Hi friends, good morning!
How are you? Feeling good? Feeling strong? It’s ok if you’re not. It’s ok if things feels a little blurry. Sunday, afterall. A day to eat crackers in bed if you want to.
This week I’ve been holding on to small victories: a few good laps in the pool, my fastest two mile running time, two good hair days, a handful of neighborly kindnesses, and time spent listening to true crime podcasts in the garden. Truth be told, I think I’m mostly watering dead sticks out back but I’m nothing if not hopeful.
Yesterday I taught 85 people how to make the Doberge Cake pictured above. Half banana cream, half toasted coconut. Two of the best cream pies into one sweet cake. Glorious, really.
I hope you have some glory in your week too – no matter how tiny. It all counts. The offering this week is below. Take what you need. I make this for you and for me.
• I’m going to leave my favorite read of the week here at the top of the list for you: My Friend Donated Her Liver To My Husband. I would absolutely do this, too. Sarah Kate is inspiring in ways. (Newsweek)
• How to survive a health care system that wasn’t designed for you by Dr Destiny Birdsong. An excellent read on the recommendation of my friend Kim. (Catapult, Destinybirdsong.com Instagram,)
• I’ll leave this raw truth and vulnerability here for you: Becoming a Parent During the Pandemic Was the Hardest Thing I’ve Ever Done. (The Atlantic)
• This past year has shown us so many different forms of human loneliness. We need each other much more than we knew. Surviving a Year Without Touch. (Medium)
• Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami was ten years ago last week and this piece is so surreal and unfathomable and poetically written that it really has stuck with me: The Man Who Sailed His House. (GQ)
• “The question is never just a question.” The Rigorous Empathy of “Oprah with Megan and Harry”. (The New Yorker)
• My friend Toby’s list of 25 Things To Make Your Kids Smile Today is very sweet and honestly I think most of them would make anyone smile so I might start carrying Fruit Roll Ups in my purse (Whats Up Moms)
• Catch me this spring in this Cotton Merino Polo. (Everlane)
• Even if I don’t fully understand the nuance, I like to hear people talk about The Details of what they love. (YouTube)
• I bet I have a Sunday post from a year ago mentioning my desire to make Anzac Biscuits. Welp, still haven’t made them and the desire still going strong. (Cloudy Kitchen)
• When I worked at The Cheesecake Factory (yep), Chicken Marsala was my favorite thing to order if I had a free meal ticket. (Saveur)
• Here’s an old recipe inspired by my friend Ashley English and her husband Glenn. They make some of my favorite food in their little North Carolina cove: Pistachio Crusted Asparagus with Feta. I crave these greens every spring. (Joy the Baker)
• Jon made Everything Bagel Mini Soda Breads. They look like festive biscuits! (The Candid Appetite)
• I treated myself to this Wild Mix Jersey Dress this month. It’s as comfortable as wearing a t-shirt. It’s good. (FarmRio)
• This week marks a full year since our last in-person class at The Bakehouse. I have to say, I miss you so much. Thank you to each one of who you has taken a class at The Bakehouse virtually. It’s been incredible to connect with you in your own kitchen! Really, thank you for welcoming me in. I hope we’ll be able to offer in person AND more virtual classes soon. Coming up next, a virtual Strawberry Pie Class on April 10th! (Eventbrite)
• Time for breakfast? Savory French Toast. (Joy the Baker)
Have a beautiful spring Sunday, friends.
My love to you.
xo Joy
Jo
I ordered the dress from Farm Rio..so FINE..but I ordered a small and, well, apparently I’m NOT a small anymore hahaha.. Went to exchange, and there were no more sizes available. Super sad. I needed an event dress so I could create an event to wear it too. Keep on suggesting fashion when you want to step out of the food bubble.
