Hello friends!
Welcome to another fine Sunday in the human experience. The skies in New Orleans are clear and blue. It feels like finding money on the ground. Your heart instantly races and you look around to see if this found money can, in fact, be yours. Yep, snag it fast. That’s this day: look around but it is, in fact, ours. What a thrill!
This week I’ve been testing recipes for the next few weeks on Joy the Baker. I have a new recipe for a pumpkin cream pie coming your way which means I have a very chill 3 (!) pumpkin cream pies currently in my refrigerator. I’m also working on dinner rolls for us and a recipe for a gluten free sweet potato pie. Ya know, workin’!
Above is one of the things I pulled out of my oven this weekend: a dutch oven bread. It’s just one of those things we should make all the time but only remember every few months. It’s a little wonder with minimal effort. Consider this your reminder / invitation. (King Arthur Flour)
The offering this week is below. Gosh, it’s all a lot these days and I hope this space feels like a small respite. I’m rooting for us. As always, take only what you need.
โข Perhaps you’ll find this helpful: A Political Scientist’s Guide To Following The Election. (Scientific American)
โข I think you’ll find that Ann Patchett’s words move soothingly through the soul: My Three Fathers. (The New Yorker)
โข Ok listen, I know everything is (*side-eye*) everything but we’re still just out here tryna save for retirement: Life Kit: Saving for Retirement. (NPR)
โข Let’s improve what we can, like… right now. Why Americans Have Turned to Nesting. You’ll catch me in here next week replacing my bathroom light fixtures for sure. Did I pressure wash the side of my house already? Of course I did. (The Atlantic)
โข Since we’re nesting let’s really double down: how to test for hotspots in your oven with a loaf of bread and how to test your refrigerator with a dollar bill. It’s all very clever and oddly empowering. (Joy the Baker and The Kitchn)
โข Talk about nesting? Talk about Deb’s Homemade Cream Cheese. (Smitten Kitchen)
โข Julia Turshen on how to make a family cookbook which feels like a really lovely family tree of food. I’m absolutely going to do this. (The Washington Post)
โข The Growing Appeal of Desserts That Are ‘Not Too Sweet’. I’ll tell you that, as a baker, I’ve basically lost my sweet tooth (GASP) so this new trend is a relief to me. (Vice)
โข I love my Culinary Goddess sweatshirt (it.is.so.soft.) and this Stay At Home Starter Kit For Fall is a realreal cute gift. (Overseasoned)
โข A reasonably priced bag I like. (Everlane)
โข Adrianna’s mini sheet cakes are always a good idea especially this gem: Mini Pumpkin Sheet Cake with Browned Butter Frosting. A (small) crowd pleaser. (A Cozy Kitchen)
That is today!
My big love to you.
xo Joy
9 Responses
Looks yummy and healthy. I will try to make this for my family. Thank you so much. i love it.
Thank you for letting me discover Overseasoned, like where I’ve been all this time?
Dutch oven bread looks new to me and trying this will be fun.
Oh, gosh. Ann Patchett always finds a way to reach deep inside you and pull at strings you didn’t even know were there. I haven’t cried AT ALL since the pandemic started (thanks, Celexa!) and that got me teared up.
Hello-amateur baker here with a couple issues/questions on the mini pumpkin sheet cake. The recipe calls for vanilla in the icing but it is not listed on the icing ingredients. Am I missing something? Also, it calls for kosher salt which I thought was coarse salt. It did not dissolve in the frosting :( What did I do wrong?
Thanks
Thanks for the โnot too sweetโ article, this really resonated with me right now. I have been trying to cut back on sugar for health reasons, but even before I found a lot of blog recipes to be too sweet to me, especially Smitten Kitchen. I LOVE to bake, so itโs really nice to hear that a sweet treat baker like yourself has lost their sweet tooth.
Yes yes I totally understand.
Love the piece by Turshen on family cookbooks. My favorite is one called “Spoonbread & Strawberry Wine” by the Darden sisters. Wonderful family stories and pictures and lots of good southern (mostly) recipes.
That Ann Patchett piece though! I remember reading Bel Canto in high school and it was life changing. Thanks for your offerings this week, Joy!!