The Slowest Spring Clean

Spring thoughts, sweet recipes, and nesting energy from the comfort of the couch.

Hi, friends.

Spring has officially sprung in Bellville, and while the wildflowers are blooming and the birds are singing, I... have broken my foot. Naturally. Which means my usual spring cleaning rampage has turned into a slow hobble from one oddly specific cleaning task to the next. Did I spend twenty harrowing minutes scrubbing the rubber ring of my front-load washer this week? Yes. Yes, I did. No regrets.

With all this forced stillness, I’ve turned my attention to the bedroom—specifically, the bedroom that Will and I sleep in but have otherwise ignored for over a year. Isn’t it wild how we always leave the room that’s supposed to feel the most peaceful for last? But something in the spring air (or maybe the max capacity ibuprofen) gave me the strength to go on a curtain rod–finial–wallpaper border decision-making spree. You ever get so tired of waffling that suddenly any decision feels like the right one? We’re rolling with that energy.

This week’s newsletter is full of good things: a Sunday reflection from our friend Amy that feels like a balm, a peek into what it means to make a 136-year-old Victorian house feel like home, three springtime recipes worth making this weekend, and an interview with the lovely and talented Benjamin Delwiche—aka Benjamin the Baker (no relation, but we’d totally share a kitchen).

Pull up a chair, prop up your foot (if you’ve broken yours too), and let’s get into it.

Let It Be Sunday, 514!

You might have noticed that we took last Sunday off to celebrate Easter! Thank you for that brief hiatus. We’re coming back strong with an offering from Amy Estes. This week we discuss how travel (and Orangetheory!) remind us that doing hard things can be weirdly wonderful, even when we hate them a little. From wandering the fairy-tale streets of Edinburgh to warring with a rowing machine, Amy reflects on the magic of effort — and why spring might be the perfect time to stretch outside our comfort zone, bake scones, redecorate the living room, and maybe even make that one dreaded phone call.

Read it here: The Spring Hustle

This Week on the Blog:

Somehow, it’s been a whole year since I moved into this big Victorian house in Bellville, TX, and I’m still learning which hall light switch controls what (spoiler: none of them do what you think). This week I’m writing about what it means to truly live in a house—to let it settle around you like a well-worn sweater. It’s a little ode to creaky floors, plumbing emergencies, and the slow charm of small-town life. If you’ve ever fallen in love with a home that’s older, wiser, and slightly haunted (in the emotional sense), you’ll want to read this one.

Pull up a chair and come on in—just mind the actual hole in the porch. It’s on the list. One Year in Bellville

Fresh from the Archives:

🍲 Weeknight Chicken Chili
Let me tell you what this recipe isn’t: complicated. This chili is the kitchen equivalent of sweatpants—low-stress, always reliable, and ready in a snap thanks to our hero, the store-bought rotisserie chicken. Grab a can of beans, toss in some pantry spices, and you’ve got a cozy dinner that tastes like you tried a lot harder than you actually did. We love that for us.

🍰 Honey Chamomile Cake
She’s soft, floral, and sunshine-sweet. This tender tea cake makes a perfect Mother's Day treat—even if the mother in question is you baking for yourself,. The chamomile gives it a calm elegance, like if a daydream wore a linen dress. This cake is a labor of love so you have my full support in passing the recipe along to your favorite baker as a subtle nudge.

🍫 Double Chocolate Olive Oil Cookies
My chocolate baking bin (you know, the one that lives on the top shelf and contains every rogue bag of chips and half-used cocoa powder?) has been down on the counter all week because I’ve been in a mood. These cookies are the cure: rich, chewy, and just salty enough to make you feel like a genius for baking them. They’re sophisticated… in a deeply snacky way.

An interview with Benjamin Delwiche, author of Dessert Course.

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

I’ve been interested in the principles of baking from the very start. Why did the vegan brownies I made as my first baking task in my first bakery job turn out so horribly when I accidentally included a little extra baking soda? This unfortunate mishap led me down a path of constant exploration. The book has to exist so I can share everything I have learned over the years. The visuals, flowcharts, explanations, and many recipes all reflect my love of experimentation and hopefully make baking seem less mysterious.

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

Chocolate Chip Blondies! And be creative with the type of add-ins. The recipe in the book calls for just chocolate chips or chunks, but don’t let that stop you from including some pieces of butterscotch, toffee, peanut butter chips, or your favorite salty snack.

Marry, shag, kill: butter, olive oil, bacon.

Marry butter. Kill olive oil. Shag bacon.

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

Recipes are just the starting point. Once you have followed a recipe and seen the results, change something and see what happens. Swap the granulated sugar for brown sugar or include some maple syrup, use cake flour instead of all-purpose flour, rest the dough, bake at a higher temperature, do something and observe the results. Unfortunately, sometimes the results won’t be pretty but you will have just learned something valuable. And there are very few desserts that a scoop of ice cream and a little bit of caramel sauce can’t fix!

We’re throwing a dinner party using recipes from your book.

Starting with the most important course, the bread course: we’ll have Dinner Rolls with softened butter and flaky salt. Honestly, the menu could end there and I would be happy. I understand, though, that not everyone has the same love and appreciation for the simple perfection of bread and butter. To round out the menu, let’s include fried chicken sandwiches on the Biscuits, mini chicken pot pies with the Puff Pastry Dough, and a Chiffon Cake layered with Pastry Cream and surrounded with Dark Chocolate Ganache. And if it’s the season, a Peach, Blackberry, and Raspberry Pie too.

What’s the most chaotic recipe in the book?

The Kouign-Amann. Whenever lamination enters into the mix, there is the possibility for chaos. You want the dough and butter at just the right temperature, and sometimes factors outside of your control do not cooperate. The results, however, are more than worth the time and effort. Kouign-Amann easily ranks toward the top of my list of favorite pastries. If a bakery offers it, I will always order it.

What’s a kitchen task you secretly love that everyone else seems to hate?

Zesting citrus (with the caveat that I don’t have any microscopic cuts on my hand). One of my first bakery jobs was zesting case after case of citrus. After a while, you learn to love the challenge of zesting right up to the pith and doing it as fast as you can with no waste.

What’s the most you recipe in this book?

I feel so fortunate to have learned from some incredible bakers at bakeries in Baltimore, Boston, and Los Angeles. I would not be me if not for their patience and guidance. So, to honor them, I will pick three: Classic Cheesecake, Braided Danish, and Key Lime Pie.

✨ Cookbook Giveaway Time! ✨
To celebrate the release of Dessert Course, the debut cookbook from our friend Benjamin Delwiche (aka Benjamin the Baker), we’re giving away a copy to one lucky reader!

To enter, just answer this sweet little question in the comments:

What’s the dessert that taught you how to bake — or made you fall in love with baking?

We’ll pick a winner at random this week! Good luck and happy baking. 💕🍰

See you next week, friends!

xo Joy