let it be sunday

Hello my friends!

I’m not sure I could tell you about my week.  It was mostly blurry though I’ve heard talk of eclipses and Mercury retrograde and what I do know is that it has felt like my feet aren’t quite on the ground but I’m moving on through.

There’s a light dusting of flour still on my counter from making these doughnuts as a treat for my Yoga Teacher Training friends.  The recipe is a cinnamon-sugar dusted version of a recipe found in my brunch book Over Easy if you’re looking for a good time.  I’ve promised myself that I’ll clean the mess up in the morning.  

In the mail this week I received an advanced copy of Julia Turshon’s forthcoming book, Now and Again.  She’s a deeply thoughtful cook and writer and she’ll be coming to The Bakehouse this Fall for an event.  It’s all good news. 

The offering this week is on the lighthearted side though the very serious things in the world are unrelenting.  This is just where I landed.  I hope it resonates.  More than anything, I hope you enjoy your Sunday.  

Here we are: 

•  This is super illuminating:  My Life As A Psychopath. (The Cut)

•  This is spot on and I hadn’t put enough consideration towards this issue until now:  The Ethical Dilemma of Highbrow True Crime. (Vulture)

•  Words from BEYONCE in Vogue.  She’s gorgeous inside. I mean… really.

•  You Are Not Original Or Creative On Instagram… aaaahem, but have you seen @drakeoncake. (Quartz)

•  Listen, we’ve got the mess that is Bachelor In Paradise on our televisions and this news that Barbara Streisand cloned her dogs. It’s just a very strange world we live in.  Inside the Very Big, Very Controversial Business of Dog Cloning.  (Vanity Fair)

•  We know by now that Helen Rosner is right about things:  It’s Time To Admit That Iceberg Is A Superior Lettuce (The New Yorker)

•  This book is completely expanding the way I think about hosting workshops, retreats and even dinner parties.  The Art of Gathering. (Amazon)

•  Erin McDowell made Sheet Pan Shortcake and now is as good as it gets! Wouldn’t you say? (Food52)

•  I made New Orleans Red Beans and Rice for a workshop at The Bakehouse this week and I’d just like to say, don’t sleep on that recipe – it’s really delicious. (Joy the Baker)

•  If you’ll indulge me, do you have a favorite Glossier product?  Is it this Boy Brow?  (Glossier)

•  Kristin made the coolest cocktail skewers out of modeling clay and I am very into it! (Dine x Design)

•  Things I read now:  What is the meaning of OM (Gaia).  

•  Welp, I could get lost in Bear Cam for a good long while. 

I hope it’s a wonderful day!

My love to you.

xo Joy

Hello dear friends,

I’ve been visiting my sister in Seattle this week, and if you’ll forgive me a sentence or two of weather talk – WOW I’ve been almost chilly for the first time in months.  It rained. It was chilly and it rained – god bless! (Thank you for indulging me.)

We visited the restaurant Junebaby which was named (not so casually) the best restaurant in America by the Beard Foundation, and it doesn’t take reservation (which is very egalitarian of them I love it), and you most certainly have to stand in line for an early seat and it is most certainly worth every moment of waiting. The food is so thoughtful and deeply delicious.  

I’ve also visited Ashley Rodriguez who I have the pleasure of seeing all the time on the Internet, but don’t get to spend nearly enough time with face to face.  I visited her sweet studio and shop where she made me lunch with recipes from her forthcoming book and it was incredible – both the food and the lingering around the table talking about all the art we want to make. 

I hope the week for you is feeling very summery. These are the days. 

A reading offering is what follows. As always, take whatcha need and leave whatcha don’t: 

•  Please read this: The Very American Killing of Nia Wilson. “There is a blinkered symmetry to the way Americans have been taught to understand violence that is gendered and violence that is racialized: the victims of the former are white women; the victims of the latter are black men. The same violence, when visited upon black women, falls outside the recognizable parameters of victimhood, and thus fails to register.”  (The New Yorker)

•  Are we running out of emotions?  That’s a real question, and here’s another: Is compassion fatigue inevitable in an age of 24 hour news?  And an op-ed piece from Roxanne Gay earlier this year: I’m outraged but failing at activism. Why? (The Guardian and NYT)

•  Ok so the government is spying on my resting b*tch face at the airport.  It’s called: Quiet Skies.  This is nutty. (The Boston Globe with CLOSE in the top left corner to get past the pop up box)

•  My mom was a mail carrier who worked hard to know and help her customers far beyond just delivering their mail.  This article made me cry because I saw my mom give of herself just as generously.  A Postman’s Final Salute: A Celebration of America and New York City.

