Joy Wilson's Blog, page 112

What Can We Do Better This Week?

I’m here with some Monday tools because I want us to have a week that is equal parts productive and not totally sucky.  We’re writing lists, we’re being considerate to ourselves and people around us, and we’re going to tackle the big and the daunting.  Essentially, I want us not to pull our hair out.  

We need a team high-five.  Let’s fight the good fight! 

•  I write a daily to-do list but on Mondays it’s nice to write a more broad list in addition to the daily deal.

Continue reading What Can We Do Better This Week? at Joy the Baker.

Let It Be Sunday!

Good morning friends.  Welcome to the best day of the week!  I hope you’re weekending well.  It’s May and I feel like people are starting to ease into lazy outdoor weekends and I’m thankful for it.  I’ve got a light sunburn on my back and a cheeseburger in my belly, so I feel like I’m weekending with the best of em.  

It’s Mother’s Day so act appropriately and accordingly.  Call yo mama, and your grandmama, and your auntie, and your best friend who is also a mama, and your sister, and tell them they’re the most important and the most giving and the most generous because they are. 

In very unimportant news, I think someone jumped my fence and stole my garden hose which is both totally ridiculous, and very New Orleans.

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

Internet Speak Strawberry Pies

There’s a thing that happens on the Internet and it happens quickly.  Things change.  The way we communicate morphs from snappy phrases, to simple words, to straight-up clever acronyms.  We’re so busy and hip these days, we hardly have the time to type out the words Be Right Back when BRB is so dang easy to sling and go.  

I made conversation acronym hand pies.  They’re like edible flashcards for the thirty something set.

Continue reading Internet Speak Strawberry Pies at Joy the Baker.

Kale Pesto Pasta Salad

I know I know I know it’s not donuts that taste like cookies, but hang in there with me.   

Occasionally we have to empty our produce drawer into our bodies.  

Today we’re talking Kale Pesto and making a lazy salad. This pesto has all sorts of lives atop scrambled eggs, on toast, or warmed and dolloped on top of skirt steak.  It’s like, if you have Kale Pesto in your refrigerator you’ve got a meal no matter what.

Continue reading Kale Pesto Pasta Salad at Joy the Baker.

Let It Be Sunday!

Happy Sunday, my friends! 

Did you know that Drake came out with a new album this week?  That bodes well for Drake on Cake. Fun facts we learned about Drake this album:  he loves the Cheesecake Factory, but hates to get in fights with his boo there.  So he’s just like the rest of us.  Good news.  

I’m wishing you an easy, restful day!

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

All the Kitchens We’ve Lived In

It’s been over eight years of kitchen adventures here on Joy the Baker.  Eight years!  That’s as long as I’ve done anything consistently professional, ever.  I think at this point it’s safe to call it a compulsion.  

In these eight years that we’ve been together I’ve called a lot of kitchens home.  I’ve worked in tiny ovens.  I’ve shared ovens with roommates.  I’ve made cookbooks with three feet of kitchen counter.

Continue reading All the Kitchens We’ve Lived In at Joy the Baker.

Mini Chocolate Chip Cookie Baked Donuts

I’m very particular about my chocolate chip cookies insofar as they must be perfect.  And sure, sometimes anything with butter and chocolate will do… but also, life is too short to be futzing around with disappointing cookies.  

For my tastes, a cakey chocolate chip cookies can take a long walk off a short pier ;a soggy endeavour to be sure.  The rules of cookies engagement state that chocolate chip cookies must be gooey towards the center and buttery crisp around the edges.

Continue reading Mini Chocolate Chip Cookie Baked Donuts at Joy the Baker.

Let It Be Sunday!

Hello friends!  Welcome to Sunday and hallelujah / glory be! 

I’ve been venturing out for walks in my new neighborhood which, as silly as it sounds, takes a few dashes of courage and an open heart… and jeepers it’s magic!  It doesn’t hurt that the city is sparkling with Spring and sunshine, there’s jazz in the air (literally), and kittens asleep on porches.  

I hope this time of year finds you also blooming with courage and finding grace in the transitions that life always throws our way. 

This week on the Internet went something like this:  

•  Isn’t it absolutely incredible that we’ve lived on the same Earth at the same time as unicorns like Prince?

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

New Spring Cookbook Inspiration!

Hello sweet friends!  

I thiiink I’ve uncovered the last of my boxes filled with cookbooks, but each time I think there can’t possibly be more in my collection, I run across another box, or a few stray books hastily bundled into a box of small kitchen appliances.  Three things are true: I’m a slow unpacker, I own too many cookbooks, and I’m showing no signs of slowing my cookbook collection growth.   

Some beautiful new books came out this Spring!

Continue reading New Spring Cookbook Inspiration! at Joy the Baker.

Juicy Strawberry Pistachio Bake

This past weekend I told you about the giant Grand Canyon of a pothole that exists outside of my little house here in New Orleans.  This city is notorious for its epic (sometimes oyster-filled or Mardi Gras decorated) potholes, so my cavernous situation is nothing special.  

I’m happy to report that I’ve filled the hole with strawberry crumble and problem solved.

Kidding.  That would be entirely ineffective.  

I made this crumble-bake hybrid on Sunday afternoon, popped it in the oven and took a peek outside my front window to investigate a curious scrapping sound I heard out front.

Continue reading Juicy Strawberry Pistachio Bake at Joy the Baker.