Joy Wilson's Blog, page 61
May 10, 2020
Let It Be Sunday, 270!
Hello friends!
Happy Sunday! Happy Mother’s Day!
It’s been a week. It feels like some folks are diving back into normal socializing, normal life, and I feel distinctly not ready. In the same way that we all talked about how to work from home, how to socialize from home, how to cope at home… we’re also going to need to talk about how to merge back together because it doesn’t feel like the same world. And murder hornets?
May 7, 2020
Raspberry Rose Cream Puffs
Cream puffs were one of those elusive baking projects I had just resigned myself to never understanding. There was magic there that belonged only to… I dunno… Italian or French grandmothers that just wasn’t for my self-taught baker brain. I got over that little hurdle I set for for myself and unlocked the magic of pâte à choux (that’s the French name for this specific pastry) and the great news is: it’s actually pretty simple and totally home-kitchen worthy.
I will also say that I had cream puffs in the same class as cannolis as something unattainable to me in my home kitchen and that still holds true. Maybe that just holds true because I’ve had the best cannolis of my life in Philly and there’s just no coming back from that… ya know?
Continue reading Raspberry Rose Cream Puffs at Joy the Baker.
May 3, 2020
Let It Be Sunday, 269!
Good morning, friends!
Welcome here! It’s the first weekend of May, my favorite month of the year (which probably has something to do with the fact that it’s my birthday month)!
I’ve always loved this weekend. When I lived in Los Angeles my girlfriends and I would throw a notoriously epic Kentucky Derby party. Since being in New Orleans, we head to Jazz Fest and dance in the streets this weekend. It’s ok that this year all of that has been stripped away.
April 30, 2020
One-Pot Chocolate Sheet Cake
I’ve been faced with a lot of myself these past few weeks – forced to gaze upon a lot of my own, shall we say…. tendencies . I’ll eat a bag of chips within 24 hours of bringing it home. I’m very resistant to emptying the clean dish washer. I will go back to the pantry to look for more chips even when I know I’ve eaten them all. I will not, unless faced with severe fines and penalties, put away my clean laundry. If there is cookie dough in the freezer… well there’s no more cookie dough in the freezer so we’ll just leave it at that.
I’m ok.
Continue reading One-Pot Chocolate Sheet Cake at Joy the Baker.
April 26, 2020
Let It Be Sunday, 268!
Hello friends!
Welcome. Let’s call it another Sunday and take a good deep breath about it.
I hope you found some small ways to go easy on yourself this week. For me that has meant leaving the dishes in the sink for a while because I’m just deeply uninterested in washing them, again and then again.
The gardenias have bloomed in my backyard and perfume the air.
April 23, 2020
Simple and Creamy Tomato Soup
Hello dearhearts.
You know what it is – another day of finding small comforts that ease our minds and hearts. It’s ok. We’re up to the task.
This week my comforts have been slowly consuming last week’s Strawberry Pie at the start – yes, start – of almost every meal. Dessert first: a classic, rule-breaking comfort. And gosh… there are so many rules these days, maybe this is my attempt to assert myself.
Continue reading Simple and Creamy Tomato Soup at Joy the Baker.
April 19, 2020
Let It Be Sunday, 267!
Hello sweet friends!
I’m glad you’re here! I’m glad we’ve made it to another Sunday.
Where is your steadiness coming from these days? Mine comes from pitzing around in the backyard, pressing and preserving this year’s spring leaves, and roasting chicken to make chicken stock. I’m holding onto the small steadies these days and recognizing that it’s ok when the steadiness falters – it’s still in there.
I’ve been taking lots of walks and feel so grateful that my New Orleans neighbors go to the paint store and decide on the above combination of colors to paint their houses. It’s just such a joy to be here in a lot of ways.
The offering this week is below. Take only what you need. I hope you’re well.
April 16, 2020
French Onion Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
I’m here today with a humble invitation: French Onion everything.
To French an onion is to caramelize it (not technically, but you know and love the soup from whence these onions came). Caramelizing a vegetable means, in not so precise terms, that we’re using the vegetables natural sugars, heat, fat, and time to transform a usually sharp root into… basically candy.
Compelling, right? Not just compelling, it’s undeniable kitchen magic!
Can I be honest about something?
Continue reading French Onion Grilled Cheese Sandwiches at Joy the Baker.
April 12, 2020
Let It Be Sunday, 266!
Hello friends!
Happy Sunday to you, and Easter at that!
How are you? How are your people?
This week I’ve committed to finding lots of different ways to stay steady. I’ve been running by the river. I’ve been laying in the grass in my little backyard. I’ve been over-caffeinating every morning. That last one doesn’t lend to steadiness but it is a reality I’ve committed to.
Far away porch visits are really sweet these days.
April 10, 2020
Single-Serving Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes
Hello friends – how are you holding up?
I’m spending even more time than I usually spend futzing around in the kitchen. It’s both that I have a hard time focusing as the days start to melt together, and that I actually want to languish in the kitchen making the fanciest coffee I can with my dwindling beans. There’s always comfort there.
I’ve also just left my yoga mat unrolled in the middle of my living room in hopes that I’ll trip over its corners enough times that it will call me to do actual home-yoga. We’ll see how that shakes out.
I’ve been making a lot of small-batch recipes these past few weeks.
Continue reading Single-Serving Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes at Joy the Baker.
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