Friends, hello! How are you? I’ve missed you. It feels like it’s been too long since we’ve had a proper catch up.
Last Easter weekend, Will and I were driving back to Houston from a camping trip (well, he was driving and I was eating ranch dip and potato chips in the passanger seat) and the highway was speckled with cars stopped along the side of the road. I can’t tell if it was planned or spontaneous, but families had stopped at various point on the road to pose in the wildflower patches in their Easter Sunday best. It felt so endearing. So sweet. Very Texas spring.
Growth is nigh this season as I’ve found myself stretching and growing, making decisions about finances, insurance, and mortgages that seem like decisions for an adult somewhere else. I dunno. Part of this continued adulthood is carrying the confidence that things will work out, or we can work them out. Let’s keep seeing about it.
This feels like an exciting season, chaos eclipse and trillions of cicadas not withstanding. Here’s the Sunday offering this week. Take it easy, friends.
• Beyoncé. Obviously. I haven’t yet formed what to say about her latest album, Cowboy Carter except to say that tears welled up in my eyes three separate times on my first listen of this album. To fully appreciate it, we need notes. (Spotify, Vulture)
• See also: The Legacy of Black Cowgirls (Capital B News)
• By now you know that Jasmin Paris was the first woman to finish the notorious Barkley Marathon with a chill 99 seconds to spare. She describes tunnel vision as made her way to the finish gate those last few hundred feet, and I really truly can only imagine. I’m in awe of the lengths women will go to show other women what’s possible. And if you aren’t familiar with the Barkley Marathon, there’s a documentary on the Tennessee race here. (BBC, Amazon)
• This made me emotional. Pictures really do become treasures. The Real Reason I Take So Many Selfies With My Daughter. (Romper)
• I’ve been toying with the idea of putting an induction cooktop in my next kitchen. Now, I’ve been adamant about cooking over gas for… ever, so this change of heart has even me surprised. What appeals to me is the smooth and cool-to-the-touch cooktop, the ease of cleaning, and the fact that I can still use my cast iron skillets. I’ve poured over Heidi Swanson’s (of 101 Cookbooks) Pros, Cons, and Real Talk on induction cooking and this deep dive with Wirecutter: Best Induction Cooktops. Do you have an induction cooktop? Or strong opinions? I’ll all ears. (NYTimes)
• I find that the most cozy homes are those with a collected, eclectic sensibility. And great art. Most of my collected New Orleans home is in storage just outside of Houston, but I’m thinking about the pieces of art I’ll add to my next home here in Texas. I’ve been browsing Etsy (believe it or not) for original art and these are two of my favorites: Ramona Candy Studio and CDFineArts. (Etsy)
• A few week’s back, Amy reminded us of the Cheeseburger Fried Rice we had at Red’s Chinese the last time she and her wife visited New Orleans. Red’s Chinese has since closed and I’ve moved away from New Orleans but that doesn’t mean we can’t relive the feel of those days with a bowl of this ridiculous rice and a video about it, obvi. (Joy the Baker, Instagram)
• When I was in Charleston a few weeks back, Garden and Gun had me blind taste a bunch of different fast food biscuits and I gotta say… I was 0/3. I can’t tell one fast food biscuit from another except for the fact that they all smell like fried chicken (and that’s a special treat in itself). Luckily on the same trip, Carrie of Callie’s Hot Little Biscuits taught me how to make her famous buttermilk biscuits so overall it was a huge win. (Garden and Gun, Joy the Baker)
• Last year I refreshed my purse for spring which, for me, means tucking a small amount of cash in the tiny pocket for emergencies or just to forget about. I can report I that I did, in fact, forget about that $60 I tucked away and was delighted to find it in September at the farmer’s market. Pro Tip: hide things from yourself?
• I recently purchased this Oversized Linen Dress and it will be my summer uniform. A breathable fabric that doesn’t touch my body? Absolutely yes. For sizing, I’m a size 8 and the Small in this sizing is a more traditional but still roomy fit. The Medium would be extra roomy which is also a vibe. (Everlane)
• Related: How I Built an Endometriosis-Friendly Wardrobe. As the owner of boxy tops, over-sized men’s button down shirts, and dresses that don’t touch my body – I’m nodding YES. (Self)
• One of my latest indulgences is fine soaps. As a baker, of course I want to rub fine butters on my body. I met Megan in New Orleans years ago and she’s not the owner and soap maker at Kin and Cottage in Winston-Salem, NC. Her products are beautiful! All the soaps are fantastic but the Appalachia Soap might be my favorite. (Kin & Cottage)
• Smitten with the idea of a Laundry Room Coffee Shop as a way to keep my kitchen counters clean (and buy saddle stools, obviously). (Instagram)
• We’re fast approaching the most lovely pie of spring and summer: Strawberry Crumble Pie. (Joy the Baker)
I hope you’re well! My love to you!
