Friday 5ive- August 8, 2025

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

The weekend was so beautiful, perfect weather to sit on my balcony and catch up on my reading.

1) We went to see Just in Time, a Broadway show about legendary 50s and 60s singer/songwriter Bobby Darin. The show is fantastic, with the staging as a nightclub setting. (Darin performed a great deal in clubs like the Copacabana. My companions didn't know anything about Bobby Darin and they loved the show. I knew a little about him, but I didn't realize that Connie Francis (who recently passed away) was his first love. Jonathan Groff gave an astonishing performance as Darin, winning a Tony nomination for it. If you're in NYC, I highly recommend going to see Just in Time. 

2) You see a lot of interesting things walking around the city, but I've never seen anything quite like the sight of an ad for a handyman. On top of his little car. On top of a gigantic box where I guess he keeps his tools? 

3) I like to try new items at Trader Joe's and this week it was Dark Chocolate Covered Cashews (with a  hidden layer of sweet caramel confectionary coating). Need I say more? They are delicious!

4) I binge-watched the sitcom Leanne on Neflix. It's a throwback to the traditional network TV sitcoms starring standup comic Leanne Morgan, with Kristen Johnston as her sister. Leanne portrays a woman married for 30+ years when her husband leaves her for another woman. It's very Southern and funny (if you've seen Leanne's comedy act you'll get it.) Leanne has to deal with her ex-husband, wild child daughter (who's almost 30), a son who is the light of her life, a beautiful grandbaby, nosy neighbor, and her elderly parents. The chemistry between Leanne and Kristen is perfection, and Tim Daly as Leanne's FBI agent love interest is terrific. There's  16 episodes and I hope we see season two. 

5) I read Beck Dorey-Stein's fantastic new novel Spectacular Things in one day this week (on my balcony). It's about two sisters, one of whom, Cricket, is on her way to becoming an Olympic soccer star. Older sister Mia has sacrificed much to help her talented sister realize her dreams. When Mia has a serious situation arise where she needs Cricket to make a choice that could put her career in jeopardy, the sisters face a crossroads in their relationship.

I devoured this story of sisters, it hooked me from the very beginning. We see the challenges their single mom faced to give them a good life, as well as the blessings and curses of being a star athlete with so much potential. 

The writing and characters draw you in, and if you are a soccer fan you will love this story even more. I'm always intrigued by athletes who perform at a high level, particularly if they begin as young children. Even though I don't follow soccer, I was captivated by that storyline.

Fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid's Carrie Soto Is Back will want to read Spectacular Things. It was a Reeses' Book Club pick.

Have a safe and healthy week- until next time.

Friday 5ive- February 4, 2022

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

1)  I finally had an opportunity to visit the new Trader Joe's in my neighborhood. I read that the best time to go there was Wednesday morning, so off I went. It is a beautiful store, and so spacious. The other Trader's Joes in NYC have very crowded aisles, it's hard to shop. It was easy to move around and shop, and there was literally no line at the cash registers. Luke, the cashier, praised my choice of Sour Cream Donuts and after tasting one, I have to agree with him. I also enjoy their greeting card section- only 99 cents each and the cards are so pretty.

Photo from patch.com

2)  I walked by this window on my way home from running errands, and I was happy to see that the Book of the Month person was back. I haven't seen the display in the apartment window in awhile, so I am glad that the fellow reader is back. You are not alone my friend.

3) The snowstorm that hit NYC last Saturday meant that the public library was closed, and so was the Book Cellar where I volunteer. I was able to hop on a Virtual Book Club for Reese's Book Club with Alka Joshi (The Henna Artist, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur) in discussion with Thrity Umrigar about her novel Honor. I read Honor recently and it is such a stunning, moving book about Smita, an Indian journalist who leaves her home in the US to return to India and cover the story of Meena, a young Hindu woman who married a Muslim man. Meena's brothers murdered her husband and severely burned and disfugured Meena in what they called an "honor killing". The discussion was one of the most fascinating ones I have listened to, I learned so much about life in India from these two brilliant writers. I highly recommend reading Honor, it is a difficult subject but a very important one. 

4) We watched the movie House of Gucci this week. Lady Gaga does an amazing job portraying Patrizia, an Italian working class woman who falls in love with wealthy Maurizio Gucci, played by Adam Driver. Patrizia pushes Maurizio to become more involved in his family business, and she shows a real aptitude for the fashion industry. She loves the good life, and her husband, but when he wants a divorce, Patrizia spirals downward and hires hit men to kill him. The movie is a bit of a slow start, but once it picked up the pace and they became involved in the family business it gets more interesting. Word is that Lady Gaga and an unrecognizable Jared Leto may be up for Oscars for their performance. The movie is available for purchase On Demand through your cable system or Apple TV, Google Play, or Amazon Prime Video. 

