Just In Time For Christmas

What I’m eating, reading, and breathing into this week

The Bakehouse, Bellville

Friends, hello. We’re officially two days out from Christmas and… phew. What a run-up it’s been. I’ve had the Christmas decorations up for nearly two months now (yes, even before Thanksgiving), and somehow it’s only today that I feel like I can finally relax into the season. Just in time, right?

If I really stop to think about it, the to-do list is still doing its thing. We’re packing up to head back to California for a few short days with family, but with the December pop-up bakery behind us (a joyful success, if I may say so), the holiday parties wrapped, and most of the dishes put away, the remaining odds and ends feel… manageable. Wrapping gifts. Packing bags. Finding my good socks to pack. All very doable.

Speaking of gifts - we’re flying out Christmas Eve morning (God willing through the West Coast atmospheric river), and I’ve put together little thank-you bags for the Delta flight attendants. Have you ever done this? I’m calling it a soft experiment in goodwill. Inside: a Starbucks gift card, these lip glosses I love, a few fancy chocolates, hand sanitizer, hand cream, and my new favorite hydration packs. I may tuck in a few more odds and ends, but it already feels like a thoughtful offering. We’ll see how it goes!

Mostly, I hope you’re finding a bit of ease this week - wherever you are, however you’re celebrating, or even if you’re not celebrating much at all. In the very least we can take a breath together.

Now, on to a few good bakes and reads to carry us into the holiday. 🎄✨

A very lovely Quiche Lorraine

A Short List of Things I Will Be Eating This Week

• I mentioned that we’re headed back for a few days in California this week and I’m looking forward to the plane touching down, heading to my parents’ house, opening their refrigerator, and locating the Tupperware bowl with the pile of Mom’s Famous Peanut Butter Balls inside. I will be eating several right there with the fridge door open.

• What a package of store-bought croissants won’t do! This Overnight Chocolate Croissant Bake is the most popular recipe on joythebaker.com this week and… I get it! On the savory side, there’s also these criminally easy Ham and Cheese Croissants made from store-bought puff pastry and I think I’ll be pulling a batch out of my parents’ oven by week’s end.

• This feels like an excellent week to have a Creme Fraiche Quiche Lorraine in the fridge. That’s quiet luxury, right?

• I’m taking a few weeks off going into the new year and at the top of my very short list of things to accomplish is to make Bri McKoy’s House Special Lasagna (likely a double batch!) and many many more batches of Martin’s Bagels.

• I made twelve batches of these Christmas Morning Orange Rolls for last weekend’s Bakehouse Texas pop-up which left me with a boatload of dough scraps I’ve amassed in a baking dish to bake into a scrappy little treat for me and Will around the new year! Highly recommend you make the real deal rolls this week or next!

• Also while we’re talking about cinnamon rolls, my friend Timothy from Mississippi Vegan just published a Vegan Orange Cinnamon Rolls that looks incredible!

The Bakehouse Texas December offering

Things I’ve Read Lately and Loved

• If you’re here, you’ll likely find this highly relatable, and for this reason I offer you a firm handshake with eye contact. Aging Out of Fucks: The Neuroscience of Why You Suddenly Can’t Pretend Anymore

• Deb’s flawless holiday brunch suggestions that also allow us to sleep in PLUS a very enticing cabbage and mandarin salad.

• This week I did an interview with Shopify, talking about the business of Joy the Baker and how I think about adaptation and growth: “Growth doesn’t have to mean bigger”.

Have a wonderful holiday week, friends!

More from me soon!

xo Joy