•  King James: LeBron James’ new school for at-risk kids features food pantries and free bikes. (Quartz)

•  Lawson Craddock’s amazing last place finish at the Tour de France. (NPR)

•  I feel attacked:  The art of buying books and never reading them. 

•  Update:  you can now see how much time you’re spending / wasting on Instagram.  Otherwise known as, a reckoning. (Mental Floss)

•  I echo these sentiments: Points-Obsessed Travelers Are Terrified of Losing Perks. (Bloomberg)

•  This week I listened to this conversation between Oprah and Ram Dass: Super Soul Conversations – Ram Dass: The Life of a Spiritual Teacher. (YouTube)

•  A new friend shared this playlist with me and as skeptical as I was, I’m not truly obsessed.  It’s a playlist Questlove made for Anthony Bourdain, in defense of yachrock . Dear Anthony. (Spotify)

•  This dress represents how I want to feel all the damn time. (Free People)

Have a lovely Sunday!  Thank you for being here.

My love to you,

xoJoy

Hello friends, 

It’s been one of those weeks I’ve been eyeing on the calendar for a few good months thinking… yeeeeks I better not stack anything else into that week or I’m sure to blow a gasket.  Low and behold, the week was packed to the gills, it came, I worked my ass off, it went, and here I am to tell you about it from the other side.  

The past few days I’ve worked with my dearheart Cara Nicoletti, real life friend, incredible sausage maker, and now, I’m happy to say – my favorite friend to cook with in the kitchen.  We really got into a (truly nonstop) groove this week and we owned our stuff  in a way that Beyonce could write a song about. 

I hope your week has been steady and productive.  I hope your weekend includes a pool and a  bottle of sunscreen.  It still is summer, despite the back to school supplies and Fall decor in the stores these days.  NOT YET, please.  We’re here now, aren’t we? 

Here’s the offering this week.  Take what you need: 

•  Nia Wilson. (NYT)

•  What a mess we’ve made. The Lost Ones: What will happen to the 463 migrant children whose parents have been deported? (The Atlantic)

•  How do we reconcile this?  An Unequal Justice. (The Washington Post)

•  This is the long read / true nightmare I’m reading through:  When a Stranger Decides to Destroy Your Life. (Gizmodo)

•  Just think – Mr Roger was someone’s actual neighbor.  Here’s a very good story about that: Mr Roger was my actual neighbor. He was everything he was on TV and more. (Vox) 

•  Excuse me. Pardon me.  Just on my way to tea with the Queen.  Eighty-year-old Julia Albu drove through Africa, breezing her way through notorious borders and military blockades by saying she was going to London to have tea with the Queen. (BBC)

•  I really do love this:  A person can instantly blossom into a savant and no one knows why.  (Scientific American) 

•  1988 in pictures. (The Atlantic)

•  How to Go Back to a Flip Phone. Interested? (NYTimes)

•  I made this watermelon delight from The Kitchn this week:  2-Ingredient Watermelon Sherbet.  I churned it in my ice cream maker but I hear-tell that the no-churn version is lovely. (The Kitchn, Amazon)

•  Here’s the treat I’m making myself this weekend.  Peach Cobbler Scones, yes indeed. (Joy the Baker)

•  A few tickets left for The BakeAway – a New Orleans baking and photography workshop hosted by meeeee this Labor Day Weekend!  Come through! (The BakeAway)

•  Just a simple metallic cat backpack – nothing to see here (except really there is). (Gap)

•  Speaking of cats WHOA GUYS our cats are making us fearless with parasites:  Parasites in cat poop could be reducing our fear of failure. (NBC) 

Ending this one on a high note, aren’t we?  

My love to you. Happy Sunday!

xo Joy

Hi sweet friends.

My morning ritual of The Daily Podcast with my phone perched precariously in the one dry spot in my shower has become unsettling in a way that is hard to just have a fine day after.  You know?  Now in the morning I listen to early episodes of My Favorite Murder because somehow it’s much more soothing than the Supreme Court shuffling.  

We’re ok. 

I’m headed to Ojai for a few short days this week where I’ll spend some mellow time with a few lady friends and hopefully a hotel pool.  It is summer after all and why not at least try to get a little bit of a sunburn with my nearest and dearest?

Thank you for being here this Sunday.  Here’s my offering.  Take what you need: 

Hello dear friends!

