This new normal that we’re tasked with, where people use cars as weapons and our politics continue to deeply enrage some and barely elicits a shrug from others is perplexing at best. It’s hard. It’s hard or all of us, isn’t it? Good grief. These old wounds are so hard to heal.
I went to the beach.
Here’s what we know. We know that the sun will rise and the waves will crash and we’ll keep breathing until we don’t. We also know that the moon will block the sun in a few days which is a rare and extreme reminder to most of us that we live in freaking SPACE. And if you want… you can make eclipse water which is exactly like sun tea without the tea bags or the sun.
Or… we could eat an entire sheet cake though I wouldn’t recommend it. Seems like there are more forward moving things we could do with ourselves though a slice or two might be nice.
The world is just the strangest place to be sometimes. Here’s proof:
• We’re an imperfect city in an divided nation but here are some words from a thoughtful American leader Why New Orleans took down four Confederate monuments.
• When I feel overwhelmed, I find myself coming back to this old RadioLab episode about The Golden Record we sent into space and the hopeful specks of dust we are: SPACE. And TODAY, August 20 1977 is the day the Voyager took off for deep space.
• Why you absolutely can not stare at the sun without eclipse glasses. Ok but question… can a girl get a peek if she’s wearing her sunglasses? I don’t need to stare at the dang thing forever.
• Move your body, move your mind: How exercise can help you learn a new language.
• Honestly. Inside Kim Jung Un’s Bloody Scramble to Kill Off His Family. That much false power has got to be real messy to hold on to. Mercy.
• I’ve found myself more than once thinking about Christmas this week. I do not know what’s going on. Likely my brain is melting. This year, if we’re talking about Christmas cookies (and we suddenly are)- I’m going to make classic pizzelle cookies using this pizzelle maker.
• Stay summer, stay sharp: Summer Tomato Pie.
• Consider breakfast: Fluffy AF Cornbread Blueberry Waffles
• Things I made this week and ate before I photographed: Homemade Thin Crust Pizza from The Kitchn and Quinoa Taco Meat from Minimalist Baker.
• A few books about vegetables I’ve re-opened with love and intention: Vegetables by Martha Stewart // Salad for President by Julia Sherman // Six Seasons, a new way with vegetables by Joshua McFadden
• Here’s a really great thing to know: Add a little bit of water to your whiskey. Here’s a really great application for it- Add a few drops of water to your whiskey and read this spot on opinion piece in the Sunday Review: The Week When President Trump Resigned.
That’s all for today, ok? Happy Sunday!
xo Joy
ruth
Joy, you spelled “heal” correctly! Apparently that’s a very difficult thing to do. No one knew it could be so difficult. Congratulations!
Deb in Indiana
Thank you for commenting so calmly and maturely on the tragedies of these weeks. We could do with calmness and maturity in high places.
PS I listened to that RadioLab episode a few days ago and cried. Ann Druyan’s and Carl Sagan’s story, and the gift they created with Voyager’s Golden record, is also representative of our country.
Liz in BR
I enjoy reading blogs and the responses from others. I can say my life sucked especially from June 2014 to April 2017. For a few months I did not know how I was going to pay my rent.
Our country is divided due to selfishness. It will remain so until we all learn to accept reality and be willing to genuinely listen to our neighbors.
During this difficult time period I took to politics for my escape. The behavior of politicians are absolutely hilarious from a psychological “textbook” perspective.
What keeps me sane is the following: my love for culinary and learning. I always remember that fiction is based off of fact. And from my perspective, watching wealthy intelligent powerful people make constant asses of themselves while being televised reminds me we are human.
gabby
Hi Joy! I love your weekly link roundup and look forward to them every Sunday, but I want more knowledge!!! Do you know of any other blogs that do a similar thing?
Samantha
I have Minimalist Baker’s quinoa taco meat on my meal plan for this week! How did yours turn out? I’m excited to try!
Liz in BR
“I am baker.net”
She is from MN and only does baking
joythebaker
I really loved it! It’s going into the regular rotation now!
jennie
love your sunday posts.
if you are going to invest in a pizzelle maker, go with Palmer. the best by far.
Alexandra
As usual, excellent book recommendations! I’m checking out all three from my library. Joy, this newsletter is such a JOY ; ) to read each week. Love your thoughts, love your ideas and LOVE your recipes.
Blessings from Louisville
Chris
I use the King Arthur pizzelle recipe too and it’s perfect. I saw my first ever photograph of pizzelle a year or two ago and fell instantly, deeply in food-lust. I just HAD to make them, even though you can’t buy an iron for love nor money in Australia. It took months for my iron (also the same as yours) to arrive but it fortuitously landed just before Christmas and the rest is history. I’ve probably made a couple of hundred since then. Pizzelle are simple, beautiful, textural, buttery and they make the most perfect gift… Seriously, are Australians insane? How can we not have them here?!!!! I quickly learned to centre the batter slightly to the rear of the plate and I always trim mine with scissors while hot to ensure a perfect shape. They’re lovely as a sweet wafer but also fabulous as an addition to a cheese platter where they team beautifully with creamy blue cheese. Recipes like this are a little drop of nostalgia, innocence and simplicity in an increasingly complex world.
erika
God bless your mayor and beautiful city. Hoping your neighbor state of Mississippi will have some courageous leaders step up and do the right thing!