Chris
I have one thing to add to the list of things to make your child smile today..In the colder months I would put my kids’ towels in the dryer for a few minutes to wrap them up with when they got out of the bath. Big, big smiles! :)
Adrienne
Dear Joy, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for sharing the Atlantic article about pregnancy/birth during the pandemic. Just like the author, I gave birth in July after several years of infertility and experienced my desperately longed-for pregnancy mostly in Covid isolation. And then came the pospartun depression which I didn’t have the tools to identify or understand and no help other than my sleep-deprived husband who didn’t know what to do. The author has given me the words to explain to family and friends what it’s all been like on our own.
Kaleigh
Lately I’ve been reminded more and more often of my need for touch. I have my parents in my bubble (as a a single woman, they’ve been in my ‘household’ since last spring) so I appreciate every hug I can get. One of my coworkers squeezed my shoulder the other day and that little bit of touch shocked me so much more than the same gesture would have last year. Not being able to hold my friends as they celebrate their birthdays or grieve for the losses in our BIPOC community has been hard, but I know our hugs will mean so much more when we are finally safe and can touch each other again.
Dottie
The asparagus with pistachio and feta looks amazing. I’m buying asparagus the next time I shop!
I adore the dress. I don’t think that I would like it on me, but I bet it looks fantastic on you and the colors are so appealing.
The cake – yum! Two of my favorite things are banana and coconut.
Thank you. I hope that your week is off to a good start.
samantha campanini
Thank you and have a nice spring week too! :)
Kelly-Jane M
Pistachio and feta asparagus?! I’ve ordered the book!
I’m a fan from when you released your first book. Drifted off The internet with life. Still, bough you’re other books though, and now re-found you through Julia Turshen’s new book.
Hope life is good for you. Love you kitty! So glad to have found your good cheer again x
joythebaker
I love that the world brought us back together – that’s fantastic!
Heather
Every time I read another article about the “never talked about” struggles of new motherhood I think about this delightful article you posted a couple years ago. It is brilliant and worth a reread! I mean just this line deserves a Pulitzer or a Caldecott Medal or something!
I’m sure the Virgin Mary had Jesus Christ himself and then turned to one of the Magi and was like, “Guys. Breastfeeding does not come naturally or easily. No one talks about this.” Elizabeth, who’d had St. John the Baptist a few months earlier, was probably sitting there exasperated, rolling her eyes like, Mary. Remember? I was just complaining to you about little Johnny’s shallow latch. You have to squeeze your boob and make it like a hamburger. Weren’t you listening?
https://www.thecut.com/2019/01/why-do-new-moms-want-to-ignore-advice-from-seasoned-moms.html
Cyndi
I am a liberal democrat. I have also been a royal watcher for so long I’m embarrassed to say. That is a very offensive article linked here. I deeply regret that Markle has been able to turn her hate for Britain’s royal family into a divisive left v. right political issue (as if more of that is needed) – and a money making career for herself – you’ll see. Please don’t believe anything coming from Meghan Markle. She was not forced against her will to marry a British prince. And, yes, she did know about them beforehand. She knew a lot. And she went after it. They were very good to her. The wonderful way she was warmly welcomed, the way she was beautifully treated and the “goodies” she got remain unprecedented for someone marrying into the family. I really like you, Joy, so I am saying, please don’t believe anything she says.
Cyndi
And, oh yes, please make Anzac biscuits! Use Lyle’s Golden Syrup if you can. I notice a difference between it and honey. If you’ve ever had old fashioned oatmeal coconut cookies, these are similar but obviously without the egg. They are delicious and I know you would do them tremendous justice! PS. When I say “old fashioned” oatmeal coconut cookies, I mean OLD! LOL. The Best of Bridge cookbook series (I think they’re in the second one, the yellow one, but could be in the first one, the red one), they call it something like “Mona’s mother’s mother’s best friend’s recipe, and I understand what they mean! I got the recipe from my mother, who got it from her mother. Her mother, my grandmother, when she was a newlywed, got the recipe from her neighbour, who had three teenagers at the time! That’s how old the recipe is, and I still make these cookies, and Anzac cookies all year ’round.