I’m grateful that you’re here – I know there are all sorts of other ways you might choose to spend your Sunday morning.  Have you felt like a success this week?  Oh… we’re measuring our success in sweat these days, so…. let’s just say we’re all really quite successful this week.  

It’s been one of those weeks where it appears that most everyone went on vacation without us… unless you’re one of the folks on vacation to which I say… hey, you went on vacation without me.  Good for you, honestly. Well done. 

This month I’m a) drinking a lot of lemonade.  b) thinking deeply about whether or not I even like the new Drake album (shrug). and c) studying anatomy in yoga teacher training. A few other actually important things are going on but listen…. if I have to find my pelvic floor I don’t want to do it alone and I think you should at least know, if not join me.  Big stuff over here… I know it. 

Here is the reading offering this week.  May you enjoy it with coffee or summer water in hand. 

•  Thoughtful: Where Is Barack Obama?  (NY Magazine)

•  Still trying to wrap my mind around the red tape and long term trauma of this national nightmare: Parents Are Struggling To Reclaim Their Children From The Office of Refugee Resettlement. (The New Yorker)

•  A very important interview with our low-key Queen:  Marisa Tomei Knows What She’s Worth. (The Cut)

•  Based on my consumption of true crime media my amygdala (it’s a part of the brain) is on HIGH ALERT but this rock climber dude is on the opposite end of the spectrum which is why he climbs up mountains with no ropes while I set my alarm at night and run through my window escape route before falling asleep:  The Strange Brain of the World’s Greatest Solo Climber. (Nautilus) Everything is fine, ssdgm. 

•  I mean… what are you doing with your life? Not this?  Me neither. The Nutella Billionaires. 

•  Here’s a rabbit hole to go down, join me / I’m sorry:  The Journey Into The Dark Heart of Celebrity Relationship Conspiracy Theories.  (Buzzfeed) 

•  I love these concrete Lazy Susans and tiny baby planters from The Makerage.  (Etsy)

•  The latest issue of Cherry Bombe magazine features Nigella Lawson and I’m very excited to get my hands on it.  (Cherry Bombe) 

•  Chillin in the summertime:  16 Salads For People Who Hate Lettuce. (Buzzfeed)

•  Get your summer corn right:  Charred Corn with Pistachio Cilantro Lime Rub. Ya heard? (Joy the Baker)

•  Lemonade, which we need by the gallon: Peach and Cardamom Lemonade (Joy the Baker)

•  I’m reading all about the chakra system thanks to yoga teacher training:  Wheels of Life. Yup… here I go.  (Amazon)

•  We’re planning some great things for fall at The Bakehouse!  Be sure to follow us on Instagram to keep up with all the good news! 

My love to you.  Enjoy this day!

xo Joy

Pictured above: a slice from Emporium Pies in Dallas, amen.

Hello dear friends!

I did one of those things where I hit publish on this blog post… well, in my sleep.  No joke. Apparently that’s a thing that happens. 

I’ve been in Dallas this weekend working really very hard on a video shoot. I’ll tell ya – a 4am call time is all fine and good until it’s 9:30 pm and you’re publishing hot blog content apparently in your sleep.  I feel like we’ve been together long enough to laugh it off though, right? 

I’ll be in Dallas for another few days touring around, eating all of the Emporium Pie and barbecue and good sushi.

Judging by the hotel pool party yesterday (my goodness!), folks are celebrating 4th of July this weekend and I hope that means you’re getting together with friends and eating potato salad in multiple varieties.  

Here’s the offering this week:  

•  Annapolis:  When a Local Tragedy Becomes National News.  (The Atlantic)

•  Are you here?  Why A Pro-Life World Has A Lot of Dead Women In It. (Harpers Bazaar)

•  Gossiping… you know, it’s bonding – like when we used to groom one another way way back in the day.  Gossiping is Good. (The Atlantic)

•  A casual four cups?  The Right Amount Of Coffee You Should Drink A Day. (Inc)

•  Good idea:  There Should Be No Internet for One Weekend Per Month. (The Cut)

•  This feels vulnerable and compelling: The Gospel According To Andre.  (YouTube)

•  No matter how you feel about Drake’s new album Scorpion, trust that the cakes will hit the oven shortly: 5 takeaways from Drake’s New Double Album. (Pitchfork) 

•  Dave Matthews does a Tiny Desk Concert and hey, he has really nice skin which, of course, isn’t the point but I feel like it’s important to note.   (NPR)

•  Have you already torn through the latest season of Queer Eye?  It’s charming as ever because these Fab 5 just have the best chemistry. Nothing Is Off The Table at Dinner With the Cast of Queer Eye.  (Vulture)

•  We’ve entered hot dog season which makes these a pretty unstoppable idea:  Chili Cheese Dogs.  (Joy the Baker)

•  Not a thing wrong with it:  Single Serving Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie. (Food52)

Enjoy your day today!

