When not baking I’ve been in research mode, which just means reading and writing. The next essay in the internet recipe culture series deals with how internet recipes might relate to recent discussions on cookbook criticism, prompted by a blog post written by Tim Mazurek. Mainly I want to explore the question of who gets to publish cookbooks to begin with, why cookbook agents who won’t sign you without a platform of some kind are correct to do so (and my own experience with this), and how the very existence of short format cookbooks and cookbook ‘zines can enrich the traditional cookbook space. This has become the belly of the essay, especially since food ‘zines already have such a rich cultural history to learn from.
Anyway, I’ve given away too much but I’m enjoying writing this one as it’s been cathartic. Look for the next installment of this series in your inbox the last Friday of the month.
This Week at the Bakery
Just three strawberry cakes this weekend, which feels like a breeze compared to recent weekends. Snapdragons and all their gorgeous curved stems have begun to show up in my flower vendor’s deliveries. I like to pluck the petals off the stems and arrange them atop the star tip swirl piping I’ve gravitated towards for the cakes lately, as seen below.
Last week I republished a short piece I shared on my website last year on best practices for safely using flowers on cakes. I’ve noticed this trend has really taken off, meaning the two areas of focus in my work–the garden cake and online recipe sphere–are both very saturated. It can be hard to feel like I’m standing out. With the Instagram algorithm suppressing everyone’s reach on the app now, I turn to the irl.
Pop ups are helpful for reminding me that face-to-face is a valuable way to conduct business. Running what is essentially an online bakery means I do need the reminder time and again. Organizing and then putting on a pop up is a whole other beast. The job is only half finished when the conchas come out of the oven. Packaging up the hundreds of menu items, packing and then unloading the car, setting up tables and displays, wearing my customer service-oriented face and smile which I picked up from the countless service jobs I’ve worked throughout my life. I’ve organized pop ups more or less only on an annual basis for these exhausting reasons. That said, I’m hoping to plan one for May, before the southern humidity and heat drives people back indoors.
Favorites This Week
Annie Dillard’s spectacular essay on witnessing a total solar eclipse in 1979, republished by Pioneer Works ahead of Monday’s eclipse. Here in Atlanta, we only had a partial eclipse but the shadows painted onto sidewalks and our backyard deck were still strange little crescent moon-shaped. Astrologically-speaking, eclipses are thought of as challenging, difficult, brooding, so it was fascinating to me to read Dillard’s rather frightening experience: “The deepest, and most terrifying, was this: I have said that I heard screams. (I have since read that screaming, with hysteria, is a common reaction even to expected total eclipses.) People on all the hillsides, including, I think, myself, screamed when the black body of the moon detached from the sky and rolled over the sun.” The next total solar eclipse to pass through North America is in 19 years and this essay made me desperate to see it.
My fiancé and I finally got a little patio table with chairs for our backyard deck, which has been a game changer. Starting my day out back (weather-permitting) is everything I’ve needed it to be.
Starting the day outside is a dream, so happy for your pretty deck and table!!