Hello friends!
Welcome to another fine Sunday!
I’ve been thinking this week about a few things – mostly cults and pies. I started the week by listening to a podcast about a recent cult (that podcast linked below), and it really got me thinking about if I have the sort of brain that could every fall into a cult… or the sort of brain that was already unknowingly in a cult. I’m not in a cult. I did a quick mental check – free and clear.
I’ve also been heavily daydreaming about rhubarb pie in several iterations and plan on making one (if not five) as soon as I return from this quick trip to Boston.
Oh hey, I’m in Boston. I’m teaching a strawberry pie (sadly no rhubarb) class today and speaking on a panel about storytelling on Instagram on Monday. What is life? Pie and instagram apparently.
I hope this week finds you steady and well. I hope you take part of today to rest and another part of today to pep talk yourself into next week. We’ve got this.
The offering this week is below. As always, take only what you need (and we all need Lizzo):
• This week I listened to this podcast about the NXIVM cult: CBC Podcast Uncover Season 1. Without judgement, it’s wild how cults can happen upon you. And here’s an update from The Cut.
• Exhibit B as evidence for the fact that it’s a wild world with humans making the rules: My Childhood in a Cult (The New Yorker)
• Stay sharp, friends. Again, WILD. The Stolen Kids of Sarah Lawrence (The Cut)
• This week’s long read from Texas Monthly is not optional. I think we should all take in this needlessly tragic story, please: Faith, Friendship and Tragedy at Santa Fe High.
• Here’s a really lovely piece about how the things we collect tell the story of our lives. A case for stuff and story. The magic of estate sales. (Curbed)
• Everywhere a runway: Does This Dress Make Me Look Guilty? (New York Times)
• Here’s the vibe: LIZZO Truth Hurts (Spotify)
• Remember plastic bags? (Well… we still have them going strong in Louisiana, I’m sorry). Remember coffee cups? Will coffee cups be taxed out of our hands? I wouldn’t mind. (Bloomberg)
• Hey maybe you need this, maybe you don’t: How Do I Keep Things Sexy In A Long Distance Relationship? (The Cut)
• I love lists like this, especially on a Sunday: 7 Things To Declutter Before Spring Turns To Summer (The Kitchn)
• I’m very excited to cook from Stacy Adimando’s book Piatti this coming week. The book is filled with generous platters of Italian food for sharing. Everything we could want, right? (Amazon)
• I’m hosting a giveaway on Instagram this weekend with Delicacies Jewelry – you should totally pop over and enter. If you don’t win, you can use the code: joythebaker for 20% off your order through Mother’s Day! (Delicacies Jewelry)
• Do you have Mother’s Day brunch plans? This Creme Fraiche Quiche from literally ten years ago is a solid choice. (Joy the Baker)
Enjoy this day!
xo Joy
16 Responses
iIf you haven’t already, check out the fiction novel you too can have a body like mine by alexandra kleeman. lovely, crazy cult read with dark humor energy. easily one of my favorite books!
That TX article…so beautifully written and deeply tragic. Wow.
As for cults, my boyfriend frequently tells me that he could see me joining a cult, and I hate to admit that I see his point.
That TX Monthly article made me bawl – thanks for including it on your list!
Look forward to your Sunday post…
I never in my wildest dreams would think I could fall into a cult. But, one day, I met and fell into this “one man” cult, so to speak. A total Con/Confidence man. I left my partner, of over 20 years, and our son for this person. I ended up becoming homeless after quitting my job and giving him over $6000. After finally saying “enough!”, I got away form him. I think that his methods and those of some cults are similar. After a rocky period, I am back with my partner and our son, and I have a job working with children who have behavior issues. One of my favorite things to do for my “self-care” is to visit your Let it be Sunday! So…thank you.
Just a thank you for your weekly list of reads. It’s always a pleasure to review and I always find a gem.
I look forward to this round up every week. THANK YOU. the New Yorker cult article was stirring! Thanks for sharing.
Did you take the pix of the gardenia? My first corsage was a gardenia & I’ve loved them ever since. I tried to grow them indoors once but couldn’t make it thrive.
I’m sorry to be negative but, I can’t believe that you still promote bacon–I still love your blog!
I hope you have the chance to put rhubarb and strawberries together in a crispy lattice pie, no cinnamon or you will lose the strawberry taste, a little brown sugar / single crop honey etc is OK in moderation, but the strawberries should be enough :-D
I’m English, and read every recipe indicated, some I make, some I adapt, most I remember and riff into something as and when the occasion occurs.
By the way, I’m in the cult of home cooking … You are welcome to join it…
My hope is that the TM article has some impact on someone, Somewhere. Enough.
Thank you for The Magic of Estate Sales. As the only child of 2 only children, the reconciling of my parents’ and grandparents’ lives well lived with the final reckoning of the “stuff” was overwhelming. After my father died, I hired a gal (wish she was as good as Cynthia) to handle the sale, but I could not bring myself to be there during the sale itself.
The author’s line, “ They aren’t just things, they’re ‘your’ things”, truly hits home for me. I lost my home in Harvey (tornado in the eyewall took off the top of the house -120 yr old ship lap home), and my hubs and I spent 6 weeks pulling everything out of the remnants of the house and garage and pulling it to the curb for the FEMA contractor to haul away. Our emotions swung between “it’s just stuff” to “it’s our stuff”. 35 years of our married stuff (and our daughters and grandkids stuff) and 100+ year old family stuff. Some was salvageable, but most was not.
I don’t grieve the loss of stuff, neither from the estate sale nor Harvey. I just grieve the fading memories as time passes and the world goes on.
The TX Monthly article hit me hard and produced both tears and anger. We recently returned from a fabulous trip to Egypt, but the comments we received before we left ranged from , “are you sure it’s safe” to “isn’t that a Muslim country?” to “I’ll pray for your safe return”. I wish I could get everyone who made these ignorant and offensive comments to read this article and then ask them, “if you lived in a foreign country, would you want to travel to the US where mass murders have become commonplace in our schools, places of worship, nightclubs, etc, etc, and our government does nothing?” What is happening to us?
Thanks, as always, for curating such a wonderful list. The TX Monthly article has me in tears and thinking deeply about how to emulate those girls. Peace to you and yours this week.
Beautiful article about the tragedy at Santa Fe High School. Thank you for sharing.
What a joy it is to read you every Sunday as I enjoy my cup of coffee. Thank you for taking the time to write and post a golden list of important links. I am looking forward to the reads and listening to the CBC podcast. I wish you a beautiful Sunday!
Have fun with your strawberry pie class!
xx from Bavaria/Germany, Rena
http://www.dressedwithsoul.com