Open Topic: Recommend Long-running Books, Shows, Recipes, and More

I’m guessing a lot of people will start vacationing/staying today and tomorrow – so let’s start a fun topic. What have you read lately that you adore? Which shows go overboard? Have you made any great new recipes? Or – do you have any great summer recipes to share? (I might need an easy cake recipe if anyone has any suggestions)…

For my own $0.02…

New Recipes

• This salmon and couscous salad NYT it was delicious and unexpected – well liked by everyone. (This is a giveaway link so you should be able to read it without a subscription.)
• korean beef rice bowls hidden health
• chicken pesto rice bake Keep Fit Mom (and we’re trying his chicken gnocchi bowls tonight)
• this is new(ish) to us, but if you like egg salad (or bulky diced egg) I recommend it – “egg roll” looks gross but is much easier to use for diced eggs. I’m not sure where our recipe came from, but this is Typical Mom looks like ours.
• Banana Bread Baked Oatmeal Lillie Eats and Tells – another weird but good recipe: we had a super (super) (SUPER) old banana, so I tried this baked oatmeal recipe – I wouldn’t have thought boiled cauliflower would work but it’s good and adds tons of volume. (If you don’t have the recommended pan size, go down instead of up—the second time we did it we actually cooked in a large rectangular Snapware.)
• This Easy Enchilada Sauce Budget Bytes A definite recommendation – super easy and very tasty. We used it in this recipe. Meat & Cheese Burritos – another good recipe.

Here are our previous favorites that we repeat:

• Sriracha salmon bowls from Emily Mariko – they are SO delicious! (this PopSugar article has the link and the original video)
• quinoa huevos rancheros bowls skinny taste
• chicken with hummus (our recipe is from an old O magazine article, but this is give me some oven looks like)
• low carb fish taco bowls Kalyn’s Kitchen
• just a side dish, but if you have a bunch of cabbage, this is massage coleslaw Great from Skinnytaste

Books I love and recommend…

I tend to read a lot of love books in my spare time… Friends of Destiny digital audio file; I highly recommend them. (I tried to read some of the TikTok reviews that were interesting and, um, NO… your trust is very important to find a reviewer!!)

• All of Ali Hazelwood’s books – the last one Love, in theoryall about the love between theoretical physicist and experimental physicist
• I loved many of Kate Canterbury’s works, especially in a jar And The Worst Man
• accomplices (Alisha Rai) was fun – basically an accountant and a lawyer were kidnapped
• I’ve read most of the Bedwyn Saga (Balough – I skipped 4th a lot) and most of the Highland Brides series (Sands – I just read 1-8).
• some of my all-time favorites remain Kresley Cole’s paranormal IAD series (book 17, starting at #2 – this is also the series that inspired the series’ first season). Destiny Friends), all of Tessa Dare and Annika Martin’s billionaire series – all incredibly snappy and hilarious.

Audiobooks I can recommend

If you are driving, I will add a few audiobooks that I like… Check your local library, I find a ton of great audiobooks for free there!

loves:

• A Caribbean Heir in Paris – the story is great and I love all the accents of the narrator
• Love in the Brain (Ali Hazelwood) – the books are funny but the narrator seemed to be added
• I generally like Jennifer Crusie in the audiobook because the bedroom scenes aren’t overly spicy – Welcome to Temptation especially enjoyable

Not romance:

Our favorite TV shows…

We’re in a bit of a slump right now so we’re rewatching unknown files (on Hulu) without our oldest son. Although we kept explaining early ’90s tech to our kid, it held up well overall. Dana Scully’s outfits are great and her character is so great it’s clear to see why the Scully Effect became a thing. (Here’s a full report Geena Davis Institute for Gender and Media.)

Older shows we’ve watched recently:

• What Do We Do in the Shadows? (we haven’t seen it before!)
• ghosts (both US and UK versions; we highly recommend both)
• we absolutely loved it Star Trek: Strange New Worlds last year, but we are waiting for the end of the new season to renew our Paramount subscription.
• seniority
• cheats
• both white lotus seasons
• Subrogation

how are you guys?