5) I read two terrific books this week. The first is Will Leitch's mystery How Lucky. Daniel is a 26 year-old man who has SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy), a debilitating disease that leaves him unable to speak or move (other than his left hand) and using a wheelchair. He works monitoring a Twitter account for customer service for a small regional airline, and lives on his own in the college town of Athens, Georgia. His childhood best friend Travis and an immigrant home health aide Marjani help care for him. One day Daniel witnesses a young Chinese student get into a man's car and she disappears. Daniel has to figure out how to get help for the young woman. This book has it all- great characters, a fast-paced story, an interesting setting, a mystery to be solved, and How Lucky is nominated for an Edgar Award for Best Novel. I highly recommend it. 

The second book is also a mystery- Katherine Faulkner's debut novel Greenwich Park. Helen is pregnant and meets Rachel, an intense young woman, in her childbirthing class. Rachel keeps turning up wherever Helen is, insinuating herself in Helen's life. We're left to wonder what Rachel is up to when she moves into Helen's home, and things go missing, like Helen's husband's laptop. There are a lot of characters to keep track of in this gripping story- Helen and her husband, Helen's brother Rory and pregnant sister-in-law Selena, her brother Charlie and Helen's best friend Katie, but Faulkner weaves it all together in an expert manner that will keep the reader guessing just what Rachel's secret is. It has a definite Girl on the Train vibe, and I recommend it. 

Stay safe and warm everyone.

This post was shared with The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader's Weekend Cooking blog posts.

Weekend Cooking- My Week in Food

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.

This week's Weekend Cooking post is a review of My Week in Food.

My husband had business in Albany so we got to see our younger son who is in graduate school there. Our son took us to DiBella's Submarine Shop for lunch. Anyone who enjoys Wegman's subs knows about DiBella's. Wegmans bought DiBella's recipes and techniques when they decided to open up their own sub shops in their stores, and it was a good decision. I had the Old Fashioned and my son recommended the everything roll (like an everything bagel). That roll was the best bread I've ever had in a sandwich shop. It was definitely a hit in my book. There are 31 locations and if you run across one in your travels, I highly recommend them. Their website is here.

We had dinner with friends at Creo' Restaurant in Albany. It is a wonderfully warm restaurant, lots of wood and deep, rich colors. They have a large bar area and a huge dining room that overlooks the kitchen that runs along the back wall. We're not used to seeing such a big restaurant after eating in NYC. I had a tasty ravioli dish, with mushrooms, kale, cippolini, kale, and parmesan in a cream and truffle oil sauce. The food was good, and the company even better.

I made a Trader Joe's run last week and found a new snack that is very dangerous- Chocolate Covered Sea Salt Butterscotch Caramels. They hit all of my flavor points and if you are not careful, you will look down and find that you ate almost half of the bag in one sitting. (Not that I know anything about that.) 

I attended a taping of Katie Couric's show this week with a friend, and we treated ourselves to lunch at The Porter House in the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle. They have a lovely $25 pre-fixe lunch, and I had a huge Caesar salad, petite filet mignon with whipped potatoes and raspberry and passionfruit sorbet, all for $25. It was a great deal, and the service was impeccable. They also have a lovely view overlooking Central Park.

We had a few good meals at home this week too. From Katie Lee Joel's The Comfort Table, I made a quick and tasty dish- Crispy Oven-Roasted Chicken With Roasted Garlic, Pancetta and Rosemary. It takes longer to type the name than make this juicy dish. The recipe is on her website here. 

Katie Lee's Crispy Oven Roasted Chicken

 Finally, on Thursday I paired an old favorite recipe- Wegman's Beer & Cheddar Cheese Soup with Bobby Flay's Chicken Milanese with Arugula Salad. My husband doesn't like arugula though, so I substituted red leaf lettuce instead. I halved the soup recipe, which sometimes doesn't translate too well, but this time it worked. Bobby made this recipe on the Today Show, so I included the video here.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The Beer & Cheddar Cheese Soup recipe is here.

What was your Week in Food like? Let me know in the comments section.

Friday Five- Volume 9

The Friday Five is Back! If you are lucky enough to have a Trader Joe's near you, you know they have great prices. I'm so happy that a new one opened on 72nd & Broadway. I just hop on the M72 bus and I'm there and back quickly. This week it's 


Five Things I Always Buy at Trader's Joes:


1. Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramels- They only carry them at Christmas, so I stock up. They are so tasty, and they make the perfect hostess gift. If you invite me to a holiday party, you are definitely getting a box!


2. Cranberry Bread Mix- Another seasonal item, this is the best quick bread mix I've ever had. Easy to make, too.


3. Heart Healthy Whole Grain Cranberry Oatmeal- I eat this every morning. It has flaxseed in it and 6 grams of fiber per packet. A great way to start the day.


4. Jumbo Cinnamon Rolls w/ Icing- My family loves cinnamon rolls, and these are the best we've tasted. They beat Pillsbury by a mile. Keep them in the frig for weekend breakfasts.


5. Extra Virgin Olive Oil- A huge bottle costs just $5.99 and it has a nice flavor too. I use a lot of olive oil to cook with, so this is a necessity.


What are your must-buys from Trader Joes? Share in the comments section.