xo Joy
25 Responses
Hi there! I am on team yes on the induction cooktop. We splurged a number of years ago now, when our existing stove died and got a wolf induction stove…we absolutely love it, you can control the pan temp extremely well, and you can boil water in no time…highly recommend. As others have said, brand probably does contribute to the experience, as does having the right and quality pans. I would not get a gas stove after having this induction stove.
Last fall I stage managed a show about a Black cowboy (Last Drive To Dodge by Andrew Lee Creech) and the artwork displayed in the lobby during the show was photographs by Ivan McClellan (https://eightsecs.com/) of Black cowboys and cowgirls. I loved seeing all the beautiful photographs every day!
I bought a condo with an induction stovetop and I HATE IT! Thankfully it’s not a place I spend all that much time and my house where I cook daily has a Wolf gas stove and oven (love it!). I echo what Emilie said. The placement of the pots and pans on the induction burners have to be just right, just so, or it won’t heat. Maybe not all of them are that fussy but mine is. Also I find the heat difficult to control, it goes from cold to searing hot, way too fast. Trying to just find a mellow simmering point is an art whereas with gas, I don’t think twice. I honestly would never recommend one! Also as a blogger, you have to think about what percentage of your readers will have one vs. traditional cooktops so for recipe testing I think it would be really tricky, too.
My oven started acting up last year and was eventually diagnosed as irreparable. RIP. While it was an unexpected expense, as a cook and baker, it was a unique opportunity to get myself a very important tool. We decided on an induction cooktop. I was initially attracted to a Cafe (a fancy GE line) because of aesthetics, but it was backordered and I needed something stat. We ended up getting a GE Profile induction. While there was a learning curve with induction, we are really happy with it!
I have been excited to get an induction stove for a while, and after looking at reviews, got the Frigidaire Gallery induction range. I have cooked with gas my whole adult life, and I love cooking on this stove. I can echo what others say about the consistency of heat esp at low temps, quick boil, and easy cleaning. No complaints here, I’m a total convert.
I miss the bluebonnets every day of spring on the East Coast. I’m so glad we at least have forsythia up here. I have vivid memories of seeing those yellow flowers in Austin every spring.
I have mixed feelings about our induction stovetop. The brand we have is finicky about the size of the pan fitting the particular circle. That means I can’t have a large pot next to a small pot and I can’t have two large Dutch ovens going at the same time given the layout of my range. I don’t love being constrained in where my pots/pans are on the stovetop. The clicking/buzzing sound is also pretty annoying. That said, the boil speed is incredible and clean up is great. We have a GE.
Just bought my first home and the only thing I don’t like about it is the induction stove. Gas is so much better—easier to control the temperature and visualize what’s going on with the stove/heat, and a huge asset in SE Texas, where power outages are almost routine at this point.
I swapped our gas range for an induction range last year, and I love it. We switched because my daughter has a specific form of asthma that prolongs any respiratory illness, and I’d read that gas ranges could affect it. Getting rid of the gas range seems to have helped her lung health. And as for cooking: I love the heat control. I love that I can boil a giant pot of water in under 3 minutes. I love that the rest of the cooktop remains cool. I love that cleanup is a breeze. The only thing I miss from my gas range is being able to use the open flame to char tortillas. It’s a small, but real, sacrifice.
We’re remodeling our new home (just moved from Texas ((lifelong Texan here)) to Sonoma CA), and our new induction range is ready to be installed. I cannot wait! My daughter’s had one for a few years now, and the heat control is remarkable.
Bluebonnet pictures are a rite of Spring. I’ve got 20 years of bluebonnet pictures with my girls on various Texas roadsides. They’re our “time markers”. It was always great when Easter coincided with Peak Bluebonnets! Start your own tradition & do watch for dozing rattlers.
I miss bluebonnets & H-E-B! Enjoy!
I covet an induction stovetop! We rent and have only had propane (which the more I cook the more I notice fumes) or old electric coils (which were too slow to heat up) BOTH pains to clean.
I’m also a fancy soap convert – I buy from Baron Von Soap on Etsy who used to be a neighbor in NY but is now Texas based!
