Joy Wilson's Blog, page 69
August 18, 2019
Let It Be Sunday, 235!
Hello friends!
It’s Saturday night and I’m already fighting the Sunday Scaries. What are your tactics for avoiding the start-of-week dread? I spent part of the day today laying on a bench staring at the sky slowly reading Geek Love, which is so odd and maybe wonderful that it makes stressing much else nearly impossible. I’ve also had ice cream, twice. Wine, once. To-do list, extensive. I’ve also put away all of my laundry and I’m ready for my Nobel Peace Prize. So… here we are.
August 15, 2019
Shrimp and Grits Waffles
We’re slowly approaching the weekend though yesterday I was certain I had already made it to Friday. I hadn’t. I had only made it to Wednesday… the longest day of the week. It’s been a doozy of a week already, wouldn’t you say? A doozy of a day can sneak up on you in August in New Orleans. It simply a result of stepping outside. It’s all fine… it’s just that every August we forget what August is until it’s back upon us.
This recipe is a nod toward Saturday morning.
August 11, 2019
Let It Be Sunday, 234!
Hello dears!
How are you today? It’s ok if you don’t know the answer yet.
I’m in San Francisco for a petit weekend hosting a Bakehouse-style workshop with my friends at Farmgirl Flowers. There’s been more cake than any other weekend in recent history (which really is saying a lot). I’m trying to sneak in as much sushi and as many tacos as I can, bless up. Being back out west is a sweet reminder of both mountains and cool breezes so thanks, California for having me back for a bit.
This week has been heavy with reminders of who we are as a country right now.
August 7, 2019
Food52’s Quick-Sour Chocolate Chip Cookies
The internet is home to some 8,467,326 recipes for chocolate chip cookies. How many of them do we actually need? I would argue, most of them.
We need options! We might want to pan-bang our chocolate chunk cookies, maybe a super chewy cream cheese chocolate chip cookie. We definitely need a trusted browned butter version.
This past month I’ve been playing with sourdough chocolate chip cookies made from my sourdough starter discard. Are they the best cookies I’ve ever made?
Continue reading Food52’s Quick-Sour Chocolate Chip Cookies at Joy the Baker.
August 4, 2019
Let It Be Sunday, 233!
Hello friends!
We’ve made it here together!
I’ve been in The Bakehouse kitchen this week testing recipes for the site (so much cake!) and recipes for a big writing project I get to share with you this fall. I thought I knew chocolate chip cookies (and I do) but I tested my little heart out this week to make the best of the best, the most clear recipe, the most chocolate filled. I’ve found that the best chocolate ‘chips’ for cookies are these Guittard Baking Wafers and there’s no going back.
I’m also trying to add some color to my bedroom and I’ve been sitting with paint swatches across my dining room table all week. Decisions will be made, I’m fairly sure.
There’s lots of promise in this week.
July 29, 2019
Super Simple Lambrusco Sangria
Here’s how we’re drinking red wine this summer: with orange soda and ice.
I first had this easy-drinking red wine cocktail years ago in Austin, Texas at the Hotel San Jose. Now every time the deepest summer days rolls around and the hot wind loses a bit of its humidity, I find myself craving this sparkling and lightly fruity drink.
It’s a little bit sweet and a touch dry and really very drinkable this time of year.
We’re doing ice in our wine. We’re doing orange soda in our wine. We’re making up the rules and breaking them when we want to ok? It’s too hot not to.
Continue reading Super Simple Lambrusco Sangria at Joy the Baker.
July 28, 2019
Let It Be Sunday, 232!
Hello friends, happy Sunday! We made it to this sweet sweet day.
This week I’ve been trying my best to move blocks out of my way. Obstacles in travel, challenges in relationships, blocks in writing. I’m acknowledging them and with my mind’s eye, literally pushing the unwanted stuff aside. The visualization hasn’t made things perfect by any stretch. In fact, maybe pushing too hard is what caused me to drop an entire bottle of laundry detergent on the floor… but there’s a lot to be said for persistence, and trying, and being on your hands and knees scooping laundry detergent back into the bottle.
Is Mercury retrograde almost over because I’m sure doing my best to power through. Beyonce says we’re limitless and I choose to believe her, ya feel?
I hope this day treats you well. I hope there are oatmeal cookies and cold watermelon chunks (or whatever your heart desires). The offering this week is below.
July 25, 2019
Tahini and Pistachio Biscotti
I want a cookie, but make it breakfast.
I’m thinking a little chocolate something with the second cup of coffee I know I don’t need (but I’m going to have anyway).
I’m hoping for a little snack distraction with an afternoon cup of tea while I think about what to make for dinner.
The answer to all of these wants and thoughts and hopes is biscotti. A sweet but not too sweet cookie. These are flavored with tahini, a sesame seed paste that’s thinner in consistency than a peanut or nut butter and is more earthy in flavor. I love what the earthiness and extra fat adds to these cookies – balance and softness.
Studded with salted pistachios and dipped in chocolate, these cookies are right for everything from breakfast through dessert. All purpose?
Continue reading Tahini and Pistachio Biscotti at Joy the Baker.
July 21, 2019
Let It Be Sunday, 231!
Hello my dears!
Another steamy Sunday, welcome to it!
I spent this week home in New Orleans, watering and talking to my outdoor plants and watering and talking to my indoor cat. This weekend I’ve been in Austin Texas learning the art of pretzel making from the head dough-pincher at Easy Tiger. And while I find ease and excitement in travel, this weekend has kinda handed me a slice of humble pie. So many little travel things have gone sideways it’s a good reminder to be early and gracious and flexible. And to carry a small bag and a no-nonsense attitude, really.
I hope you’re well this week.
July 17, 2019
One-Pot Baharat Chicken and Rice
One of the reasons I pop into the kitchen nearly every day is to create or recreate a memory. I feel like… standing over the stove, I can bring back to life a meal, not just in taste, but in feeling, too… like I can feel the heart and laughter inside the food.
It might be that I’m always chasing those good feels or trying to create new good feels in the kitchen. It’s just my way.
This pot of chicken and rice is a memory recreated. My favorite Friday night in Israel a few weeks back was a Shabbat dinner with a friendly family of strangers. Ori and Anna welcomed all of us sun-weary travelers into their home for an incredible table of food (that Anna tenderly mentioned took her three nights after work to prepare).
A big pot of chicken and rice was my favorite dish on the table (before I discovered a lemon pie in the kitchen) and it was only luck that I happened to be seated near the chicken pot for dinner. The dish was spiced with Baharat, a Middle Eastern spice blend that combines black pepper, coriander, cumin, allspice, cloves, cinnamon, paprika, and a few other warming spices. It’s savory and round and brings an incredible comfort-food mood to every dish it touches. Also, no two baharats are the same. Think of all of the differences you may have encountered with garam masala. Spice blends are always unique. (See if you can find Baharat at your grocery.
Continue reading One-Pot Baharat Chicken and Rice at Joy the Baker.
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