Peach Blossoms and Other Signs of Hope

Freezer meals, a new cookbook conversation, and a story I’m finally ready to share

Friends, hi!

Two years ago I planted a Sam Houston peach tree in the front yard, inspired by my friend Timmy’s wildly generous peach trees back in New Orleans.

I bought a potted tree already a few years into its life, though still fragile enough to require a blanket whenever Texas remembers it can freeze. I am not, by any stretch, a gardener - that title is reserved for my mom and big sister Launa and everyone in the family knows it. For the past few winters, at the very last minute before temperatures dropped, I’ve hauled out an old blue moving blanket and a roll of duct tape (very official garden tools, obvi) and awkwardly wrapped that little tree like a mummy. I’d give it a quick pep talk about how this was the best I could do, step back with a thumbs up, and hope for the best.

Will helped wrap the tree this year, graciously asking zero questions about my haphazard technique, and did the good work of unwrapping the poor tree after the freeze.

The peach tree, post moving blanket. :)

If I’m honest, this year I waited a few weeks before going out to check on the tree. I had the very real fear that this year, because of my very real lack of gardening skills, the tree didn’t survive and I wanted to delay the disappointment.

I planted that tree during a very deep stretch of my infertility journey. If I’m honest, I would say that those years held some dark days, and my mind was constantly scanning for proof that something good might be ahead. I planted the tree because I needed somewhere to place that hope and dared to daydream that maybe one day, years from now, I could stand beside it with a kiddo. Maybe we’d watch the pink blossoms arrive in early spring. Maybe we’d pick a peach straight from the branch. Gosh… sometimes that little hope felt dangerous.

This past weekend I slipped into my garden Crocs and walked across the lawn - seven months pregnant - to inspect what looked, from a distance, like bare branches.

But up close, the tree was alive with buds. More blooms than any year before. Soft pink, persistent, undeniable. Huzzah. Hope, still!

I shared more about the story behind my bump on the blog today. It’s information I’ve held close for a long time and still feels precarious to share.

I hope this finds you well. Here’s a bit of inspiration and joy for the week (plus a very excellent cookbook interview and giveaway)!

xo Joy

A very nearly final recipe test for nursing cookies.

Notes from the Kitchen

This week in the test kitchen, the recipes are more like care packages in progress. I have several friends moving through the fog of pregnancy and new motherhood, so everything I’m testing lately is destined for foil, freezer bags, and front porch drop-offs across Texas before they land on the blog.

I’m very close on a nursing cookie in the spirit of The Bakehouse Texas Chocolate Chip Cookie - big, thick, bakery-style, and packed with oats, flax, brewer’s yeast, and enough chocolate to feel like an actual treat.

Really happy with the texture of the cookies but need to find out if I can get away with 1/3 cup less sugar.

I also can’t shake the vision of a freezer-friendly breakfast sandwich: soft English muffins layered with baked scrambled herby eggs, homemade turkey sausage, a proper slice of melty cheese - something we can hold in one hand which feels like that’s about to be very important.

And because I’m entering a season where future-me will need (more than) a little help, I’ve been leaning hard into freezer cooking. I’m working my way through the New York Times Slow Cooker Recipes as make-ahead meals with a double batch of Mulligatawny Stew to enjoy all week.

I’m so eager to get the back garden to a more beautiful and managable place but the dogs enjoy their run around and this Japanese Magnolia is a spot of joy every year.

Small Joys this Week

• For those of you buried in snow this week, Alexis deBoschnek’s Spiced Tomato Rice Soup seems like a perfect remedy.

• I can see these bronze metallic slides are going to be a staple this spring and summer.

• Nea Arentzen’s Scandi Breakfast will be the inspiration for all future breakfast snacking plates.

• Doesn’t this Zero-Waste Banana Basque Cheesecake from Sarah Stanback-Young sound INCREDIBLE!?

• We just wanted Song Sung Blue this past weekend and it was really so sweet! Added Neil Diamond’s Holly Holy to my morning playlist immediately, obviously.

• A single-serving portion of Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes makes a very fine dinner.

• I took the Mardi Gras garland and twinkle lights down since we’re solidly in the Lenten season (cue the Easter bread!) after Fat Tuesday last week and…. it’s sad that the house no longer has any sparkle. Thank goodness the Japanese magnolia is blooming overtime in the backyard. Grateful for that little bit of wonder. Currently brainstorming a quick floral craft I might add to the front porch to add some joy. I’ll let you know where this little joy takes me, but let me know if you have any ideas in the comments!

Let's have a chat with our friends at Crowded Kitchen!