Like everything, the brand might make a difference. Also if it is a newer model (in the last couple of years). I didn’t know what to expect. My sister-in-law, who went to culinary school. had one and really liked it. I was remodeling and was drawn to the clean look. I have been pleased with the performance and extra pleased with the ease of cleanup.
I love this week’s round-up. I will be adding that dress to my rotation this spring/summer. I’m a gas stove but the comments have me strongly considering an induction when I buy my house.
We move a lot, so I’ve cooked on every kind of stove imaginable and induction is by far my favorite. Easy cleanup, boils water insanely fast, no need for double boilers because low is LOW, and I can finally consistently cook rice! The only dramatic learning curve I had was I cracked a cast iron pan drying it on the stove on high.
Having cooked on an up scale gas stove for decades, we moved to a house that had an electric stove, I just disliked it so much- so we bought an induction last fall and I’m totally in love with cooking with this stove. I think you will love it. I also believe, even with venting, my gas stove was throwing off gas fumes and caused a problem my lungs, especially in the winter, with my long stews, etc.
An induction stove is better both for you and the environment! Gas stoves (powered by “natural gas,” i.e. mostly methane and some other kind of nasty gases) are shown to increase the rate of asthma in kids and also leak benzene, a carcinogen. Methane also leaks from both the stoves and distribution pipes (as much as 30% (!!) leaks, but we don’t actually know the exact number), and methane is EIGHTY (80) TIMES more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Especially in Texas, induction is an even better choice for the environment because so much of your electric power comes from renewables. Also, (energy geek here), it is a pretty easy climate to switch home and water heating from gas to electric, which would (eventually) allow removal of those leaky methane pipes entirely.
I really appreciate the dressing for endometriosis article. Thank you for sharing it. While I don’t have endometriosis, I do have some sensory issues. Once I started dressing in a way that brought them into consideration (for example, wearing wool, linen and cotton and NO synthetics with stretchy or oversized fits) I felt so much safer and able to simply exist.
Same! I also don’t have endometriosis but am a neurospicy with an eating disorder and wearing clothes that feel good and comfortable on my body, that allow it to sweat naturally, has been a game changer. I also do wool, cotton, linen, silk, no synthetics, etc.
Joy, I am team “no” for induction. We stayed at a home for a weekend knowing in advance that the stove top was induction. They had pans and we brought our own and we still had issues making sure the pans were “just so” on the stove top so as to not set off the sensors and have alarms going off in the kitchen. I consider myself an excellent home cook and would rather cook on electric than induction after that experience.
I was all set to buy my mom an induction cook top when she had to get rid of her gas stove. (can’t have on when you are on oxygen!)
It seemed so much safer for an elderly lady who sometimes forgets to turn off the burners.
But! We were schooled by the salesmen that no induction cooktops if you have a pacemaker. Magnets bad!
Boring selective it was.
Mom really misses having gas when the power goes out, because she lives in rural nowhere and it happens often.
Induction All. The. Way. The pollutants from having a gas-fired stove in the house are wild. I convinced my preggo friend to go induction (by sharing this article https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/10/utilities-lying-gas-stoves-health-risks/ ) and she loves it.
I’ve had a Miele induction for a few years- love it! Easy clean, good temp control on stove top, oven has a million fun settings. My cookies do bake a little differently (which may be expected anytime you change an oven) and I’m not totally sold on digital displays to control everything (worried it will break/timer can be a pain to turn off), but it’s been great so far!
Induction all the way! We switched when we renovated. It’s been a year and a half and I would never go back to gas. The only downside, imo, is that it does make a little clicky noise, but I still think the advantages far outweigh that issue. Compatible cookware is a very easy obstacle to overcome as well. Good luck with the decision!
Induction is better for your health also! We have an indoor air quality monitor and it’s dramatic how much cooking with gas (literally even just turning on the gas cooktop) impacts the air quality.
Taking photos along the highway in the bluebonnets is a Texas tradition! Just be careful of rattlesnakes :)
Joy, I was always on ‘team gas’ for a cooktop until I tried induction. I had used two gas cooktops and loved them! But I installed an induction cooktop and I would never go back. I love the way it quickly comes to a boil, but also how instantly the heat actually turns down when you turn it down. The smooth surface looks good and is super easy to keep clean. The only ‘downside’ is needing specific pots and pans. But cast iron, Le Creuset and others work fantastic. I am now ‘team induction’!!