I don’t have too much to share with you guys this morning other than my usual roundup of Friday favorites, so let’s dive right in, shall we? As always, I’d love to hear a little bit about something you’re loving this week in the comments section of this post!
Things I’m Loving Friday
This egg cooker showed up as a surprise on my doorstep from my Aunt Alison who surprised me with this handy little contraption when I posted more than a handful of photos of horribly-peeled hard boiled eggs on Instagram Stories. (And yes, I’ve tried the whole ice bath thing, but the struggle for perfect hard boiled eggs is real!) Anyway, after this egg cooker arrived, I put it to use and cannot rave about this thing enough! It makes perfect, easy-to-peel hard boiled eggs every single time! (It also apparently makes great soft boiled, medium boiled and poached eggs as well as omelettes but I haven’t tried this yet.) Our family goes through a lot of hard boiled eggs — both of our boys love them for snacks and I love using them in various salads and recipes — and this egg cooker has quickly become one of my most-used kitchen gadgets.
If you’re looking for a recipe to add to your meal plan for the coming week, this was a winner! My picture does not do it justice but this balsamic baked chicken with balsamic tomato sauce was wonderful! It was easy to make and came together in around 30 minutes. While the chicken baked, I made a batch of angel hair pasta to serve with it (along with some roasted zucchini) and was so glad I did because the sauce from this the dish was the star of the show! I ended up chopping up the chicken and scooping up the sweet little tomatoes and onions to place on top of the pasta before drizzling the sauce all over everything. This dish smelled good and tasted even better! Also, as a side note, I think this is the first time I’ve made anything from the Cafe Delites blog but it definitely won’t be my last. After perusing Karina’s blog, it’s safe to say her recipes look incredible!
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The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict
Woohoo! My good book streak continues and I have another great read to recommend to you guys today! This week I began reading The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict and had high hopes for the novel because I’ve thoroughly enjoyed a handful of the author’s novels in the past (Carnegie’s Maid and The Only Other Woman in the Room). Marie Benedict does a wonderful job creating interesting fictional stories about the lives of real people with a lot of interesting historical information sprinkled in the mix. The Other Einstein was another winner.
The Other Einstein was the best novel I’ve read by Marie Benedict yet and focuses on the life of Mileva Maric, the brilliant physicist whose determination and intelligence helped her find her way out of Serbia and into all-male university classrooms in Switzerland. Though her presence at the university was met with skepticism and even disdain, she caught the eye of fellow student Albert Einstein and despite Mileva’s initial reluctance, a relationship formed based on a passion for knowledge, mathematics and physics and “bohemian” ways. Today there’s debate in the world of physics over Mileva’s contribution to her husband’s work, specifically the formation of the theory of special relativity, begging the question, was Mileva more than a sounding board for her husband?
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Toddler Challenge
Have you guys seen the toddler challenge all over social media? It’s hysterical and seeing how different kids respond is so entertaining to me! The basic gist: Leave a bowl of candy (or something tempting) in front of a toddler. Tell them they cannot eat it until you get back. Leave the room for around a minute and film them to see what they do. (Note: This likely goes without saying but please be very aware of the food you use for little ones in this challenge and keep their safety as a top priority!) We couldn’t resist seeing how Ryder would fare in the challenge and the video of how he handled what appears to be a rather stressful struggle made me and Ryan laugh out loud. And the way Ryder yells, “MOM!” like that will forever remind me of Will Farrell in Wedding Crashers. “Mom! The meatloaf!”
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Friday Flashbacks
At Home Circuit Workout (A throwback workout from 2011!)
Simple Summer Pasta Salad (Perfect summery side dish for cookouts. Made with a homemade Italian dressing and easy to whip up in no time at all!)
Question of the Day
What is something making you smile this week?
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That egg cooker looks interesting!
I love your kitchen gadgets recommendations!
Do you have any recommendations on a waffle maker or ice cream scooper?
I just made waffles with the Bella waffle maker and it works great. Bought it about a year ago for $20 at Khols.
Hi Julie!! I hope you’ve had a great week 🙂
Regarding the toddler candy challenge, would you be at all open to putting some kind of note in your post for anyone else considering it to be mindful of safety? There are some safety concerns with this challenge, including the type of candy used (I’ve seen some videos of young toddlers with large, hard candies that can be a serious choking hazard), or even toddlers taking in fistfuls of candy (could be another choking hazard) – even though they’re only being left alone for a minute or two, sometimes a minute is long enough for something bad to happen, especially with regard to choking :(.
