The Weekly Best Nov 29, 2024

I hope that my American friends had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We will be celebrating with some friends and some other expats here on the island and I’m really looking forward to it. I was asked to bring pies, which seemed easy enough, but it’s been quite the little struggle!

Firstly, pecans are hard to come by in Europe. You can buy them, but only at specialty shops, and none near me. We found an American Pie Shop in the city, which had amazing looking pies on their web site and loads of great reviews- unfortunately, they closed in April- which was not noted on the web site. Pie pans were not readily available in our main grocery stores on the island either. Loads of tart pans, but I had to go to several specialty stores before I could find a pie pan with the slanted sides.

Anyway- pie pans in hand, I knew I could figure out something delicious to add to the feast. Alas, that very day the heating element in my oven stopped working! We won’t show up empty handed, but I’m running out of options here!

Let’s get to The Weekly Best from this week:

This DIY Advent Wreath

This is so simple, but I like it. I used our same vintage dough bowl, found a flat, thin piece of slate and placed it in the bottom of the bowl (you could even use an old CD or CD case for a base). I hot glued the candlesticks into twist off tops from olive oil and wine bottles, and then glued them to the base. Then I went to our nearest trail and began cutting juniper sprigs, looking for the ones that still had berries on them.

You could use any evergreen you want. I scattered a few pinecones on the wreath and this is how it turned out. I think it really fits with the rest of the simple rustic decor in the villa. If you’re interested, you can download this lovely advent reading for the season and here is an explanation of the meaning if you have no idea what I’m talking about.

This Shampoo for Gray, Silver or Blonde Hair

My hair was turning into a brittle rats nest, that was reminiscent of the Looney Tunes witches of my childhood. I was introduced to Phillip B by a salon here in town. Not wishing to be confused now or at any time in the future with Witch Hazel, I quickly made my purchase and hoped for the best.

I bought my 2nd bottle this week and I will tell you that this brand has transformed my hair. The shampoo particularly is the best I’ve ever used, which is a massive statement, I know. But it’s true. Not only will it cut straight through any brassiness, but it leaves your hair feeling baby soft. My hair was becoming brittle and these products completely changed it back. I’ve not tried their other shampoos but I have tried several conditioners, hair masks and the hair spray and every one is incredible and smells divine.

If you’re needing a change, I recommend checking out the brand here– they have a lot of other products for different hair types and issues.

The Lemons from my Lemon Tree

One morning this week, I walked out onto the terrace in pajamas and slippers and realized a few of the lemons were completely ripened and ready to pick. Honestly, I don’t know where I’ve been. I mean, I thought I was living a good life, but I guess I’ve never had a fresh lemon before?

Y’all, the smell of these lemons is out of this world and they taste heavenly- much sweeter than the lemons I’m used to. I use lemons all the time, in cooking, in my drinking water, my herbal teas, the simmer pot…..and the occasional perfect gin martini. I’m telling you they’re all elevated now with these fresh lemons. Who knew?

This Creamy Keto Taco Soup with Ground Beef

We’ve successfully done the keto diet in the past, but there is NO WAY I could do it here in Europe, with all the fresh bread and pasta. And thats the thing about Keto- it’s kind of all or nothing (which is why I’m not a fan for myself, but thats another post). But this soup is delicious and you can just take out the “Keto” from the title if you want.

📸 cred: I eat keto

It’s simple, satisfying and you probably have everything you need already in your pantry, So, if you’re sick of turkey already or are just looking for a quick and very filling and satisfying meal, you may want to give this soup a try, recipe here. And there will be no judging if you serve it with a side of fresh, crusty sour dough as I did. I’m trying to live a civilized life here people.

This View

You guys, this left me speechless. I mean, how is this even a real place? It had rained pretty hard for a day and night. When it cleared I went for a walk to see what the water had done in the area. I did not expect to see this roaring waterfall in our storybook setting. A world away……. I could really lose myself in this place. Or maybe I’d be finding myself?

Thank you for reading The Weekly Best again this week! I hope that you found something useful or entertaining from this week.

Will you be doing any Black Friday deal shopping? I refuse to part from my list this year, but I’ll be looking with list in hand to see if any of the gifts I’m shopping for happen to be on sale. I hope you have a great week!

You can pin any of these photos to Pinterest , by clicking on the Pinterest button and you can also find me there. I’d love to have you follow me in the LTK app. I’ve been starting to share a lot of Christmas decoration ideas so do pop on over. You can also ask me any questions you have about products, right in the app! It makes shopping a snap. I’m also on Facebook. Anywhere you share my content helps me out so much, so thank-you!