Joy Wilson's Blog, page 107

The Last Long Weekend

Ok maybe I’m being a tad bit dramatic. It’s not the laaaaast long weekend.  It’s just the last good long weekend, especially according to our Mom-cut jean shorts, according to our flower crowns, and according to our glasses of Summer Water.  They’re all feeling the pressure of time.  It’s their last long weekend.

If Drake taught us anything… and really, what hasn’t he taught us (ok, a lot)… It’s Summer 16.

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Cauliflower Stuffed Shells with Butternut Squash Sauce

I’ve had some run-ins with vegan ‘cheese’ before.  The kind that send you screaming for big bites of cheddar straight from the block.  People use the term ‘cheese’ rather liberally when it comes to substitution like nutritional yeast and cashews.  All of it (until now) has left me with my eyebrows raised and a real hunk of cheese grasped firmly in my hand.  

That being said… we need to talk about ricotta and cauliflower and how I’ve (momentarily) relaxed that deathgrip of by block of cheese.

Continue reading Cauliflower Stuffed Shells with Butternut Squash Sauce at Joy the Baker.

Let It Be Sunday!

Here we are, all the way into the August of another year. How do you feel about August (besides sweaty and damp)?  Feels to me like I’m readying myself for the transition to Autumn.  For some reason, I feel the most shift in life this time of year. It’s exciting, with a few frayed edges, but I look forward to the possibility and change (and the leggings and turtlenecks and gemtones). 

I hope you’re taking it easy today.

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Lemon Poppy Seed Crepes with Blueberry Curd

I’m working really hard on my upcoming Brunch cookbook.  I say this as I’m surrounded by pages of proofs, going over page after page, word after word, image after image, testing testing testing, in an effort to make sure the book is absolutely perfect for you.  Spoiler alert:  it won’t be… but it will be dang good! 

While you’re waiting, while I’m editing, while we’ve got Brunch on the brain, I thought I’d share a bonus recipe from the book.

Continue reading Lemon Poppy Seed Crepes with Blueberry Curd at Joy the Baker.

Pro Tips: Ask a Sommelier

Pro Tips:  a new series on Joy the Baker wherein I ask my expert friends loads of questions about their field and get the nitty gritty for all of us.  Previously: Ask A Financial Planner

Today I’m talking with one of my very best friends, Whitney Adams.  Whitney is a sommelier, wine writer, wine traveler, and YouTube sensation.  I love Whitney’s approach to wine: it’s playful, practical, not too stuffy, and just totally down to earth.

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Banana Cream Pie Doughnuts

Banana Cream Pie is my favorite…  actually, hold please… if you had a Coconut Cream Pie in your fridge I could be persuaded to flip.  It wouldn’t take much, obviously.  Add the word Cream to most any dessert and I’m there with a hot pot of coffee. 

A few weeks ago I made a Chocolate Bottom Banana Cream Pie.  It was a thing of dreams until I got carried away, adding too much bourbon to the pudding.

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Let It Be Sunday!

Hello dearhearts,

How’s the middle of August treating you? The amount of sweat is just astounding, isn’t it?

I’ve been between New Orleans and Philadelphia this week, packing quick overnight bags, eating homemade sandwiches on airplanes, complying with boarding groups and exit row rules.

It’s been a tough few weeks for the state of Louisiana.  If you don’t know… we’ve had really terrible flooding and so so many people have lost everything.

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Grilled Strawberry Shortcake

Oh these sweet sweet days!  

When the coals are hot, the hot dogs are pleasantly burnt, the beers are canned and cozied, and the cheeseburgers are a little too well done with too much cheese. With sunshine, it’s all perfect… we’re just hoping hoping to put these rainy New Orleans days to bed soon.  These are grilling days, once the sunshine breaks through and we’ve got to live them all the way before they escape us. 

This Strawberry Shortcake… (I’m a big fan, remember this Basil Cream Strawberry Shortcake?) uses a dense pound cake and the last of the grill’s heat to toast both cake and strawberries.

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Pro Tips: Financial Planning

Pro Tips:  a new series on Joy the Baker wherein I ask my expert friends loads of questions about their field and get the nitty gritty for all of us.  

This week I talk to my friend Jessi, a financial planner in Kansas City, MO.  Jessi has helped me get my personal finances in order and that has meant going from a place of debt to owning a house (which… I think that’s a different sort of debt).

Continue reading Pro Tips: Financial Planning at Joy the Baker.

Let It Be Sunday!

Cut the grass out back.  Fill the pot hole out front.  Clean the bathroom inside. Fold the laundry. Eat tacos as reward. Call your sister, say hey. That’s my Sunday. What’s yours? 

Reading. As we do: 

•  Let’s all read this because it is poetic and important. The Middle of Things: advice for young writers

•  You Throw, Girl: An Olympic Shot Putter’s Feminist Mission.

Continue reading Let It Be Sunday! at Joy the Baker.