Best, 

Joy

 

Are you ok?

I’ve ordered lunch from the same sandwich dude twice this week and both times ended with me fumbling with my wallet and not entirely understanding what the dude was saying.  Both times he asked me “Are you ok?”, and… first of all – rude, although I hear your concern and it’s a valid question.  Second of all – no, I’m not ok.  Third of all, and a follow-up question- ARE YOU OK?  Because news flash:  we’re all kinda NOT OK even though we have to keep doing things like answer email and eat sandwiches and I dunno… do the dishes, or whatever.  So, you know.. yea, thankfully I’m totally ok, but also – let it be known that  I am very not ok!  Ok!? 

There has been a lot to digest this week. A lot of really troubling realities. A lot of reason to call our representatives and demand, you know, basic human decency from our government.  There aren’t any links specific to the family separation policy that rocked our nation this week because I am deeply sure you’ve read all about it earlier this week.  There are things that I find important combined with things that I find frivolous, and I’m thankful that you’re here to join me in it.  

Related: I’m stress eating candy from Trader Joe’s. 

Unrelated:  A picture of me and my cat, Tron.

Again though: I’m ok. 

•  Are we paying attention?  The End of Civil Rights (The Atlantic)

•  I’m interested in the emergency cord:  Single at 38? Have That Baby.  (New York Times) 

•  I Have Cerebral Palsy, and Anthony Bourdain Pushed Me to See the World. (My Domaine)

•  Consider this: Giving Thanks For The Bridges I’ve Burned This Year.  

•  Here’s a question that falls under both ‘none of our business’ and ‘interesting and important’:  Do Beyonce Fans Have to Forgive Jay-Z. (The Atlantic)

•  I’m working on a recipe for gluten-free fried chicken this weekend and taking some of these tips to heart: Four Secrets To Improve Any Fried Chicken Recipe. (Serious Eats) 

•  Important thoughts on Egg Salad.  (Food52) 

•  Let’s make Paper Daffodils! (Design Sponge)

•  Ok we’ve got one question answered:  Why Are There No Mosquitos At Disney World?  Only a million more questions to go. (YouTube)

•  The thing is, I’m just always thirsty for skincare product information: How to Look Perfect in the Summer. (The Cut)

•  Very important summer hot dog news:  Spiralized hot dogs is the only way to hot dog.  (Food52)

We’ve got a cocktail and a marshmallow recipe this week. More soon.

xo Joy

Dear friends! 

Can we all just take a big ol Sunday exhale together? (Can you tell I’m in yoga teacher training? All I do is breathe with people now – it’s the best.)  We’ve made it to a day of rest and, gosh I hope you’re resting at least partly. 

This week I volunteered in the kitchen with my friend and amazing pastry chef Lisa Marie White at Children’s Harbor, a summer camp for kids with serious illnesses.  It was wonderful, and raucous, and kids love friend chicken, and cupcakes, and popping balloons in cavernous rooms.  The bonus was that I got to do yoga on this floating dock on Lake Martin.  Test out my balance, tamp down my ego.  

On my drive back to New Orleans from Lake Martin I stopped at the Equal Justice Initiative’s National Memorial for Peace and Justice, a memorial dedicated to the victim’s of lynching in America. It’s deeply important and I hope you get the chance to visit.  

It’s Father’s Day and I’m headed to Los Angeles to say hey to my pops and hope that he’ll cook for me at least once during my visit because he’s the best. 

I hope this day finds you easy and resting.  Here’s my offering for the week: 

•  I LOVE MY DAD’s pancakes. (Joy the Baker)

•  Just so we’re clear, there is no law that determines that migrant children must be taken away from their parents at the border crossing. Inside The Former Walmart That Is Now a Shelter for More Than 1,500 Migrant Children. (New York Times)

•  In what will be news to no woman:  Pregnancy Discrimination Is Rampant Inside America’s Biggest Companies. (New York Times)

•  The eternal question:  Why Does Hungry Become Hangry.  And trust me when I say that you don’t want to be the person to tell me to CALM DOWN unless you also have a bagel in your hand. (The Conversation)

•  Just Write 500 Words.  Ok… but after I do the dishes and have a sudden burst of energy to deep clean the bathroom.  Just Write 500 Words. And then do it again and again, and once more again. (The Cut)

•  I wrote last week about podcasts we’re listening to this summer and there’s a comment section full of fantastic suggestions!  Let’s add In The Dark Season 2 to the list (see synopsis directly below)! (Joy the Baker and APMReports)

“Curtis Flowers has been tried six times for the same crime. For 21 years, Flowers has maintained his innocence. He’s won appeal after appeal, but every time, the prosecutor just tries the case again. What does the evidence reveal? And how can the justice system ignore the prosecutor’s record and keep Flowers on death row?”  