I don’t mean this in ANY way to be shaming the challenge – so I very much apologize if it comes off that way – but I know personally, I thought it was an entertaining thing to watch until the safety considerations were brought to my attention. I’m all for people doing it if they choose, but just wanted to spread the word to keep as many kiddos safe :).
Have a wonderful weekend with your family! <3
yes! i’ll add this right now. thank you, kaitlyn!
Ok that video is SO CUTE. what an adorable kiddo!
What a cutie! I’ll have to try it with my little guy too. I love Karina’s site and make this a lot! https://cafedelites.com/oven-baked-barbecue-chicken-pizza-tacos/
Making me smile is my 5 yo finished with preschool! Where has the time gone? He’s my oldest so I’m a little teary over here! 😭 Have a great weekend!
i don’t think i’ve ever had BBQ chicken pizza tacos and this must change — sounds so good!
also, huge congrats to your little guy!! and hugs to you — i’m sure there’s a rollercoaster of emotions going on in your heart right now. <3
Your blog is making me smile today!
<3 thank YOU!!!
Ryder was so cute in his challenge! I always love your Friday favorites posts. I bought a Dash mini waffle maker a few months ago and love it. I think I’ll get this egg cooker. I try not to buy a bunch of kitchen gadgets, but it looks and sounds so handy!
Funny Story: I didn’t know that you could make hard boiled eggs without an egg cooker until I was in college! My mom and grandma always used one so I had no idea you could just boil them. I had an egg cooker for a long time but now we use our instant pot but we LOVED our egg cooker – perfect eggs every time. Enjoy!
Hey Julie – You do know that this is all based on a longitudinal Stanford experiment started in the 1970s called: The Stanford Marshmallow Experiment? The original study is behavioral psychology and was testing delayed gratification and what it means about those kids later in life (those with stronger personal willpower were found to have higher SAT scores, be more physically well, etc).
This challenge you showed isn’t exactly the same thing – but definitely a similar vibe. I wonder why it’s become such a thing right now …? (I had no idea about the challenge, myself).
so interesting! i feel like i vaguely remember learning something about this in my intro to psychology class back in college! thanks for sharing!
Your circuit workout is making me smile! Apparently, I’ve been following your blog for quite some time because I wrote out your workout on a piece of paper that I used to take to the gym with me. This was before I had a smart phone or used Pinterest for everything. I found the paper during my quarantine cleaning and did that workout yesterday! So funny!
The weather is going to drop to the 60s this weekend. After high 80s all week, it will feel very chilly!
aw, i love this so much!!! thanks for following for so long!! <3
The video of Ryder made my day! So cute!
Julie, do you have any tips for mastering the jump rope? LOL I know it’s random, but I attended BBC for a while when it first came to my area and I tried and TRIED to become a decent jump roper since it’s in so many workouts but I just stink at it!! So I just jump and use my arms like I would if I was actually able to jump the darn thing. Any tips would be super! 🙂
Yes! I looove Karina’s blog, highly recommend her butter chicken curry…lovely mild curry perfect for kids (and adults!!)
https://cafedelites.com/butter-chicken
That video of your boys is making me smile today!! So so adorable!
YUM!! Thank you for sharing — that sounds delicious!
So funny, I bought the exact same egg cooker (same color and everything) for my husband for Father’s Day and it just arrived today! I can’t wait to give it to him. He’s a huge fan of hard boiled eggs and eggs in general so I’m so glad to hear you are liking using it! Have a great weekend Julie!
He will LOVE it! I’ve honestly been shocked by just how much we use it! Perfect eggs every single time!
Funny about that challenge I just did one of yours I found on Pinterest loved it!
Hi Julie, my family lives in the LKN area and we are interested in getting quotes for a screened-in porch. I searched for like 20 minutes and couldn’t find the post that I swear I had read before about your porch addition. I remember that it looked great, and that your contractor’s name was Mike. (I remembered this because of Mike the contractor from Desperate Housewives, LOL!!) Can you share his info?
Absolutely!! He’s fabulous and very reasonably priced. His name is Mike Howie and here’s his #: 704-223-7862
toddler challenge: OMG, he is ADORABLE, def needed to see this for a smile.
Thanks for including the workout!! I did that one and now going back and trying out other ones you have posted!! 🙂