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.

Friday 5ive- August 13, 2021

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

1)  THE HEAT! It's been over 90 degrees for the last three days. I'm lucky we have air conditioning. I stayed in the apartment Wednesday and Friday, on Thursday I walked five blocks to work at the Book Cellar. It was so steamy hot I'm pretty sure I lost five pounds of water weight walking the five short blocks. It should be cooler over the weekend thank goodness.

2)  People have been kindly bringing us vegetables from their gardens since we live in the city. We received gifts of zucchini, eggplant, cucumbers, tomatoes, peaches, and sweet corn. I made an Eggplant Pamesan for dinner on Sunday, adapting an Ina Garten recipe. It was delicious (she adds goat cheese) and it will definitely go into the regular dinner rotation. 

Eggplant Parmesan

3)  I watched a little of the Field of Dreams baseball game between the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox. My husband is a Yankees fan, our younger son a White Sox fan, so that makes it interesting. If you liked the Kevin Costner movie, you would have enjoyed it even more. (Costner was in the announcers' booth during the game.) Watching the players walk out from the cornfield at the beginning of the game was pretty cool, and the ending, with a walk-off homer from the White Sox to win the game, made it cinematic. The highlights are here. 

Photo from New York Times

4) One of my favorite sitcoms returns for it's final season. Brooklyn Nine-Nine ends its eight season run with two episodes every Thursday for five weeks. It has been one of the consistently funny sitcoms in recent history, and I will miss it. The cast- Andy Samberg, Stephanie Beatriz, Terry Crews, Amy Fumero, Joe Lo Truglio, Joel Miller, Dirk Blocker and Andre Braugher (how did this man not win an Emmy yet for his performance?)- is fantastic, and the writing brilliantly funny. At least I have reruns on Peacock. 

5) I read three books this week. I love a good Irish family story, and Tracey Lange's debut novel, We Are the Brennans, is wonderful. After daughter Sunday is seriously injured in car accident in Los Angeles, her brother Denny travels there to bring her home to Westchester County in New York. She left suddenly five years ago, leaving everyone bewildered, including her boyfriend Kale. Kale and Denny own Brennan's Pub and are preparing to open a second bar. There are so many secrets that come to the surface in this book, I read it on one day. I highly recommend it.

Sara Nisha Adams' novel, The Reading List, is set in a London suburb. Mukesh is a widower mouring the loss of his beloved wife a year ago. He is lonely, and looking for a way to connect with his granddaughter Priya. Priya loves to read, so Mukesh visits the local library his wife frequented to find a book for her. He meets Aleisha, a young librarian who lives with her severely depressed mother and older brother, who has taken on the role of breadwinner. Mukesh and Aleisha bond over books and become good friends. If you love reading and libraries, this one is for you. I really liked it, and fair warning, there are some very sad parts.

Saturday Night Live's Cecily Strong's memoir This Will All Be Over Soon shares her a year in her life. In January 2021, her 30 year-old cousin Owen died of brain cancer. He was someone who was always smiling, and his death devastated Cecily. A few months later, as the pandemic ravages the world, her new boyfriend contracts COVID and becomes quite ill. Cecily heads to the Hudson Valley to wait out the lockdown and her book takes an honest look at what living through all that was like. It's an homage to her cousin and  filled with heartbreak, fear, sadness, hope and love. Strong captures the feeling of that year in her words. 

It looks like COVID is not yet done with us. Please wear a mask indoors in public, wash your hands, stay socially distant, and get the vaccine if you are able. It will be the only way to get back to normal.

Friday 5ive- July 8, 2021

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

1)  We celebrated the 4th of July with a small gathering at our apartment with family. From our balcony we can see the Macy's 4th of July fireworks show over the East River, and they did a wonderful job this year. It really seems like things are returning to normal.

2) I made a new recipe this week- Spaghetti al Limone with Shrimp. It's a great dish to make on a hot summer day when you don't want to turn the oven on. It's from the New York Times, and the lemon really brightens up the dish. I also liked the addition of fresh tarragon. This one is definitely a keeper.

3) When  I opened my pint of Van Leeuwen vanilla ice cream, I found this quip on the lid- "Less reading. More eating." What kind of blasphemy is this? I was not amused.

4) I started watching HBO Max's new limited series, Mare of Easttown. Kate Winslet stars as Mare, the only female detective on the police force of the small town of Easttown, Pennsylvania. When a teenager girl is found dead, she is teamed up with a male detective from another department. Mare has been unable to solve the disappearance of another teenage girl months ago, and that girl's mother is understandably frustrated with Mare. Everyone is town is related to everyone else, and Mare's complicated home life adds to her stress. There are some excellent performances from Winslet, Evan Peters (as her new partner), Julianne Nicholson as her best friend, and Jean Smart as her mother. The show is getting darker now, and there seems to be more than one suspect. This show sucks you in.

5) I read two very different books this week. First up is Fed Up!, Colin Lancaster's memoir about the pandemic year as seen through his lens as a hedge fund macro trader. If you are a dedicated CBNC fan, you'll get so much out this. I really learned a lot, and found Lancaster's observations and analysis of the our economy fascinating. My full review is here.

Elyssa Friedland's novel, Last Summer at the Golden Hotel, is a must-read for everyone missing The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. The Goldman and Weingold families have owned and operated the Golden Hotel in the Catskills for over 60 years. It was the crown jewel of the Catskill resorts in its heyday, but tastes have changed, and now they are one of the only old-time resorts left standing. The place is run-down, reservations have declined, and when a hedge fund (they keep creeping up here) offers to buy the land to build a casino, the families have to get together to decide what to do. There's three generations of Goldmans and Weingolds, all with their own problems, desires, and secrets to contend with. It's a perfect summer read for the porch, pool or beach. I so enjoyed it.

I hope you all had a happy 4th of July and that summer is off to a good start.