Susan
Like you, I’ve been a royal watcher for far too long. I am also a liberal. I am also someone who is two years free from my NPD ex. I agree with everything you wrote. Thank you.
Cyndi
Thank you, Susan. Wow – good for you. I am so glad for you and your loved ones that you are free of it. I don’t even need to know any specifics to know the experience was harrowing for you. I’m so sorry you went through that. But, you’re free now – YAY!!
joythebaker
I’m not a royal watcher at all – I honestly don’t keep up with Harry or Megan or the lot of them, really. What I found interesting about the article had everything to do with Oprah and her interview prowess.
Cyndi
I’m no longer a fan of Oprah’s. I know she doesn’t care, lol, she certainly doesn’t need me. That was not an interview.
Rachel
I’ve really come to love true crime podcasts since the pandemic began. It’s as if they were my best friends when I couldn’t visit with anyone else. Which one(s) are you currently loving?
Suzette
Thanks for the offerings Joy. I enjoy them. These are the days when scrambled eggs for dinner more than once per week and crackers and cheese (both in bed) are very good and understandable things. I am looking forward to any virtual workshops you may have on working with gluten-free flours etc. Also, do you know of a good gluten-free Brioche bread? I have missed French Toasts for over 15 years. Thanks again!
Janel Barthe
Hello, finished up with my covid vaccinations recently after a year of virtual quarantine. Visiting with my children, what joy. This morning I got up and weeded part of a flower bed and amazingly I remembered how. Enjoy your Sunday postings. Feeling exhilirated today. (Janel Barthe, 82, Metairie, LA)
Anete
Oh do make Anzacs, they are easy (no creaming the butter or eggs) and sooooo yum!
Ivy
OMG make the Anzac cookies! I used Cloudy Kitchen’s recipe this week and they were a hit! I don’t have a kitchen scale so I’m sure I messed up the ingredient measurements and they still turned out delicious. 10/10 would recommend.
Misty F
Girl, I just found a new favorite clothes shop. Thank you for sharing your fashion faves. Just bought myself my birthday present on Farm. ?
joythebaker
Excellent Misty! PERFECT birthday treat!
Erin Clarkson
Ahhh love this! I hope you make the Anzacs – they are so, so good! xx
Chrissy
To comment on your year-without-touch article, I saw a comment by another single who said that she was pretty sure her cat thought she had changed its name to “I love you,” because she was so starved for affection that it was all channeled into her cat. My Crawley I know feels the same. Is Tron feeling the extra love?
Happy Sunday!
Taylor
I look forward to this post all week, thanks for putting your heart into sharing these wonderful stories with us!
Whitney
Those dresses! What a fun shop!
Jean L Kastanek
Small victories, a lovely thought that I need to keep in the forefront of my mind every week. Not feeling very strong this weekend. Too many personal challenges lately. Taking a break from emotional triggers this weekend to nourish my soul. Thanks for injecting some positivity into my weeks every Sunday morning.
Susan
I love the dress. Sizing wise, it looks like it runs small…how did yours fit??? Thank you!
joythebaker
I know I was so suspicious about the sizing so I had to text a friend who own a dress from the brand too. I wear a size 6 and ordered a Small in this dress because of the stretchy material. I ordered one of their linen dresses a size up for me, a medium.
Susan
You are the best!!! I look forward to your Sunday recaps and the dress is just the icing on the cake!
Darla
Good Sunday morning, Joy! It feels as is so much has changed, but then again, not much. Baby steps! The very good is on the horizon. I’m ready to get back into a swimming pool. Swim laps. Lounge in the sun. Feel the warmth. Family. Laughter with them. All of the good stuff. Reuniting with old friends. We will get there.
Michelle
Oh my goodness, that article about the man who sailed his house is something else. One of the most moving and striking articles I’ve ever read.
Deirdre Roberts
good morning..I sit here at work most Sunday mornings waiting for your post. As always..thank you so much ..