friday link love

Happy Friday, friends! We’re having a smallish gathering of friends tomorrow, and as such, I’ve become the crazed host hell-bent committed to throwing a lovely, effortless party. Of course, effortless is never a word that should be used honestly when it comes to entertaining. It might be low stress, but if you like to cook and like to entertain, there is, of course effort involved. I’ve always pondered that word, “effortless”, when it came to throwing parties. Why do we want to aspire to effortless? I’ve always liked effort, the word and the intention, and I hope, at the very least, that even if the food is ho-hum, my effort shows.

My list was made; schedule of what to cook and when – drawn up. Easy-peasy, I thought, and of course, probably the moment I thought it, curveballs of all sizes came at me from every direction work-wise and the schedule was abandoned early on. Do you know what not crossing something off a list that’s assigned to a particular day does to someone like me? Complete and utter derailment, folks. Last night, Andrew witnessed what might be the “behind-closed-doors-meltdown” that was resolved all thanks to an awesome, new neighbor heroically saving the day with a 4-pound bag of sugar. Thanks, Amy! I’ll put together the party menu sometime next week, but not before I post a recipe I adapted from the book I wrote with Marc Forgione – due out in a few days! I’m always uncomfortable tooting my own horn, but if you are at all looking to step up your game in the kitchen, I think this book will help you get there. I’m enormously proud and grateful to have been involved in its making and as I leaf through the pages and recall all the hard work everyone put in, I’m even more excited about releasing this nearly 400-page beast baby into the wild. As many people have told me, having a baby was easier than writing a book, and this particular one was a long and uphill road, albeit an extremely satisfying one.

I wish you all a wonderful weekend! Cheers and until next week. xo, olga

PS the picture above is of preserved lemons, which I made earlier this week. I streamlined the recipe a bit and updated it with a few tips in case you’re itching to make your own. I can’t recommend homemade preserved lemons enough – totally worth the 10 minutes you spend making them and 1 month waiting.

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Before you can write a good plot, you need to write a good place.

An amazing, must-read Rolling Stone interview with George R. R. Martin. Must-read for anyone who’s a GoT fan.

The American middle class is no longer the world’s richest.

What diseases have vaccines eradicated?

Segregated education seems to be making a comeback.

Nespresso, drinkers, no longer does Nespresso have a monopoly on your pods. Hopefully, that’ll help with the pricing?

According to Vox, vinyl is great, but the sound quality does not exceed that of CDs. A collective sigh from every hipster in America was heard ’round the world. I must admit – as a hopefully-soon-to-be record player owner, I was pretty bummed out to hear this. Still, there is something romantic about playing records and that warm sound that you just don’t get with CDs or other digital formats.

My two miracle remedies are sleep and hydration. Go ahead, ask how many ailments I’ve diagnosed based on what I consider to be sleep deprivation and hydration! Those two things are my Windex of remedies. In a recent Atlantic article, a Harvard sleep expert advises more rest – not more practice – for top level athletes looking to win.

A new study of adolescents found that those who derive joy from selfless deeds were less likely to be depressed over time.