Something brand new + a transcendent podcast

Welcome to Sunday! A note before we get to our Sunday offering from our friend Toby!  Joy the Baker has always been a space where I can learn and grow and experiment.  You’ve been witness to it all and I’m so thankful.  Truth is, Joy the Baker requires more that what I can offer you on my own.  Joy the Baker is me alongside a small but mighty team who I would like for you to meet and know. Meet the team! Abby Mallett edits the posts here on Joy the Baker and will offer occasional posts. Toby Lowenfels and Kim Baldwin will each contribute to our Sunday offerings once a month and I so appreciate their perspectives.  Jon Melendez takes a majority of the photographs here for years now and he’s the best home cook I know so… we’re blessed. I’ll still write and produce the majority of blog posts here but just know that I’ve brought on people that I adore to fill you with more inspiration that I can offer alone.  Going forward, take a look at the author line just below the title so you know who you’re reading. I’m so thrilled that you’re here. Thank you.  Here’s Toby.

Hello, friends!

Have you done anything brand new lately? I’m in the process of becoming a substitute teacher and can’t wait ‘til all my paperwork is cleared. I have zero experience teaching and have no idea what to expect. But I’m enjoying the anticipation of stepping out of my comfort zone. I’ll make sure to check in next month to let you know how it goes and, in the meantime, here’s some Internet I’ve been enjoying…

Xo,

Toby

• This Talk Easy podcast episode with Cate Blanchett is transcendent. She discusses everything from death to photography and, since she’s trying to get one of her kids to sleep, she’s kind of whispering the whole time. I was soothed. (Talk Easy)

• Joy’s One-Pot Greek Oregano Chicken is everything I hope for in a one-pot meal. It’s easy and flavorful and made my kitchen smell delicious. Most importantly, it’s easy to clean up. Only change I made was throwing in the entire jar of kalamata olives. I figure you can never have too many. (Joy the Baker)

• PSA: You can see Jeff Daniels, Melanie Griffith and Ray Liotta as babies in 1987’s Something Wild, which is currently streaming. Jonathan Demme directs this movie, and it’s a whole vibe. (Amazon)

• There’s one thing I can never turn down, and that’s a Stevie Nicks profile. This one in particular is written by Tavi Gevinson, so you know it’s good. There are so many gems here, including Stevie explaining the entire plot of Storks. (New Yorker)

• I had fun incorporating my friends’ answers into this post, “25 Morning Routine Ideas to Make Waking Up Enjoyable.” What would you add? I feel like we’re on a lifelong journey together to make it through the mornings. We can do this. (What’s Up Moms)

• I’ll admit I’m pretty tired of Instagram in general. But I still can’t resist a super-niche account. My latest fave is @AbandonedPaintings. It’s just some dude in Brooklyn—at least that’s where I assume he is—sharing pics of beautiful trash strewn about the city. (Instagram)

• The book bans make me so sick, I can’t really even talk about it. There’s never any reason to ban a book. Period. Full stop. Anyway, I appreciated this guide to reading all the books that schools want to ban. Some of these I haven’t read in years and some I’ve never heard of tbh. Book club, anyone? (The Atlantic)  

• I bought my husband a steak package from Holy Grail Steak Co for Valentine’s Day and, hubba hubba, that’s some quality meat. It was definitely a splurge but I felt the need to go big after giving him socks last year. (Holy Grail)

• My friend, Cynthia, whose parents are from Nigeria, recently had the most adorable baby. I’m always curious to hear about how other cultures treat postpartum care. She said her mom made this Nigerian Chicken Pepper Soup, which I’d love to try once I gather all those spices. (Epicurious)

• Having gone through more friend breakups than I’d care to admit, I identified with this deep dive on friendship heartbreak. I started to share an excerpt but realized I was highlighting the entire text. (The Atlantic)

• Evil Witches is one of those newsletters I save specifically for my lunch break. It’s produced by Claire Zulkey, a journalist who runs a tight editorial calendar and excels at crowdsourcing. I guess it’s technically aimed toward moms but I’d like it even if I didn’t have kids. (Substack)

• I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I’m loving the soundtrack for Drive My Car. It’s written by Eiko Ishibashi, a Japanese multi-instrumentalist and composer. And it makes staring at a Google doc all afternoon feel profound. (Spotify) 

• After having an unexpected cry earlier this week, I can appreciate this Wesley Morris essay: The Power of a Good Cry. “Tom Cruise muscles out his tears so it’s not crying so much as a bench press. Angela Bassett’s face becomes a furious scene of quaking, hazy devastation; napalm in the mourning.” Dang. (New York Times)

• Love her or hate her, you know if Gwyneth Paltrow invited you to her beautifully bonkers home in Montecito, you’d pack your toothbrush in two seconds flat. (YouTube)

• Finally, am I the only one who desperately wants to take a nap on this viral butter sofa? (Instagram)