Little Joys and the Creamy Potatoes You Should Make ASAP

Featuring: Graham’s handshake policy, new carrot cake, and a cookbook giveaway!

Hi friends,

One of my little joys in life is shaking my dog Graham’s paw and saying, with full sincerity, “It’s nice to meet you.” What I didn’t mention in my Note this week is that I also insist everyone else say the same when Graham offers his paw. It’s only polite. I had to fuss at Will once about it and now I regularly catch him in the living room greeting Graham like a gentleman. All I’m saying is… sometimes you have to lovingly force your tiny traditions on people. Little joys all around!

This week, I’ve got lots to share:
→ A can’t-miss Sunday post, filled with good links and better vibes
→ The ultimate Easter potato recipe — with… so much cream
→ A brand new carrot cake recipe and video (Texas style)
→ A springy cookbook giveaway you’ll want to jump on

→ And when I posted the above picture to Instagram last week several people wanted outfit details: Gap dress (it’s giving 90’s sitcom mom and I’m obsessed), Dansko clogs (they no longer have the plaid but these will be my next pair), and pilates socks (though I don’t do pilates, I do like the socks).

Let’s get into it, shall we?

This Week on the Blog:

We need to talk about Easter potatoes and, spoiler alert, the answer is Dauphinoise Potatoes. If the question is, are we boiling our potatoes in cream before baking them? The answer is a resounding YES.

We’ll have a fresh salad and chicken recipe up on the blog next week but if you’re in the mood for a very spring-forward salad, consider the Spring Asparagus Spoon Salad. Salads eaten with spoons just taste better. It’s a fact.

Let It Be Sunday, 513!

In this week’s Sunday post we’re talking about being a good neighbor, making a case for Chicken Pot Pie (which isn’t hard), ugly is trendy (?), and other much more important reads for the week.

Read our Sunday post here: Let it Be Sunday, 513!

Texas Sheet Cake is already perfect—no notes, just frosting. But still... I can’t help but fuss with it. This version brings all the cozy, spiced charm of carrot cake to the classic chocolate sheet cake format, with a pour-over cream cheese frosting to seal the deal. It’s a big deal (literally), and exactly what your half sheet pan was made for.

Carrot Texas Sheet Cake

Makes 1 18x13-inch cake (a half sheet pan) or a thicker 9x13-inch cake

For the Cake:

2 ¼ cups (275g) cake flour (you can also substitute all-purpose flour) ⁣⁣⁣

2 cups (200g) granulated sugar⁣⁣⁣

1 teaspoon baking soda⁣⁣⁣

½ teaspoon baking powder⁣⁣⁣

¾ teaspoon salt⁣⁣⁣

1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon⁣⁣⁣

1 teaspoon ground ginger⁣⁣⁣

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg⁣⁣⁣

½ cup neutral oil⁣⁣⁣ (I used avocado oil)

½ cup melted unsalted butter⁣⁣⁣

½ cup buttermilk⁣⁣⁣

2 large eggs⁣⁣⁣

1 teaspoon vanilla extract⁣⁣⁣

1 cup (100g) finely grated carrots⁣⁣⁣

½ cup (100g) drained crushed pineapple⁣⁣⁣

½ cup (50g) chopped walnuts⁣⁣⁣

⁣For the Frosting: ⁣⁣⁣

8 ounces softened cream cheese⁣⁣⁣

4 tablespoons unsalted butter⁣⁣⁣

3 cups (360 grams) powdered sugar⁣⁣⁣

Pinch of salt⁣⁣⁣

½ teaspoon vanilla extract⁣⁣⁣

3-4 tablespoons warm milk, enough to make a pourable glaze⁣⁣⁣

Chopped walnuts for topping the cake⁣⁣⁣

⁣⁣⁣🥕 Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and line a 9x13-inch baking pan.⁣⁣

⁣⁣🥄 In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices.⁣⁣

⁣⁣🥚 In another bowl, whisk oil, melted butter, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla. Stir wet into dry until mostly combined.⁣⁣

⁣⁣🥕 Fold in carrots, pineapple, and walnuts. Pour into pan, smooth the top, and bake for 25–30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely.⁣⁣

⁣⁣🧁 For the frosting: Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla. Mix in warm milk 1 tablespoon at a time until pourable.⁣⁣

⁣⁣✨ Pour glaze over cooled cake, top with walnuts, and let it set before slicing!