An Interview (and giveaway!!) with Lexi Harrison and Beth Sinclair of Crowded Kitchen!

There are some cooks whose work feels like an open door! I’m talking, fun, generous, with a real sense of joy. That’s exactly what Lexi Harrison and Beth Sinclair of Crowded Kitchen have built together.

The mother-daughter duo began Crowded Kitchen as a way to share vibrant, vegetable-forward recipes that feel approachable enough for a Tuesday night but beautiful enough to set at the center of a table full of friends. Their cooking leans seasonal, nourishing, and I just find so much of it very fun!

Their new cookbook (out tomorrow!!) carries that same spirit.

Today we get the chance to chat with Lexi and Beth about cooking together, mistakes we should all make in the kitchen, and the recipes they return to most.

Oh! And because sharing good cookbooks is one of my favorite small joys, we’re giving away a copy! Read the interview below and hop into the comments at the end to enter to win!

What was the “aha moment” recipe while writing this book - the one that made you think, oh, this is the heart of it?

Our Sheet-Pan Clam Bake. It’s based on our annual family tradition of a real clam bake (which is quite the affair!), but simplified to be easy enough for any dinner party, or even a weeknight. It brings together everything this book is about – family, lots of flavor, and recipes that bring everyone together.

If your cookbook had a playlist, what three songs would be on it?

September by Earth Wind and Fire is our family song, so that would be #1. As for the other 2…I spent 30 minutes on a response and have come to the conclusion that I’m WAY too indecisive for a definitive answer!

What’s one ingredient you’re evangelical about? (The one you might even bring to the party and spend the night convincing everyone else to use?)

Olive oil! We’re both passionate about using it correctly. The good stuff (high quality extra virgin olive oil) is only for dressings, finishing dishes, dipping bread, or low heat cooking. Regular olive oil is for general cooking (sautéing, roasting, etc.). Also, if you buy an expensive bottle of olive oil, don’t save it for a “special” occasion. It only lasts so long before it goes rancid, and why wait? Treat yourself to the good stuff on a regular old weeknight.

If someone cooks just one recipe from your book to understand you as a person, which should it be?

Probably our Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad. It sounds boring and basic, but it’s surprisingly packed with flavor, texture and it convinces brussels sprout haters to change their minds.

What’s a mistake you hope readers make at least once (Because we all know learning something the hard way is most memorable.)

Everyone has to learn that they need a thermometer inside of their oven. Every oven is so different, and it’s rare to have an oven that’s perfectly calibrated! If your food is often under or overcooked (compared to what a recipe states), that’s probably why.

What kitchen tool deserves more respect, and which one do you think is wildly overrated?

More respect: food processor

Overrated: stand mixer

A food processor can be used for so much more than mixing! It’s great for quickly shredding or chopping large volumes of vegetables, it works well for doughs like pie crust or crackers, and it’s usually much easier to blend dips, dressings and nut butters compared to a blender.

A stand mixer is such a pain to get out of the cabinet, and I’m not sure about you, but ours has had SO many issues over the years! Hand mixer all the way (for most things, at least).

Fill in the blank: People think I’m ___ in the kitchen, but actually I’m ___.

Organized…chaotic

If you could hand-deliver this cookbook to one person (living or not), who would it be and what would you want them to cook first?

Definitely my maternal grandmother. She is no longer with us, and she passed before my mom and I started this business together. She would have thought it was SO cool, and she would definitely start with her Apricot Squares in our dessert chapter. They’re a family favorite!

What’s your most controversial food opinion (The one that gets you yelled at on the internet?)

I’m not sure if this is that controversial (I think a lot of people feel the same!) but Tiktok mannerisms drive me CRAZY. The finger hook over the mouth when eating, the aggressive nodding…for some reason, it makes my skin crawl. 😅

When you’re not eating your own recipes, what are you absolutely guilty-pleasure ordering for takeout?

Thai, Indian and Mediterranean – anything I don’t often make at home!

What do you hope someone feels (like, truly feels) when they cook from your book for the first time?

We genuinely hope that our recipes inspire people to want to get together with friends and family and spend quality time around the dinner table. That’s what cooking is all about!

✨ Cookbook Giveaway

To enter:
Leave a comment below and tell me: what recipe lately has brought people to your table? It can be something simple. I have a feeling it’s still very much soup season.

Giveaway is open to U.S. residents. One winner will receive a copy of Lexi and Beth’s wonderful new cookbook Giveaway closes Friday, February 27th and winner will be notified via Substack message.

Have a wonderful week, friends! I’m so grateful you’re here!