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Friends, good morning! What a year this week has been. We need a break and, if we can’t take a break on a Sunday morning, then all is lost. All is certainly not lost. Today we’re taking comfort in small bits of joy like, how well a bird can hold a grudge, apples baked with butter, and how dogs are perfect people.
I’ll tell you what- I’m ready to pull down the Christmas tree. I’m ready for the twinkling lights of a Christmas tree on the front porch along with all the tacky tree decorations I blacked out and bought at Dollar Tree in July. I’m ready to plant the spring bulbs in the garden beds I’ve sheet mulched (and the dogs have subsequently dug holes in thaaaanks). I’m ready to plant sage and thyme in the window boxes. I’m ready to stock my freezer with turkey and dinner rolls. I’m ready for the comfort and care portion of the holiday season and I think we’re allowed to start that now.
Here’s the offering this week! Take good care, friends!
• If You think You Can Hold a Grudge, Consider the Crow Brilliant, but are they petty? (NYTimes Gift Link)
• Here’s one way out of where we’re stuck: Students building bridges across the American divide with the American Exchange Program. High school kids, not going overseas, but to American towns that are politically and s0cio-economically different from the one they’ve been raised in. I’m nodding my head yes. (CBS, American Exchange Program)
• What It Means if You’re Wholly Numb Right Now – And How To Cope (Self)
• How do you feel about the Chaos Method of decluttering? It stresses me out but maybe that stress morphs into motivation to see the floor again? (Apartment Therapy)
• What to watch this weekend? Quincy, co-directed by his daughter Rashida Jones. (Netflix)
• This Modern Proper salad has inspired the majority of my lunches this week. I love a warm roasted veggie with crisp apples and creamy goat cheese in salad. The move these days is to chop a salad fine then stuff in fresh fluffy pita. (Instagram, Joy the Baker)
• Can we talk about Thanksgiving gravy? We’re weeks away, it’s not too soon. My neighbor here in Bellville happens to be a chef (an elite neighbor) and has offered to fry turkeys (yes, plural!) for our big Thanksgiving bash. As perfect as that is for freeing up precious oven space, it does beg the question, “what do we do about the gravy without turkey drippings?”. My current options are this Make-Ahead Turkey Gravy (made with roasted turkey wings) OR this jar of gravy starter from Williams Sonoma that piques my interest. (Taste of Home, Williams Sonoma)
• In J. Kenji we trust: The Food Lab’s Creamed Spinach Recipe (Serious Eats)
• This holiday season requires a puzzle table. It’s peaceful. (Piecework Puzzles)
• Did I hear you say you wanted to make Aunt Ina’s Apple Pie Bars? (Joy the Baker)
• In the tiny corner of my mind that’s concerned with health and wellness, I’m highly motivated to not get sick this flu season as, admittedly, I’m such a baby of a sick person. To keep all systems go, I’ve mixed this rather intense Anima Mundi Green Powder with orange juice and water every morning. Also, a jar of whole fermented garlic cloves and honey seems like it can cure just about anything so that’s on the To Do List. (Amazon, Simply Recipes)
• Our friend Timothy makes the best playlists and I’m currently enjoying his Wind Down playlist at night as I’m cleaning the kitchen before bed. Additionally, we need to make a batch of Timmy’s Firecrackers (a seasoned and marinated Saltine cracker) for any and all holiday guests this season. (Instagram, Spotify, Mississippi Vegan)
• The Cure has a new album and I think I like it very much. Simplistically, it sounds good in my house these days. Something about how a particular album bounces off the walls either feels right or wrong. Songs of a Lost World (Spotify)
• I’ve been splurging on my skincare products lately with, namely, these Dr. Gross daily peels (that I use every other day), this Caudalie Beauty Elixir and Vinoperfect Serum. I’m going into winter smooth and bright. To my wallet’s dismay, these products workwork (and they’re honestly cheaper than monthly facials).
• The dogs were good again this week. (TikTok)
Have a lovely Sunday friends. Let’s go outside.
My love to you.
xo Joy