leche, and since I couldn't find any premade in the four grocery stores I looked, I had to make my own. You take one can of sweetened condensed milk, place it in a large pot of boiling water (completely covering the can), bring it to a simmer for 2 1/2 hours. After letting it cool, (which I apparently did not do long enough because when I opened the can, caramel sauce sprayed my hair) it is ready to pour over a pretzel crust with sliced bananas on top. Top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. My husband loved it and we both decided it was worth the caramel sauce that I had to wash out of my hair. The recipe is here.
2) We purchased a wine credenza from Wine Enthusiast to organize all of our wine accessories (glasses, knickknacks, too many wine bottles) and it arrived this week. It looks good in our foyer, and now I have much-needed cupboard space in my kitchen.
3) I joined a fascinating book Zoom this week- William Morrow presented A Celebration of Women's History Month to launch Lauren Willig's new historical fiction Band of Sisters, based on the true story of a group of the all-women's Smith College alumni who went to France during WWI to aid French villagers displaced by the Germans. The book is fabulous, it will be one of my best of 2021 I can already tell (my review is here), and the Zoom was fantastic. Carol Fitzgerald from BookReporter.com moderated a panel of female historical fiction writers Lauren Willig, Vanessa Riley (her book The Island Queen will publish in July), Kristin Harmel (The Book of Lost Names), and Marie Benedict (The Mystery of Mrs. Christie) discussing determined women in history, and researching and writing historical fiction, and I could listen to them talk all night.
4) I'm watching reruns of 1990's sitcom Designing Women on Hulu on my Echo Show while I make dinner at night. (I guess that is appropriate for Women's History Month). I love that show! We used to watch it every week, back when you used to watch a show on TV once a week. I laugh all throughout dinner prep, and I every time Julia Sugarbaker goes off on one of her rants, I know them word for word. Dixie Carter, Delta Burke, Jean Smart, Annie Potts and Meshach Taylor (as delivery man Anthony) were expertly cast. 
Stay safe, socially distant, wear a mask, wash your hands, get the vaccine when it's your turn, and we'll get through this sooner rather than later.
5) I started and finished one book and am halfway through another. J.T. Ellison's thriller Her Dark Lies. is set on an isolated island off the coast of Italy, where Eliza, an artist, is preparing for her wedding to Jack, a scion of one of the America's wealthiest families. From the beginning things go wrong, people are being killed, and clues are dropped about Jack's first wife,who died three weeks after her their wedding. There is a lot going on here, people are not who they seem to be. It's a cross between Rebecca and a soap opera. My full review publishes Tuesday. 
I'm a big fan of Kate Quinn's historical fiction books (The Alice Network, The Huntress), about women doing their part during war to serve their country, even putting themselves in jeopardy. Her latest, The Rose Code, is about three British women who work at Bletchley Park trying to break the German secret war communication codes. Set in two time periods, one in 1939, where three women- Mab, Osla, and Beth- work on the top secret project, and then seven years later when one of the women is locked away in a sanitarium because she knows there was a spy at Bletchley and seeks the assistance of the other two to prove it. It's vintage Kate Quinn, and I can't put it down. 
I enjoyed your picture of the new wine credenza. What caught my eye was the wine piled in the corner. I thought we were the only ones who kept wine cases piled in the corner. I am sorry I missed the Zoom with Carol Fitzgerald ( love her), hopefully I can catch it soon.
ReplyDeleteThanks, some good books to check out. And, I know my husband would absolutely love that pie!
ReplyDeleteLove the wine cabinet! But that pie caught me eye even more!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed Lauren Willig's writing in The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, which I listened to on audiobook years ago, and always meant to read more by her. I love your wine credenza. When we did our virtual trip to Mexico over the summer, I remember looking up how to make homemade dulce de leche and seeing some kind of warning about boiling the whole can, as is often suggested. Glad it was just messy and not dangerous!
ReplyDeleteI am reading The Rose Code at the moment and very much enjoying it. That chat with Lauren Willig sounds fascinating too...and yay for easy no bake desserts. I am sure that your caramel was much nicer than any shop bought one anyway.
ReplyDeleteYour wine credenza looks like a great storage place. I can see how it would be good to have everything together.
ReplyDeletebe safe... mae at maefood.blogspot.com
I loved The Rose Code, I passed it on to a friend who likes that sort of story. How about that ending?!
ReplyDeleteDesigning Women was a favorite show of mine back in the day.