An Interview with Jessica Merchant, creator of How Sweet Eats and author of the new cookbook Easy Everyday!

• Let’s start with the origin story of Easy Everyday. What was the spark that made you think, Yep, this cookbook needs to exist?

In 2021, I released a cookbook titled Everyday Dinners. The entire book was about just that: dinner! That book is full of 30 minute meals that can easily be made on weeknights and it was such a hit, that I decided to make a similar book, but with recipes for any time of day! Easy Everyday has breakfast, lunch, dessert, snack, drink recipes and more. Almost everything can be done in 30 minutes - within reason. There is a soup recipe or two, a whole chicken and a few other of my staples that take longer, but don't have much hands on time at all.

The whole premise probably stemmed from the fact that I had a third kid and know first hand the struggle of how to get dinner on the table in a stress-free way that everyone enjoys and wants to eat! I want the whole mealtime experience to be fun, excited and seem effortless.

• What’s the most approachable, satisfying, I’m-making-this-tonight recipe in the book? The one that’s a total home run for busy, hungry people

I’m going for a two-parter: the weeknight baked penne and my shaved asiago house salad! The penne is such a classic, nostalgic recipe with some fresh spinach and lots of melty cheese. Everyone loves it. The house salad is one I make at least twice a week and have been for years. The mini sweet peppers with the asiago is such a game changer. It’s so crisp and satisfying!

• Marry, shag, kill: butter, olive oil, bacon. Choose wisely.

Marry butter. I definitely can’t live without it.

Shag olive oil. Olive oil fried eggs, pesto, dipping oil… I can totally get behind those.

I can’t even believe I’m typing this out: kill bacon. Like, what? I used to LOVE bacon, but as I’ve aged it has fallen lower down on the list. Now don’t get me wrong because, of course, I enjoy it here and there. But I think I can live without it. I'm even shocked!

• What’s a cooking hill you’re willing to die on?

Caramelizing onions. If you’re not adding sugar or honey or anything else to help them along, they take at the very least, an hour. Better at two hours!

• We’re throwing a dinner party using recipes from your book. What’s the menu, and more importantly—what are we drinking?

We’ll start with the rosemary white bean dip on a little crudite platter.

Then, lemon kale caesar salads, roasted chicken and potatoes with piccata vinaigrette and some sourdough on the side to soak up all the sauce.

Lemon pudding cake is dessert. I could probably eat this every day of the year.

And we’re drinking the cherry aperol spritz! It’s easily the most refreshing cocktail of the season and tastes like heaven.

• What’s the most chaotic recipe in the book? You know, the one that makes you feel like an orchestra conductor and a firefighter at the same time?

Probably the smoked salmon frittata souffle. There’s the whipping of the egg whites, the beating of the frittata ingredients, the folding everything together - it is delicious but slightly high maintenance. And a little bowl-heavy.

• What’s a kitchen task you secretly love that everyone else seems to hate? (Peeling potatoes? Measuring flour? Washing dishes??)

I freaking love to clean my kitchen. I have such a good system (I go by one counter section at a time) and it gets done quickly and efficiently. But it’s also spotless! Oh and also cleaning the grates of my oven hood. Weird, but satisfying. Soaking the grease off of them is thrilling. (I need to get out more).

• What’s the most you recipe in this book? The one that feels like a little signature, a calling card in edible form.

The smashburger salad, for sure. A crisp salad, a little bit trashed up, with melty cheeseburger pieces and a caramelized onion vinaigrette. If I could add caramelized onions to everything, I would.

We’re giving away a copy of Easy Everyday by Jessica Merchant, and entering couldn’t be easier:

Just leave a comment below answering this:
What’s one oddly specific kitchen joy or hill you’re willing to die on?

Maybe you live to scrub the stovetop (respect), or you believe butter belongs in literally everything (correct). We’ll pick a winner at random on Tuesday 4/15.