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Let It Be Sunday, 11!

-August Was the Worst, But Jon Stewart Is Back!

August 31, 2014 by Joy the Baker 39 Comments

Let It Be Sunday

I made this chocolate cake with peanut butter buttercream, chopped toffee, and sea salt…. and then I shrugged my shoulders.  It wasn’t very good…. a personal shame that I’m willing to share with you.  I actually think that making a bad chocolate cake with peanut butter buttercream is a crime in some states.

I should have just eaten the toffee and skipped the cake.  I did, of course, eat all of the toffee off the top of this cake before placing it in the refrigerator to forget about until late next week.  I’m sorry.  I’m a work in progress.

I hope this finds you enjoying an extra mellow Sunday morning with perhaps more coffee than usual.  I curated some of the Internet for you.  It goes a little something like this:

•  Was this August really the worst month ever?  Social media studies can give us the answer.  The answer:  kinda yeah.    

•  This week I listened to a Fresh Air Podcast from earlier this summer:  Kidnapping Is a Lucrative Business for Al-Qaida, Documents Show with host Terry Gross and journalist Rukmini Callimachi.  It’s a testament to how important and how dangerous foreign reporting can be.  Really interesting.

•  Jon Stewart is back and THANK YOU!

• Have Twitter and YouTube become the editors of the information we receive?  The New Editors of the Internet.  

•  The Emmys were last week which means red carpet madness, juice cleanses, designer dresses, jewels for days and… what on earth is a mani-cam? Why we should ask women about more than their dang dresses! What are we even doing…. for real.

•  Louisiana… we’re Losing Ground and that’s a fact.  

•  Southern cuisine has its nuance and you best get it right.  I’m learning day by day.  The Real Reason Sugar Has No Place In Cornbread 

•  What would James Bond drink in New Orleans, from writer Sarah Baird and bartender Abigail Gullo.

•  I’m starting the book & Sons next week.  I’ve read as much as I could in the Amazon preview and I want more.  Classy, right?

•  From Grad School to Jail.  Too real?  Too real.

•  On a scale of 1 to totally weird, where are we on this Crystal Skull Shotglass ?

•  These Super Power Vegan Collard Wraps looks healthful and super delicious!  I definitely want to make my own version.  They’re the opposite of doughnuts and I love it.

•  Favorite recent podcast discovery:  Slate’s The Gist.  Informative and funny smart-talk.

Get all up in this day!

xo Joy

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Categories: Let It Be Sunday!

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Next Post: Baking 101: My Favorite Vegan Egg Substitutes »

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  1. ajmilad

    September 5, 2014 at 5:46 am

    Joy, thank you for not just being a kick-ass baker, and hilarious podcast-maker, but also a woman with conviction who isn’t afraid to share information on these mega important issues in the world. As a woman who both loves the kitchen and is a super NPR nerd/political junkie, I saute you!

    Reply
    • joythebaker

      September 5, 2014 at 7:50 am

      hahahha! i see what you did there… (and i love it!)

      Reply
  2. The Queen of Dreaming

    September 4, 2014 at 2:32 pm

    Lovely post as always, totally agree with the terrible august!

    https://justsem.wordpress.com/

    Reply
  3. Karleen Armstrong Lewis

    September 4, 2014 at 1:49 pm

    I fell in love with your blog many, many years ago because of my obsession with baking, but I’m loving it even more lately because of posts like these. You’re sneak-peek at what you’re reading and listening to show what an intelligent and conscious brain you have!

    Reply
  4. Suzonne Stirling

    September 2, 2014 at 5:10 pm

    I think cornbread is a lot like gumbo – you like whatever your grandma made and that’s just how it is (except that I argue with my grandmother over gumbo, so perhaps I’m just contrary by nature). But I love a little sweetness to my cornbread. In fact, I recently had cornbread made with Steen’s at Toups Meatery in mid-city and now I have a new perspective – why use sugar when you can have cane syrup?!

    Reply
  5. A Toast to the Good Life

    September 2, 2014 at 3:30 pm

    YUM. I LOVE this idea. Beautiful, inspiring photos. Looks delicious!

    Reply
  6. franceskrussell

    September 1, 2014 at 9:11 pm

    Thanks for being so honest! I really appreciate when bloggers let you know what doesn’t work as well as what does. Anyway, I’ve seen a lot of other beautiful recipes on this website that I’ve been meaning to try :)

    Reply
  7. Emily @ Life on Food

    September 1, 2014 at 3:03 pm

    Happy Monday!! So sad about the cake. Sometimes when I don’t have a winner I chop it up and make an ice cream sundae.

    Reply
  8. Sally

    September 1, 2014 at 12:34 pm

    Diverse round up of thoughts as ever Joy – lot’s of good reading and food for thought. Have a great week.

    Reply
  9. Ella

    September 1, 2014 at 8:40 am

    I second what Cait said! I think it’s really cool of you to expand your thinking and therefore writing beyond food because it IS real. Love you!
    https://www.youtube.com/sparklesandsuch26

    Reply
  10. Kim S

    September 1, 2014 at 8:39 am

    Crazy Cake (a super dense, moist, chocolate cake) with peanut butter frosting is a birthday party staple in my family. Super Awesome! I could give you some pointers if you’d like ;) (I kid, I kid!! I’m a super novice baker!! :) )

    Reply
  11. Paulette

    September 1, 2014 at 8:15 am

    Make another cake, do a vanilla butter cream then in the center filling place chopped miniature peanut butter cups ice rest of cake using chopped heath bars on top. Now I am hungry. Paulette

    Reply
  12. Zulejka

    September 1, 2014 at 2:08 am

    Looking at your links I can’t help but think – you’ve become a lot more serious since moving – or were you like that but I just haven’t noticed? I like it, though!

    Reply
    • joythebaker

      September 1, 2014 at 7:22 am

      i think i’m just sharing more of that side on my blog lately. real life is hard to ignore.

      Reply
  13. Amy

    August 31, 2014 at 11:50 pm

    Sometimes a ‘meh’ cake is okay when you just need a chocolate and sugar hit. Sometimes it is a disaster. Like my less than stellar, and then crumbled on the floor, bundt cake last week. These things happen.
    Also, I am an Amazon preview reader too. I love knowing what I am getting myself into before I add it to the basket.
    Hope your Sunday was lovely, from the future here in Australia Monday is pretty good too :)

    Reply
  14. Natalie - Paper and Birch

    August 31, 2014 at 9:54 pm

    well the cake definitely looks yummy! I’m super excited about Jon Stewart too – love him!

    Reply
  15. Kelci

    August 31, 2014 at 5:01 pm

    This is a brilliantly curated list. Thank you so much!

    Reply
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