Before I Go, Let’s Talk Dinner

A maternity leave update + three recipes for the week ahead

Hey it’s me, I’ll BRB!

Friends, hi!

With maternity leave just around the corner (how did we get here so soon?), I wanted to give you a little peek at what Baked In will look like while I’m off learning how to be someone’s mom.

TL;DR: you’re in very good hands the next few months.

Over the past few weeks, so many of my chef and author friends have stepped up enthusiastically, offering to share recipes and stories from their own kitchens here on Baked In. It’s been one of the sweetest surprises and we have a great line-up of folks coming up!

So while I’m away, you can expect a lineup of free newsletters from these incredible contributors. I like to think of them as little windows into their kitchens and as a confirmed nosy b - I’m very into it.

I’ll be popping in here and there as a little proof of life (and maybe to remind you I still know where the oven is), but mostly I’ll be over here learning a whole new rhythm.

I think you’re going to really love what’s coming starting next week! Thanks so much for being here, friends!

This skillet lasagna is packed with sausage, kale, and artichoke hearts but could be just as delicious made vegetarian.

But Before I Go, Can We Talk About What’s For Dinner This Week?

This Weeknight Skillet Lasagna with Kale and Artichoke got lost to the joythebaker archives but it deserves a little respect. It’s all the comfort of lasagna without the whole layering situation. A skillet packed to the gills with tender noods, kale, artichoke hearts, sausage, and cheese. I can also vouch for the fact that leftovers are excellent the next morning (adding a little bit of water to thin the sauce) for a very modified shakshuka move. For your consideration.

Dad had a version of this One-Pot Hawaiian Chicken in the monthly family meal rotation while I was growing up and it was always one of my favorites. Admittedly, it’s one of those 1970s recipes that requires French dressing and may make you tilt your head a bit but… am I crazy for thinking that French dressing is having a comeback? I’ve seen it on several menus lately! Anyway, dressing aside, this one-pot chicken dinner is probably only veeeery loosely Hawaiian but I absolutely love it for the fresh pineapple, snow peas, and crisp watercress. It’s just a fun dinner!

Julia Turshen’s Chicken Francese is classy as all get-out. Think: lightly crisp chicken and a bright lemony/herby sauce. It’s one of those recipes that hits the sweet spot between simple and special — and we could all use a little of that this week!

Substack Reads That I’ve Loved This Week

• It’s literally always always always a good time to go to Hillstone. Hillstone is a rich person’s Applebee’s

• It’s a long (exhausting) game: Why Authors Burn Out Trying to Build Visibility (and how to prevent it)

• Immediate add to the dinner rotation: Olga’s Sesame Chicken Schnitzel

• I found this so interesting: Writing Your Last Word: Why You Should Draft Your Own Obituary

• Trust us, we were there. Ten Things That Sucked About The 90’s. And the way I still think of Courtney Cox in a relationship with Adam Duritz when I hear Long December. I just… it really was a time.

Ok. Gotta go have a baby, friends. More from me soon!

xo Joy