Carolyn
Girl “AMEN” to all of the above…Have a good week!!!
Pam MacC
DO NOT look at the eclipse sun through regular sunglasses. They do not have the protection you need to prevent burning your retinas and impacting your vision for the rest of your life! We need you to have full vision for the fabulous food you make!! :)
JoanieB
Always look so forward to your Sunday offerings. And I just found the piece on you and the new book in the Sept BHG!!! Awesome photos and words and recipes!!!
Adam
The sight of you makes my heart smile. Your observations are just the antidote to a weary, cynical world. And your recipes and food descriptions, well…fughedaboutit! Sundays and brunches will forever after take on a warmth and quality I have been striving for, so thank you! And, I just purchased Over Easy. Mojito anyone?
Suzonne
You’re thinking about Christmas because I’m working on Christmas stories and we share the same brain. ? Saw the BHG story at the airport. It looks great! xo
Neenie
Your BHG article has some to-be-tried recipes. The photos were really inviting. Congratulations!
Christy
This Tuesday Aug 22nd, I’m making Pizzas on the grill! It’s my 59th Birthday…and Homemade Pizza is what I wanted for my Special Dinner! No cake…I’ll be baking a Blueberry Cardamom Bread Pudding instead! Blueberries from our garden & a big loaf of Challah bread from the local Co-Op store! Also, some kind of Yummy Vodka Cocktails…as yet to be decided….any suggestions?!
Ellen Blaufox
Joy. I’ve been thinking all week about where I am in this chaos & how to best live. I settled on spending time with my loved ones, getting my hair & nails done for no reason, purging my electronics and baking a ham & cheese quiche that I shared with my parents. I’m off to an old-fashioned lawn party complete with glasses o’ Bubbly & a live Roaring 20s Band. I’m sitting here devouring food blogs filled with pretty as I stumbled upon your lovely site. You have finally brought me where I have needed – to tears. Tears of joy, hope, sadness & fear. But, mostly comfort. Thank you oxox
Ellen Hindle
Hey Ellen, earlier this year my 27 year old daughter asked me, “Mom, how are you managing to cope with all of this? How do you move on when I know you feel as I do?” My response was simply, “Amy, I cannot control what is going on around me. I can, however, take responsibility for myself and my own actions.” And at the expense of sounding maybe a little too Jesusy for some I went on- “In these days and times I try to be the person Jesus wants me to be. In fact, I try to be even better than what Jesus wants me to be. That’s how I choose to respond to this mess.” Did it help her? I’m not sure, but it was the best I could offer. Now with all of that said, I need to spend some time this week working on looking like the best person I can be- cut and color on the calendar! Oh, and cooking and baking, too- all of these blogs are purposeful in that they are providing food, not just for my family, but for my soul! Keep the faith.
kim
Yes I agree. I thought that was irresponsible of Tina Fey!
Julia
It was a joke!
Saurs
Lots of things are jokes! Failure mode of clever and all that!
Mac
Oh, I thought it was hilarious!
Beth
I’ve been thinking about Christmas this week too! Maybe we just need something to look forward to right now?
monica
I recently saw you do an instagram story, and can I say that you have the most calming voice ever? Like I want you to narrate my inner thoughts of the rom-com of my life (seriously, I’m not that interesting, but this scientist dreams). Now when I read your posts after coffee, it’s your voice in my head, which makes me look forward to them.
Taste of France
Another vegetable book I used this weekend (the peppers with Espelette pepper) is “The Vegetable Harvest” by Patricia Wells.
The racists might be suffering from FOMO and a feeling that they are not getting the lives they consider themselves entitled to. However, that isn’t the fault of minorities or women. It’s due to the breaking of unions, a bit to globalization, a lot to technology and automatization and even more to changing regulations that concentrate wealth among the wealthiest. But it’s easier to pick on groups you can identify from a block away rather than on groups, like the wealthy, that you hope to become part of one day. As somebody said about why people don’t protest the advantages given to the rich, it’s because you don’t pee in a pool you want to swim in.
Rebeca
My boyfriend was in Barcelona this week and he was supposed to meet a friend at Las Ramblas around the time of the attack. Unbeknownst to me, they had met elsewhere, and the 10 minutes that passed before I could talk to him were the longest. Before he came home and I could hug the living shit out of him, I ate my weight in peaches (which I suppose it’s better than eating an entire sheet cake, right?).
We’ll keep breathing until we don’t, indeed, and we better do it with love because there’s already enough hate in the world, both from the crazies who kill and those politics who manage to enrage every time they open their mouths.
On an unrelated note, I woke up today thinking of that tomato pie, crust is chilling on the fridge as I type!
Happy Sunday.
Saurs
THANK YOU. Exactly this. Not everyone can escape oppression by turning to self-pitying rituals. This is going to be solved collectively but, yes, it’s also important to practice self-care.
Saurs
Oh my, that blockquote is enormous. Apologies to everyone’s eyes.
Kim Jolley
Wonderful post. I’m off to read some of the articles at the links you provided. And you are SO right…we will keep breathing until we don’t, even though things are completely in turmoil right now. My husband and I had almost that exact conversation yesterday.
Rena
This is an very interesting read how exercises can help you to learn a new language!
Thanks for sharing.
xx from Bavaria/Germany, Rena
http://www.dressedwithsoul.com