Welcome to the weekend, my pals! And comfortable comfortable comfortable birthday to my little sister, Jenny! (Aren’t you thrilled that your birthday fell on a publication day, sis?) I hope that your day is an excellent one – and I want the identical for each particular person studying this in the present day.

My day has already been stuffed with yoga, a Costco date with Sean, scrumptious sizzling pretzels right here in Granville, and time spent at residence with my oldest son. Right here’s to all the traditional, on a regular basis, very unfancy issues that make our lives pretty.

ON THE BLOGS THIS WEEK:  Candy bites of oranges are tossed with crisp lettuce and parsley after which topped with caramelized almonds to create this refreshing orange parsley salad. You’ll be hooked from the primary chew – I do know I used to be!

Elegant sufficient for a flowery event and quick sufficient to serve any night time of the week, pan seared scallops may grow to be your new favourite approach to eat seafood. Restaurant-quality scallops are simpler to make at residence than you ever thought! Every chew of those scallops has a lightweight and nearly candy taste, highlighted by the caramelized crust on the surface.

Pasta and sausage in a wealthy tomato pasta sauce is topped with an abundance of cheese to create this tacky sausage pasta. All the things bakes and melts collectively to create an irresistible dinner for any cheese or pasta lover!

I’m an enormous fan of vegetable aspect dishes (no shock there, proper?) and these days I’ve been all about roasted broccoli and candy potatoes. Collectively or separate, it’s a successful aspect dish.

And should you like roasted carrots, you won’t wish to make them another method after tasting parmesan-roasted carrots. Chew-sized and toasty good, you’ll be able to’t eat only one!

Have you ever tried your hand at making french bread pizza within the air fryer?? This methodology creates tacky pizzas with a crispy crust. It’s do-it-yourself pizza that’s quick sufficient for a fast lunch or informal dinner.

Candy chunks of edible cookie dough fill every scoop of this wealthy and creamy chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.

What I’m CRAVING: The reply remains to be darkish chocolate Oreos – thanks loads, Lynne. I ought to in all probability hand the remaining stash of cookies over to my boys to get them out of my thoughts, and my attain.

My FAVORITE THING this week is my label maker. I’ve had mine for over 15 years, in all probability nearer to twenty, and it’s nonetheless going robust. I simply gifted this identical one to a buddy and it made me grin to share the label-making enjoyable. 

What I’m READING: The guide I selected for Creation this yr is The Creation of Glory by RC Sproul. I began it early as a Bible examine with pals and I’m trying ahead to sharing it with my household too. As R.C. Sproul observes, the narrative of the start of Jesus is so acquainted to many people that “the phrases simply slip over us.” My hope is that we are going to take the time to decelerate and dwell on the phrases of the Christmas story so that we are going to arrive at Christmas Day filled with awe and marvel on the start of Jesus.

What I’m nonetheless LISTENING to: Heaven Has Come by Sovereign Grace Music. That is prone to be my favourite vacation album this yr.

All this befell to satisfy what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and so they shall name his identify Immanuel” (which suggests, God with us). Matthew 1:22-23 ESV

Wishing you a stunning week filled with little issues that make you smile!

Mary