Happy Friday! Welcome back to The Weekend Edition. A series where I share a mini medley of ideas and reviews for you to peruse. Think of it as a little dose of joy to start your weekend.

In today’s post, you’ll find:

• a song that’s helping the victims of Hurricane Helene
• plenty of tips and tricks to make vegan versions of your favorite sweet treats
• a young adult book that’s great to listen to on audio
• a fascinating docuseries on wellness and longevity

💿 Darkest Hour (Helene Edit) by Eric Church – Country artist, Eric Church, who was born and raised in the foothills of North Carolina, released a new song called, Darkest Hour. Instead of keeping the publishing rights, he is giving them away to help the victims of Hurricane Helene. In a post on X (formally Twitter), Eric Church wrote: “This song, ‘Darkest Hour,’ was the best way I could think to try to help. We’ve been helping with boots on the ground efforts, but this is something that will live beyond just the immediate recovery. This is not a quick thing to fix, so hopefully ‘Darkest Hour’ will be able to contribute to that for a long time to come. This song goes to my home, North Carolina, now and forever.”

If you would like to help my home state of North Carolina as well as the other states who were devastated by Helene, then I have a list of charitable organizations who are taking donations.

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✍️ How to Make Vegan Versions of Your Favorite Cakes, Cookies, and Other Baked Goods (Martha Stewart) – a tremendously helpful article written by Ruby Bhogal, baker, author of One Bake, Two Ways, and finalist on The Great British Bake Off. In the article, Ruby shares tons of tips on how to veganize your favorite baked goods, like substituting an egg for a flax egg, combining vegetable oil and baking powder as a leavening agent, and using plant based milks and yogurts to as an alternative to dairy products. I’m not a vegan but have been experimenting in the kitchen with making more vegan dishes & treats. Here’s a few of my favorite sweet treats I want to try and veganize:

• Thick, Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (Smitten Kitchen)
• Molten Chocolate Cake (Martha Stewart)
• Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts (NY Times Cooking)
• Spiced Vanilla Chai Cake (Sugar & Sparrow)

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🎧 The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo – Xiomara feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood, so she pours all of her frustration and passion onto the pages of her notebook. When she is invited to join her school’s slam poetry club, Xiomara is hesitant because she doesn’t want her strict mother to find out. But what if keeping silent has been what is holding Xiomara back? I don’t read too many novels written in verse, but I’m considering reading more of them because I loved The Poet X. I highly recommend listening to the audiobook because it’s narrated by the author Elizabeth Acevedo, who is a National Poetry Slam Champion, so the cadence and flow of her voice really enhances the novel’s storytelling.

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Live to 100: Secrets of The Blue Zones on Netflix – Journalist & Author Dan Buettner travels around the world to share his discovery of 5 unique communities where people live extraordinarily long and vibrant lives. I’ve been on a bit of a health/wellness kick these past six months, so I was completely fascinated by this documentary series that explores the science and lifestyle behind longevity. There’s a lot of wonderful wellness tips sprinkled throughout the series.

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Thanks for reading!

That’s all for today. I hope you’re enjoying this series as much as I enjoy writing it every week. Have a wonderful weekend!