Friends, hi hello and welcome to the very last Sunday of the year! We’re collectively glad, right? We were all pretty sick of 2023 right around March and definitely again around August, no?
If 2023 were a day of the week, it was definitely a Wednesday.
If 2023 were an age, it would absolutely be 14… or 26, or 31.
And I’m grateful for every day this year. Despite the grind. We said goodbye to The Bakehouse this year. We all made Taylor’s Chai Sugar Cookies. We got out of bed and tried hard every day this year and we should shake hands at that accomplishment. I have so many hopes for the new year. Like, the daring sort of hopes, that feel like they’re up to God to sort out for me. I’ll take it as it comes, that’s what I know for certain. And we’ll have our Sundays together, another certainty.
Cheers to a year well done, friends. Here’s our Sunday offering. As always, take just what you need.
• I love a speedy scroll through lists like the 2023 Year In Pictures and The 84 Sentences That Define 2023 but let’s not get too lost in the muck and mire and lols in the rearview mirror. (New York Times and Slate)
• A few years ago, I found a version of Black-Eyed Peas and Cornbread Dumplings in Weight Watcher’s magazine. It’s become a gem of a holiday recipe to ring in the new year with both prosperity and fiber. (Joy the Baker)
• I had a whole (voice memo and text) conversation with our friend Amy about whether or not we were FUN people. It was devestating. Of course I naturally wanted to think of myself as fun, wouldn’t everyone? The truth is, there are other things like comfort, ease, sleep, hydration, connection that I value more than plain fun. It’s complicated…. which is exactly what an unfun person would say. Luckily, I have a great capacity for fun when the stars align. One of the ways I know I’m fun – dancing. (And Will, please don’t argue with me here. That wouldn’t be fun.) So here’s to letting go to some of the seriousness of ourselves in the new year. We need more disco balls. How To Dance. (Joy the Baker, Dirt)
• If you’re stalled at putting away holiday decorations, listen to this quick 17 minute podcast on undecorating from the holidays. I suggest putting the episode on, grabbing a bin, and just starting. (The Nester)
• I’m not sure what catchy title is worse, Dryanuary or Damp January, but will you be partaking in the cutback? For me? Yes, all year. (Eater)
• January feels like a really great month for Julia Turshen’s Easiest Spinach Lasagna which uses Deb Perelman‘s soaked lasagna noodle technique that I’ve been meaning to try. All of this to say, I don’t make enough lasagna and this is the month to remedy that. (Substack, Smitten Kitchen)
• Speaking of Deb, she makes a perfect potato: Crispy Crumbled Potatoes. (Smitten Kitchen)
• I love a list of intentions at the top of the year. It’s nothing to fail. I think of it as a little list of how to be better to yourself and everyone. This list of Nine Mental Health Resolutions for 2024 feels like a great start. (Time)
• As a middle child that identifies as a tireless (sometimes unfun, see above) eldest daughter, I could scrawl notes from slackers on doing the least on my bathroom mirror. I just don’t know if I’m a “do the least” kind of person. Why do the least when you could do so much more than the least? That’s a rhetorical question. I feel a spiral coming on. (Self)
• Before I spiral: I’m Done Resolving to Be More Productive. Hobbies are where it’s at. And if we’re talking about “doing the least”, I’d rather do something new with the least skill. It’s consuming (albiet wholly frustrating at times), and there’s so much growth to be had. Two years ago I cried at the thought of riding a motorcycle through a simple inersection from a stop sign and today I’m confidently on a dirt bike in the woods. I’m no more productive but I’m nearly fun! (The Cut)
Thank you for being here this whole year. Every dang Sunday. I’m so thankful for you and for all the thoughts you leave in the comments. I’m wishing you a peaceful start to this new year. Take it as easy as you can. More from Team Joy the Baker soon, friends!
We love you. Happy New Year!
xo Joy
Nancy
You won’t be sad using Deb’s lasagna noodle soak technique. For me it is a game changer and gives me the perfect excuse for making lasagna more often.
Terry C
I didn’t realize that BEP recipe was from WW. I’ve made it the past three years for NYD, adding a little kale for money, and invited friends and family over to enjoy it. And I’m looking forward to yesterday’s leftovers for dinner tonight. :-)
Joy the Baker
I know! WW has (had?) a pretty great magazine of recipes. I always reach for them when I visit my parents’ house!
Pat
Always a pleasure part of my Sundays with you. Have a Blessed 2024!
Joy the Baker
You too, Pat! Happy New Year!
Dottie
Joy, I always look forward to Sunday with you. Happy New Year!
Alicia Madsen
You are the most fun.. ?
Teddi
I feel like we know each other, and I look forward to our Sunday “chats”. I agree that the year 2023 was a Wednesday, but so was the holiday season here in the Northwest. It has been so warm that I still have a rose bush in bloom. Crazier than that – I still have nasturtiums with buds on them. Are we going to have winter this year at all? Who knows? But at least we will have Sundays, and that will get me through.
Cara
Happy New Year! Thank you for the link on mental health! Much needed.??
Joy the Baker
I loved it too, Cara! I’m glad it resonated with you too!
Stella
Joy, thank you for your generosity of spirit and all you share with us. I wish for all of us a very happy and healthy New Year. Asking for 2024 to please be kind doesn’t seem to extravagant does it?
Joy the Baker
It doesn’t seem extravagant at all! I so appreciate you being here, Stella. Take good care!
Todd Buckton
Joy: THANKS for all the love and support you give throughout the year, and please remember to use your platform to remind people to register, vote and tell others. We’re gonna need *every* one of your followers to keep things real next November! I’ll get off my high horse now ‘cause I’m gonna make some cornbread dumplings!
Dani H
Happy New Year!! May 2024 be better for us all!
I see you as a fun girl, Joy!
Ramona Puckett
Happy New Year, Joy and family (this includes friends)!! I love reading your Sunday posts and look forward to reading the coming year! And baking with you! ??