April 2025 Newsletter: Blogging, Writing, and Podcasting

Hello, my wonderful Tartlets! I don’t know about you, but I am ALL about the springtime vibes right now. My tulip border flourished this year (see photos below), my roses, irises, and peonies are growing steadily, and I’m working my Merlin Bird ID app overtime since my yard is full of birdsong from morning to night.

I know I said I would do a quarterly newsletter, but I’m really bad at math, you guys. So, this is moving to a thrice-yearly newsletter. Ish. This week, I’m recapping what happened at the Tart between January and April 2025.

About the A Well-Read Tart Newsletter

I try to keep my blog posts fairly focused – just book reviews and book-inspired recipes, and the occasional updates about my writing life and vacations. Big news and developments are usually promoted on my Instagram and Facebook accounts. But, algorithms suck and I feel like a lot of my announcements get lost in the shuffle.

This newsletter was created so I could share my updates with you. It’ll be sent out every four months(ish) to recap news from over the previous months. This way, you’ll stay in the know even if you don’t follow me on social media (or, if, like me, you’re trying to spend less time on social media!). These newsletters will also be a way to tell you about what’s coming up on the Tart.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT….

Virtual Bake-Alongs with Pastry Chef Online by Jenni Field

I co-hosted two virtual bake-alongs over the past few months. The first one was a double-header February bake-along where we made Tiramisu and Pasta Carbonara. The second and most recent was the April bake-along, where we made a classic Jelly Roll (or Swiss Roll) – with a celebrity guest!

Tiramisu and Pasta Carbonara

Tiramisu is one of my favorite desserts, but I’d never tried making it at home. Mostly because I was convinced that if I knew how to make it myself, I’d never stop making it. Thankfully, recipe testing for the blog keeps my baking schedule pretty organized – and keeps me pretty accountable for how many delicious desserts I can make for myself!

Making tiramisu was shockingly easy. I baked homemade lady fingers, or savoiardi cookies, using this recipe, and the rest of the dessert was made following Jenni Field’s tiramisu recipe. I baked the lady fingers, rolled them in espresso, layered up the dessert with mascarpone whipped cream, and set everything to set overnight in the fridge.

The result was DELICIOUS. It tasted exactly like restaurant-quality tiramisu. It’s a great make-ahead dessert for a dinner or party (I’m all about the make-ahead recipes!), and it’s so easy that I will definitely be making it again in the future.

The pasta carbonara was also tasty and pretty simple to cook, though it wasn’t my favorite pasta dish. If you’re interested, you can make Jenni’s pasta carbonara recipe. But, if you’re like me and prefer tomato-based sauces, be sure to make my Creamy Tomato Pasta from my blog.

Jelly Roll

You guys, I was SO excited when Jenni told me we’d have a celebrity guest joining our April bake-along in April. She’s friends with cookbook author Nancie McDermott, who wrote Southern Cakes. Longtime readers may remember that Southern Cakes made my list of favorite cookbooks.

The recipe selected for the April bake-along was a jelly roll, which was one of the few recipes in Nancie’s cookbook that I haven’t tried. The idea of rolling up a cake has always terrified me.

However… Nancie’s Jelly Roll Cake recipe turned out to be one of the EASIEST cakes I’ve ever made. I made a Passionfruit Whipped Cream Jelly Roll Cake, and it turned out like a dream.

Look at that swirl! I can hardly believe I made that! I think a true Buche de Noel is in the cards for this Christmas, people. Now that I know how stupid-easy it is to make a swiss roll/jelly roll cake, I’m going to be making versions of it all. the. time.

Substack

You may remember from my January 2025 newsletter that I launched my Substack account for A Well-Read Tart. I’m still engaging with lots of like minds and friendly people on Substack, and I’m happy to report that I’m slowly but steadily gaining a follow there, as well.

My Substack posts tend to revolve around food, books, and writing, though I talk about topics that I generally don’t get into on the blog. For example, a popular Substack post was my recent 10 Books That Stayed With Me. Another popular post was Winter Walks and Cozy Podcast Recommendations.

I also tend to post a lot of “Notes” with photos from my cottage garden, behind-the-scenes looks at recipe development, and, of course, sharing posts that resonate with me that are written by other Substack creators.

I’m really enjoying this space as a way to engage with new readers and share thoughts about what I’m thinking and doing in real time, without having to worry about SEO and algorithms and all that nonsense.

Dark Side of the Word

Kait and I were lucky enough to get award-winning author Cynthia Pelayo on Dark Side of the Word, where we talked about, among other things, the effect of positivity and gratitude on writing and creative endeavors.

It was super-duper inspiring and wonderful, and both Kait and I left that podcast recording feeling uplifted. Cynthia overall is just a lovely person, and we’re so happy that we got to spend an hour with her.

Writing

I finished up my winter writing workshop earlier this month, with mixed results. The workshop wasn’t quite what I had anticipated: there were seven people in the workshop, which meant that each person’s pages were workshopped only three times in 12 weeks. This is compared to previous workshops I’ve done where my pages were workshopped 8-12 times in 12 weeks.

As a result, I didn’t get very far in the workshop with my revisions – only to chapter 8. However, the feedback I did receive when I workshopped was great. Katie, as always, is an amazing and insightful developmental editor. Her questions and advice sparked some ideas that were long overdue in arriving, and the workshop really opened up a creative door for me that had been closed for one particular storyline I was struggling with.

Despite the slow pace of the workshop, I’ve continued revising my manuscript on a regular schedule. As I write this post, I’m working on Chapters 17/18, which means I’m about 2/3 of the way through my manuscript. It’s a tricky part of the story where everything starts to turn, so I’m channeling all the positive writing vibes that Cynthia Pelayo encouraged (see above) to power through! Wish me luck.

COMING UP…

Substack:

Here are just a few posts you can look forward to on my Substack over the summer:

a Substack Live interview on May 6 with author Meagan Francis, talking about writing, book deals, and her new book The Last Parenting Book You’ll Ever Read: How We Let Our Kids Go And Embrace What’s Next
Spring Walks and Inspiring Podcasts
Ode to a Kitchen Table (inspired by The Enchanted Life by Sharon Blackie)
Aunt Dot’s Pierogis: Resurrecting a Family Recipe
Moments of Unexpected Coziness: Family D&D Nights (with not-my-actual-family)

I hope you’ll sign up for my Substack account so you don’t miss them!

Dark Side of the Word:

In June 2025, Kait and I will be talking with author Amie McNee and her new release We Need Your Art. Some of you may know Amie better as @inspiredtowrite on Instagram, where she’s been posting for years and encouraging creatives to make and share their art as much as possible.

I’m about halfway through We Need Your Art, and I am loving it. It’s so helpful and inspiring. I can’t wait to talk with Amie about it, especially since I’m currently doing the Two Week Writing Reset Challenge she recommends in her book.

Kait and I also hope to be more focused with our book club episodes for the rest of the year. You may have noticed that we haven’t exactly been reading and reviewing two books each month. Life got in the way, folks. That’s all I can say. But, we’re back on track and going to be bringing you more books each month for the rest of the year. I can’t wait!

Coming to the Blog:

I work regularly with publishers and publicity groups to receive ARCs (Advanced Reading Copies) of upcoming books. This means I get an early peek at what’s coming down the pike, and here are a few books that I’m excited to share with you this summer: