Hello friends! Welcome to another sweet Sunday.
We’ve lost an hour but we’ve gained a springtime sunset. It’s a solid trade. I’ve spent half of this week in Charleston, SC teaching, demo-ing beignets, shaking hands and seeing old friends at the Charleston Wine and Food festival. Fun? Truly. A little overwhelming? Sure, there’s that too. The best part of this trip to Charleston has been the oysters and the low country cooking. One of favorite restaurants in all the country is Fig in Charleston and I was lucky enough to dine there this week. I didn’t know that dinner was on my bucket list until it was done. It’s funny when dreams sneak up on you that way.
I also checked off “Make beignets with Al Roker” off the bucket list! Had no idea all of those words work come together in real life but they sure did!
The offering this week is below. I’m glad you’re here for it. Take only what you need:
• I’ve had a handful of friends greatly affected by the tornados in Nashville this week. What the Tornados in Nashville Revealed. I’ve donated to the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. (The Atlantic)
• How to prepare for the corona virus like a pro. I vacillate between very concerned and confused about how concerned I should be. What does concern me is this: When Coronavirus Quarantine is Class Warfare. Hermit tech class vs those who are out in the world on their behalf. (Technology Review and The New York Times)
• Thankful for Emily Flitter for doing the legwork on this: My Tireless Quest for a Tubeless Wipe. A surprisingly fascinating read. (The New York Times)
• I am forever interested in what people eat, their dogs, and how they climb mountains – this is prime information to me: The Real-Life Diet of a Iditarod Musher Who Eats When His Dogs Eat. (GQ)
• We need to connect.. actually connect. I think out to dinner is a nice place to do it. The American restaurant is on life support.
• Your girl stood outside of the grocery store selling cookies like a boss for an actual decade and I’ll never not buy them, k? Why Americans Can’t Quit Girl Scout Cookies. (The Lily)
• As we sneak up on spring may I humbly invite you to brown butter and bake carrots into your cake: Browned Butter Carrot Loaf Cake (Joy the Baker)
• Do you have the latest issue of Cherry Bombe Magazine? It’s my favorite food publication. (Cherry Bombe)
• This is hilariously confusing news to me: Woman Took Care Of Succulent For Two Years, Then Realized It Was Fake. (Vice)
• My favorite knife shop in New Orleans also has a location in East Nashville that was damaged in the tornado last week. They’ve hit the ground running to mend their damage and bring so much support to their neighbors. Its incredible. See and support Couteltier Knives. (couteliernola.com)
• What I’m listening to: the very fresh new album from Mandy Moore. Silver Landings is a beautiful song. (Spotify)
• Am I a bolo tie person now? I feel like yes. (Etsy)
• Last year, this week: Let It Be Sunday, 213! (Joy the Baker)
• Two years ago, this week: Let It Be Sunday, 162! (Joy the Baker)
• Both years this week I talk about a fish fry because it’s absolutely the best part of Lent. (again… Joy the Baker)
Enjoy this fine day and late sunset.
My love to you.
xo Joy
Suzannah Kolbeck
I, too, mourn the loss of tube-free TP. I ordered two, 48-roll packs on Amazon after my local grocery stopped selling it but lack storage to do that again. Sigh.
Raluca
I mean, can I just comment I LOVE YOU to your every post? Is it ok? plsandthankyou
Christine
I need those shoes, Joy! Spill the deets :)
Cynetta
I’ve not been in a real restaurant in over 7 years and probably never will again. Why? The food in the 21st centuryis so much SoCal not to my tastes. I’m happy i started to learn to cook well over 65 years ago when food was real and not masked by sriracha, chili peppers and stupid Dijon, when all veggies weren’t roasted, dry fried or grilled, pork still had hat and all beef wasn’t over cook medium-rare. No cook today knows how to cook beef rare or just flat out refuses to
If you wanted a restaurant steak, you could not order a rib-eye. Today if they even offer a steak it is only a strip steak with all the fat trimmed off and smothered in stupid herbs, no other cut.. you need to Googly half the item on the menu.
Owners think all the potential customers want FoodNetwork ‘healthy’ where al;l that matters is calories, carbs fat and salt and plant based imitation meat and imitation dairy
GOOD! GO OUT OF BUSINESS, the sooner the better!
Jo
Wild hope is one of my favorite albums by Mandy Moore if you like her music listen to it I think you’ll find some beautiful songs. She’s incredibly talented strong woman, you two have much in common.
Jeanne
I opened up your page today and my immediate thought was ….Oh my goodness Joy, you are simply gorgeous!
Stella
Hi Joy, thanks again for your weekend selections, I normally scour the internet for these gems, but you find some I missed along the way. By the way, your smile is so radiant. Lucky you, beignets with Al Roker, sounds like my kind of week.
Katie
Joy, thank you for sharing the link for the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. I live in East Nashville, just a couple blocks north of the tornado’s path and the level of devastation is unreal, but so is the response from the community. It’s a small silver lining that people care so much and will do whatever it takes to put our city, homes, and businesses back together.
Ellie
I hope to see restaurants move away from the modern, industrial aesthetic. No problem with how it looks, but they tend to be acoustically harsh spaces. When it feels difficult to connect to the person across the table, I wonder why I went out in the first place.
Ruthie
Book recommendation if you are interested in dogs and how people climb mountains: This Much Country by Kristen Knight Pace
joythebaker
Thank you so much Ruthie!