Joy the Baker

Let It Be Sunday!

by 33 Comments

Let It Be Sunday!

Hello my friends!

I hope you are well in this weekend with a good pair of thick socks and extra cream in your coffee.  The chill is here, wouldn’t you say?  

This past week I was lucky enough to tour the White House kitchen and talk about gingerbread with the White House Executive Pastry Chef Susan Morrison. It was surreal and really such an incredible opportunity.  We decorated gingerbread cookies together… I promptly broke several cookies as she was demonstrating… so, oops.  I was nervous. I break things when I’m nervous.  The White House is mighty. Just thinking about all of the men and women we’ve asked to live in that house and lead us… it’s a humbling building to be in. The walls vibrate. 

Here are some thoughts from the week:

•  A beautiful perspective from writer Zadie Smith:  On Optimism and Despair.  On time travel and incremental progress. 

•  This is weighty but interesting:  The American Dream, Quantified At Last

•  Love and strength and two beautifully brave humans:  John Glenn + Annie Glenn

•  The Tina Fey Interview, by David Letterman  GOOD.  

•  Are you a Christmas tree purist or do you have the fake sort that lives in the attic most of the year? Real Christmas Trees or Fake, which is better for the planet?  This just makes me realize I really want to visit a Christmas tree farm. 

•  The images from our year on earth together: The Top 25 News Photos of 2016

•  Weekend Read: The Man In The Woods

•  How To Roast The Best Potato Of Your Life. Big promises.  I’ll bite.   

•  Let’s get back in the bundt game, right?  Honey Grapefruit Bundt Cake

•  Festive cake thoughts:  Orange Gingerbread Cake with cream cheese frosting

•  All I want for Christmas is a pink pantsuit.  Starting with the blazer. Related:  The Boss

•  Sweater weather, amiright?

I hope your Sunday is supreme.  Take good care. 

xo Joy

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. We have a fake tree. Growing up only a couple years did my parents buy real tree. Tree farm called Sloans and I bought one with my Aunt Sue once in London at a grocery store. Carried it to their house to decorate.
    They are both beautiful. I am excited you got to see the White House Kitchen so blessed! Hope you have an great Christmas too. Thanks for sharing the recipes and links.

    Reply

  2. I forgo traditional evergreens for whatever potted plant I decide to bring in from the yard, usually a red and green croton, but I’ve also used small palm trees. We decorate it, light it, and laugh at it. It’s a funky Florida-style Christmas tree that suits us better than a wintry one.

    Reply

  5. Thank you for introducing me to the Serious Eats site. Lots of good information there. I can’t wait to make the Gingerbread with Cream Cheese Frosting for my son who loves gingerbread.

    Reply

  6. Thank you for the Tina Fey/David Letterman link. I feel like we have allowed the lowest common denominator to take lead, and I appreciated their thoughtful and witty take on trump. Anxiety still reigns in my world, so thoughtfulness and kindness whenever expressed is appreciated.

    Reply

  8. A real tree, always (I’m 59). My son worked summers on a tree-farm when he was in high school. I made breakfast for the teen-aged crew every Friday before they left for the fields.
    If you’re ever in the Willamette Valley in Oregon, look me up and I’ll take you to visit a treefarm or two. We have Christmas trees by the millions, or maybe zillions–I’ve never counted. After that, we’ll hit the vineyards!

    Reply

  9. Growing up, we had to have a fake tree because my older brother was highly allergic to pine/evergreens. The first Christmas I spent in my own home, I could not wait to have a real tree.
    It was beautiful… just the right size, fun to decorate and admire. Sadly, my very first cat…about 6 months old that December…loved it as well. He loved to lay underneath it but mostly he loved to climb it….when I was not present. Needless to say, I came home from work one afternoon and the tree was on the floor and Hoosier was nestled contently in the branches, with not one ounce of remorse on his face. I did right it but I had to secure with wires attached to the wall to keep it from ending up on the floor again. That was my last real tree.

    Reply

    • I’m allergic to them too! My dad and brother too. Took us years to figure out that is why we were all always sick every year at Christmas. So fake tree at home and allergy pills in my purse this time of year. We got a great new one last year and it is so much easier.

      Reply

  10. I have strong opinions about trees (real all the way!), but I suppose I’m slightly biased- my grandparents own a Christmas tree farm, which my parents are in the process of buying. I can’t speak for every Christmas tree farm, but most do not use pesticides, fertilizers, or any chemicals on their trees, mostly because Christmas trees are very hardy and generally don’t require them. They also replenish and plant a new tree for each one that is cut each year, so there isn’t really an issue of deforestation. Plus, they look better, smell better, and the tradition of going and cutting a tree is one of my favorites! Plus, there are many different types (Blue Spruces, which are actually less common on most farms, are my favorite). I’m living abroad this year and won’t be able to go home for Christmas, and of all the traditions, this is one of the ones I will miss the most.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Scroll Up