•  The latest Call Your Girlfriend episode is here to help us digest some of the madness of the week. (Call Your Girlfriend) 

•  File under: No Chill / No Grace.  Instagram’s Wannabe-Stars Are Driving Luxury Hotels Crazy. (The Atlantic)

•  Heads up! There are some really cute kitchen things at Olivia Kim’s Pop In for Nordstrom including this croissant lamp.  Croissant Lamp! (Nordstrom)

• Non-car-based non-comedies: Between Two Ferns with Jerry Seinfeld and (inexplicably) Cardi B. (YouTube)

•  Whole30 Changed My Entire Relationship With Food Because I’m Dead Now.  Mmmmhhhmm (McSweeney’s)

•  Related – We have an important update to fried chicken:  Pickle-Brined Fried Chicken, y’all!! (Tasting Table)

•  I’m Fine. (Shrill Society)

•  I mean… you never regret banana bread, right? (Joy the Baker)

Call your dad – you’re in a cult, (that’s a My Favorite Murder joke in case you’re concerned and sincerely think I’m accusing you of being in a cult.  I mostly not.) 

xo Joy

Fair to say it’s been a rough week but here we are, still in the world with a Sunday in front of us.  

I heard a passing news story this week about bird sounds in the Amazon rainforest and how the people that live in the rainforest can tell the time of day, the season, the weather, the everything of their world by the sound of birdcalls. It’s a tangible rhythm, and a reminder of all we have to tune into.  It was a simple reminder of something so profound and complex.  

I’ve studied a lot of yoga words, ate a ridiculous tomato sandwich, planned some work and travel, breathed through some anxiety, and washed a lot of dishes this week.  You know – the things of life.

I hope this finds you rested and well.  Thank you for all you shared in the comment section last Sunday.  I appreciate all your lady thoughts.  Here’s what I read and what I’m reading this week.  

•  In his own words: How Anthony Bourdain Came to Be Anthony Bourdain.  (Bon Appetite)

•  Helen Rosner wrote the most beautiful piece on this searing man who showed us so much: Anthony Bourdain and the Power of Telling The Truth.  (The New Yorker)

•  This is the long read I’m working through this week from The Marshall Project:  The Hardest Lesson.  Can a violent adult jail teach kids to love school?

•  This is a beautifully written story of what feels like lightening in a bottle:  She Was a Soul Food Sensation, Then, 19 Years Ago, She Disappeared.   Rizzoli’s re-issue of Princess Pamela’s Soul Food Cookbook is here. (Food52 and Amazon)

•  A case made for more flow in our lives:  What Time Feels Like When You’re Improvising. 

•  As I inch into these yoga studies, I’m rewatching this documentary: Ram Dass, Going Home.  It’s leveling.  (Netflix)

•  Amy’s story is important:  Rocklin teacher says cyberbullying drove her from the classroom.  (Sacramento Bee)

•  Two books I want to read this summer:  A Shout In The Ruins by Kevin Powers (a recommendation from one of my favorite bookstores, Book People) AND Visible Empire by Hannah Pittard (a recommendation from Emma Roberts and @belletrist).  (Book People and Amazon)

•  Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte, Samantha – they’ve been with us for twenty years now.  Here are 20 very memorable moments from Sex and The City, see: Lawrence of my Labia. (The Cut)

•  Coconut: take me away.  A Brief History of Drinking Cocktails From Coconuts featuring LA’s Coconut Club! (Eater)

•  Leave it to Alton Brown to show us the easiest way to juice a watermelon.  (Epicurious)

•  Jon made Chicken Meatball Tikka Masala.  Going on the long long list of things I should eat besides my lazy baby carrots and hummus. (The Candid Appetite) 

•  Campfire Baked Bananas At Home.  Feeling’ it? (Joy the Baker) 

•  Summer staple: the cute scarf. (Evereve)

Enjoy your Sunday. This week: pie!

xo Joy