Friday 5ive- March 11, 2022

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly post featuring five things that caught my attention this week.

1) I have been waiting patiently to see The Music Man on Broadway and my turn came this week. I'm a big Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster fan, and it was such a treat to see them in this delightful show. The dancing, the singing, the costumes- it all was wonderful. Broadway vet Jayne Houdyshell was also a joy playing the comical mayor's wife, she elevates every show she is in. There was one cute thing that happened in the show- Hugh and Sutton had a scene together and there was a mistake in the scene and they could not stop giggling. They broke up and it took them a long time to pull it together, which got the audience screaming with laughter. It was good to laugh that hard with a large group of people. I will say that I got a real Dick Van Dyke vibe from Hugh in this role- the way he moved dancing, his smile, it all reminded me of Van Dyke, who also played the iconic role of Professor Harold Hill. And Sutton Foster has always reminded me of Mary Tyler Moore, so these two together was so sweet. Go see it if you come to NYC.

2) I made a new recipe for a friend's birthday lunch. Giada's Chicken Orzo Frittata was a big hit at the luncheon, all the ladies loved it. It was easy to make and it makes a great lunch or light dinner paired with a green salad. Another friend brought a delicious Tiramisu Cake from Stew Leonard's grocery store and it was a tasty lunch indeed. 

From from Food Network

3) I started a new podcast this week on the recommendation of one of our customers at the Book Cellar. Turner Classic Movies has a ten part podcast called The Plot Thickens, and season three of the podcast is about the life of Lucille Ball. The first episode is set in her hometown of Jamestown, New York, and you get to hear parts of old recorded interviews with Lucille Ball, her brother Fred, and her mother Dede  among others. It's fascinating and if you like Luciile Ball, definitely give it a listen. 

4) It was an all-Lucy week last week as I watched the fantastic new documentary on Amazon Prime Video,  Lucy & Desi, directed by Amy Poehler. Their daughter, Lucy Arnaz Luckinbill, participated in the documentary, and there are is a lot of great old video of Lucy and Desi over the years, including video of a very pregnant Lucy from the 1950s. This is a must-watch for Lucy fans. 

5) I read one really terrific book this week, perfect for Women's History Month. Kate Quinn's upcoming historical novel, The Diamond Eye, is a fictionalized account of the most successful Russian sniper in World War II- a woman named Ludmila Pavlichenko. Mila was known as Lady Death, and she had over 300 known kills as a most dangerous sniper. She was a librarian who carried her dissertation in her knapsack so she could work on it during her down times. The book tells the story of her dangerous missions, in which she suffered many injuries, as well as her trip to visit the United States, where she became friends with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Like Quinn's other recent novels, The Alice Network, The Huntress, and The Rose Code, The Diamond Eye shows us the role that brave women all over the world played during the world wars. It's a hefty book, but once you get into it, you'll speed through it as you are amazed by Mila's bravery and skill. I love all of Quinn's books, she brings these brave women to vivid life.

Have a safe, healthy week all.

Shared with Marg at the Intrepid Reader for Weekend Cooking.

Weekend Cooking- Weeknights With Giada

Weeknights With Giada by Giada de Laurentiis
Published by Clarkson Potter, ISBN 978-0307451026
240 pages, $35

I bought Giada de Laurentiis' first cookbook, Everyday Italian, when it published in 2005. I've seen some of her TV shows on the Food Network and her appearances on the Today Show.


Her latest cookbook, Weeknights With Giada promises 'quick and simple recipes to revamp dinner' that will take less than an hour to cook. Giada has a young daughter Jade, and many of her recipes in this book are geared to appeal to young children.

There is a cute photo of Jade eating Mini Meatball Sandwiches, and two other recipes that kids would enjoy are Pastina with Peas & Carrots and Pirate Pasta, both of which feature lots of chopped vegetables, which can be tough to get kids to eat. Adding them to pasta accomplishes that, and it allows you to use up vegetables you have in your refrigerator.

Giada and her family have breakfast for dinner once a week, which I used to enjoy when my sons were young. Pancakes, eggs, sausage and hash potatoes were always a treat for dinner, but now that they are men, that doesn't cut it.

There is an entire chapter of Breakfast for Dinner recipes that I would like to try, including Breakfast Tart with Pancetta & Green Onions, Peach and Cherry Fritatta and Crispy Breakfast Pita, with spinach, prosciutto and mascarpone cheese.

Crispy Breakfast Pita

This is a twist on a piadina, an Italian flatbread. For weeknight ease, instead of making a dough, I use store-bought pitas as the base. They get topped with a creamy mascarpone spread, a salty bite of prosciutto, a lightly dressed arugula salad and a fried egg. Serves 6.

6 (6-inch) pita breads

Extra-virgin olive oil

6 large eggs

¾ cup (6 ounces) mascarpone cheese

Grated zest of ½ large lemon

Kosher salt and freshly ground

Black pepper

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

3 packed cups (3 ounces) arugula or baby spinach

8 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto

Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill. Brush each side of the pita breads with ½ teaspoon olive oil and grill for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until crisp. Remove from the grill and cool slightly. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Crack the eggs directly into the pan and cook until the egg whites are set, 2 to 3 minutes. Combine the mascarpone cheese, lemon zest, ½ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper in a small bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk together 3 tablespoons olive oil, the lemon juice, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper until smooth. Add the arugula and toss until coated. Spread each pita with 2 tablespoons of the mascarpone mixture. Divide the prosciutto on top. Divide the arugula and mound on top of the prosciutto. Carefully place a fried egg on top of each pita. Season the eggs with a pinch of salt and pepper, and serve.

Crispy Breakfast Pita from Weeknights With Giada

Some of the other interesting recipes are Rustic Vegetable and Polenta Soup, Caramelized Onion, Chicken & Grapefruit Salad and Couscous with Watermelon, Watercress and Feta Cheese.

At first glance, I wasn't crazy about this cookbook, but upon further perusal, I found more recipes that I would like to try, among them Crispy Chicken with Rosemary Lemon Salt, Fig & Brie Panini, Scallion & Mozzarella Cornbread and Grilled California-Style Chopped Salad with Shrimp, which if I remember correctly, Giada served Prince William and Princess Kate when they visited California last year.

There are a lot of photos, many of them with Jade in them, and a few of the photos of the food looked not very appetizing to me.  (I had an uncorrected proof of the book, so perhaps they were edited out in the final edition.) Giada has branched out from Italian to include recipes with quinoa, tofu and soy in them; those did not appeal to me as much. 

I think if you like Giada, you'll like this book, and if you have young children, there are recipes here that seem fresher and healthier than the typical kiddie fare. 

rating 3.5 of 5 stars

This post is part of Beth Fish Reads' Weekend Cooking.  If you have anything related to food, cookbook reviews, novel or non-fiction book reviews, recipes, movie reviews, etc., head over to Beth Fish Reads and add your post. Or, if you want to read food related posts, head over to read what some interesting people have to say about food!