Friday Favorites
Homemade taco seasoning and my tips for the best ground beef tacos, Emily Henry’s new book and my new favorite pair of jeans with a teenage stamp of approval.
Welcome to Friday Favorites! This quick glimpse of my week goes out to all subscribers (free and paid). I include a fan-favorite recipe, something I’m watching, reading, or listening to, a recent find, and a weekly win.
What I’m Cooking
Spring is like riding a bike downhill with broken brakes. Am I right? We have several spring birthdays in our family, a wedding for my nephew, AP tests for my youngest, two college kids moving in opposite directions, summer plans getting squared away, etc. It’s the beginning of May and we’ll blink and it will be June. I’m in the stage of life where I want time to slow down (likely, if you’re reading this newsletter, you’re also in that stage of life), and it feels like a countdown clock is hanging in my house. One more year with my youngest at home, then it’s official, we’re empty nesters.
On to more mundane things: dinner. To help get prepped for weeknights, I recently made a big batch of my homemade taco seasoning and stored it in a glass jar in my pantry. Taco seasoning is the most popular recipe on my blog and I use it for my favorite Ground Beef Tacos (you can also make my taco recipe with ground turkey or ground chicken). Long live the simplest dinner on the planet: Taco night. To make your humble ground beef tacos taste even better, I have a couple of tips I picked up long ago. 1) Always start with aromatics. Half a chopped onion, a couple of shallots, even a sautéed leek would be delicious if that’s all you have. Since it’s spring, I’d throw in spring onions or even a bunch of chopped green onions. It doesn’t really matter, just start there. 2) After the meat has browned a bit, use a pastry blender to break it up. 3) Add tomato paste to the meat to amply the taco seasoning flavor. 4) Chicken stock! Or a teaspoon of Better than Bouillon and a cup of hot water. 5) Let everything simmer and bubble on a low temp to get the flavors to meld. Friends, that’s how you take a ho-hum pot of taco meat and turn it into next-level delicious.
So mix up some taco seasoning for Cinco de Mayo, get your taco meat simmering and make some Roasted Tomatillo Salsa and Big Batch Jalapeno Margaritas while you’re at it. Why not throw in Instant Pot Black Beans and Kale Guacamole? You can also use the seasoning for Sheet Pan Fish Tacos (use the taco seasoning in place of seasoning salt) or on the skin of a whole chicken cooked in a crock pot.
You can find all the SITK recipes I’ve shared on Substack in my Recipe Index.
Recent Read
I just finished Emily Henry’s new book, Great Big Beautiful Life, which was a perfect weekend read. I may have blazed through the end to find out what happened and pull together the loose threads of the story. I need to go back and reread the second half of the book. I loved the characters in the book and the narration flips between the past and present. I saw the plot twist coming about mid-way through the book, but it’s a good one! If you have a busy May, save this for the second that things calm down in June.
I’m currently finishing this newsletter from the United club at IAH, waiting to board a flight for my nephew’s wedding (congrats Jerr and Mimi!). Since I couldn’t decide what I wanted to read on the flight, I downloaded three new possibilities: The Bright Years (family drama set in Texas), How to Share an Egg (a memoir about food insecurity) and All That Life can Afford (I know nothing about the plot, I just saw that it’s a Reece pick, lol).
Recent Find
I just ordered AYR jeans for the first time and can’t recommend them highly enough. I got the Secret Sauce style in the Date Night color, in my regular size and the regular length (I love that they also offer short and long lengths!). They’re stretchy and, according to my teenage daughter, look amazing on me. Ha! How could I not be sold?! I honestly want to get the cream color too, which is cutely named Creme Soda.
If you’re in the market for soft PJs, I just ordered this set from Old Navy and they’re a great deal.
FYI, I got this dress from Sue Sartor to wear to my nephew’s wedding this weekend and it’s so flattering. That’s the last of my shopping updates for the past week! If you want to check out my previous Friday Favorite mentions, click the link below.
This Week’s Win
This week’s gratitude is definitely wrapped up in family time. I’m excited to spend time with our California family. It’s been too long since we were in Southern California and my nephew’s wedding will be at the church I grew up in and where my parents and grandparents got married.
Thank you for your continued support and encouragement. Engaging with Substack writers by liking and commenting on posts and notes, even as free subscribers, is a valuable way to show your support. Your involvement makes a big difference!
Check out all my past Friday Favorite items on my ShopMy page. Using an affiliate link is an easy way to show your support, at no cost to you. It doesn’t add up to much, but helps “keep the lights on.
GIFT CARD
Looking for a birthday or “just because” gift for your best friend, mom, sister, or aunt Sally? I have the perfect idea! You can gift a subscription to my Substack! The annual subscription can start whenever you want!
Order my award-winning cookbook, Dinner is Done! It includes over 100 weeknight and family-friendly recipes, including chapters on meatless mains, fish and sauces, appetizers and snacks, cocktails, desserts and more.
