Joy Wilson's Blog, page 8

The Week Long Year

Happy Sunday friends! Is it just me, or did this year have year long weeks, and the year collectively felt one week long? Like it rolled up to the party, scoped out who was there and decided to leave 15 minutes later. As the days get shorter, it’s hard not to get introspective about the year, and daydream about the new year. Tell me, do you write resolutions, or things you’re looking forward to in the new year?

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Host a Dinner Party for $100 or Less with Trader Joe’s

I am going to make a bold statement here – dinner parties are so back. Intimate dinners with 3 or 4 of your friends, followed by several rounds of Monopoly Deal and coffee, is absolutely the move this winter. In fact, I’ve made it part of my Winter Bucket List. Also, groceries are no longer cheap, and I would love to say you could do this for $50. It would be difficult, even at Aldi.

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Let Us Be Married

Hello, friends and good Sunday!

I’ve got a little news. A single bit of big news, actually. The kind of news I’m going to need you to swallow your sip of coffee for:  Will and I got married!

We’ve been together for a very sweet five years, and the whispers behind our backs about “when they’re finally get hitched” started to become overt open discussions, oh, four years and six months ago.

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The 5 Things In My House That Make My Kitchen Feel Like a Bakery

It’s just dawned on me that I’m slowly but very surely turning my kitchen in Bellville into a full-blown bakery. It feels inevitable, honestly, given how I’ve been squinting at the corner of my garage, picturing a small bread oven tucked in there like it’s a wood-fired pizza fantasy. Sure, my garage currently houses, you know, a car, some tools, and maybe a rogue spider or two, but let’s focus on the dream: a pop-up weekend bakery.

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French Onion Cornbread Dressing with Zatarain’s Smoked Andouille Sausage

French Onion Cornbread Dressing with Zatarain’s Smoked Andouille Sausage is the cozy, savory holiday side with a Louisiana twist your table needs this season.

The holidays are the perfect time to turn simple ingredients into something extraordinary. Humble cornbread gets a glow-up with caramelized onions, fresh sage, and Zatarain’s Smoked Andouille Sausage for a side dish that’s savory, cozy, and just a little indulgent. It’s the kind of recipe that reminds us why we love cooking for the holidays—every bite feels like a celebration of warmth and togetherness.

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In A World of Carrie’s, Be A Magda

Hello, friends. How are you? We are deep in a season of grief at my house. My mother-in-law, Donna, died last week. She was diagnosed with an aggressive form of uterine cancer several years ago, and sadly, this summer, she had a recurrence and despite only being diagnosed in August, she died this week. I wrote a little bit about her here and here. I’m grateful I got to know her, and also grateful that I got to be there at the end. 

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The Feathered Thing

Hope is the thing with feathers/That perches in the soul/And sings the tune without the words/And never stops/at all – Emily Dickinson

That is what hope feels like right now. So light it could fly away at any moment, so slight it could slip through your fingers. Despite its weight, or lack thereof, it’s solid through and through. I have to believe hope, that feathered slight thing, will be the thing that pulls through.

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The Year Long Week

Friends, good morning! What a year this week has been.  We need a break and, if we can’t take a break on a Sunday morning, then all is lost.  All is certainly not lost. Today we’re taking comfort in small bits of joy like, how well a bird can hold a grudge, apples baked with butter, and how dogs are perfect people.

I’ll tell you what-  I’m ready to pull down the Christmas tree.

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Still the Drama, It’s Me.

Friends, good morning!  How’s Sunday feeling so far?

I’m fresh back from a weeklong trip to Scotland with Will where we visited friends in Aberdeen and took what turned out to be the most epic motorcycle ride of my life.  We rode the  North Coast 500 which, as you can guess from the name, is an incredible 500 mile route along the coast of north and west Scotland. 

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Overnight Apple Fritter Focaccia Recipe (with step-by-step photos)

If you’re in the mood for a fall baking project (and I know you are!), this focaccia recipe is where it’s at: tender, yeasted bread meets the cozy vibes of apple fritters all with a crunchy cinnamon sugar top.

Alright, here’s the situation: apple season may have been in full swing up north for a while, but down here in Texas, I always feel like I’m just barely catching the last wave.

Continue reading Overnight Apple Fritter Focaccia Recipe (with step-by-step photos) at Joy the Baker.