Joy Wilson's Blog, page 74
March 3, 2019
Let It Be Sunday, 212!
Hello my dears!
I’ll tell you what – we’re in the thiiiiiick of Mardi Gras here in New Orleans. Parades everyday, a new layer of plastic beads hanging from the trees, incredible costumes, and a warmth from everyone to everyone. It’s madness, but it’s also such a wonder. I’ve fashioned this cake out of foam and felt to wear on my head this Fat Tuesday. Listen… I can make a cake out of just about anything. New Orleans is the most creative and artistic city I’ve ever experienced, and this time of year sparkles with that pride. Also… if you’re looking for any hot glue guns – we have them all.
February 27, 2019
My New Orleans Favorites, Spring 2019
Hello my dears!
You know what time it is? Time for you to ease on down to New Orleans for a visit. It’s been time, in fact… you’re late but it’s fine. We take it mostly slow down here.
Every few months I put together a list of some of my New Orleans favorites. Spots I frequent for coffee and breakfast sandwiches. Neighborhoods that I never get tired of strolling. Shops with the best wares.
Continue reading My New Orleans Favorites, Spring 2019 at Joy the Baker.
February 25, 2019
Cinnamon Swirled Layered King Cake With OSTER®
Secret’s out: we’ve been enjoying King Cake every which way from Sunday for the last two months. The presence and intensity of the King Cakes in New Orleans has ramped up as we near the end of February, the end of carnival season, and the very biggest day of the year: Fat Tuesday. King cake – every day.
I say that to say, I’ve eaten my weight in King Cake doughnuts, fancy Galette de Rois, grocery store King Cakes, King Cake any and every way and surely by the time Ash Wednesday rolls around next week I will fully welcome a plate full of broccoli.
Until then though, prepare your hearts for this dream variation of a King Cake: layered, cinnamon-swirled, soft buttermilk cake, with a delightfully rich cream cheese frosting. If you’re not here in New Orleans with us, you sure can cake like you are!
This post is sponsored by the Oster® brand. The Oster® Hand Mixer with HEATSOFT Technology blows a gentle warm air as it mixes.
Continue reading Cinnamon Swirled Layered King Cake With OSTER® at Joy the Baker.
February 24, 2019
Let It Be Sunday, 211!
Hello my dears and welcome to this fine day.
Are you a deep space or a deep ocean person? I’m a deep space person. Space is amazing and we’re living in it and it’s such a wonder that it’s wild that we don’t even have to think about it every day. There’s a new show on Netflix called One Strange Rock that adds some gratitude and perspective.
Back on Earth, here in New Orleans we’re enjoying the first big weekend of Mardi Gras. It’s such a trip! I’m celebrating by inviting strangers into my house to make King Cakes with me at The Bakehouse. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate though next weekend I’ll be in the streets trying to catch beads and eat crawfish – just a different way to feel spirit.
The offering this week excludes some of the troubling madness in the world.
February 22, 2019
Pistachio Rose Galette des Rois Cookies
I planted camellias in my front garden (a humble but mighty two food wide, eight foot long patch in front of my house) last year. Last year, as it turns out, just AFTER camellias were in full bloom. I’m not much of a gardener, obviously. I buy something beautiful, or with the great potential for beauty, and hope I can convince it to live long enough to share its beauty with me.
I planted my camellia bush last year with the great hope that I could keep it alive for a year and that when camellia season graced us yet again, my little plant would have a flower for me.
Continue reading Pistachio Rose Galette des Rois Cookies at Joy the Baker.
February 20, 2019
Cacao Brownies Thins with Salted Pumpkin Seeds
I’ve just done a bit of reflecting and counted up legitimately four places in my house (outside of my kitchen) where I’ve stashed little bits of chocolate. My guest room has a vase (no joke) oh Hershey’s kisses on the third shelf to the right. There is a container of chocolate covered almonds next to the large mixing bowls. There are a few chocolate bars in the drawer next to the extra silverware for dinner parties, and a small bag of peanut M&M’s in my bedside table.
The thing is, if I have too many chocolate options greeting me every time I open my pantry, I’m liable to make only one choice: chocolate all the time. With the chocolate spread through the house, it’s like going on an Easter egg hunt every time I have a craving… which is, not infrequent and also not a crime.
My friend Maggie’s new book A New Way To Food respect our deep need for chocolate but frames her recipes along side her journey towards a healthy and nourishing relationship with food. Her recipes are thoughtful and decadent, treats for wholesome meals everyday. I’ve made a handful of her recipes by now (tacos from scratch, a fermented crudito, and ricotta from almonds) and it’s been so fun experimenting with new techniques and new-to-me ingredients – and the food has been stellar! I can’t recommend this book enough. The words are honest and encouraging and the recipes are playful and approachable and exciting!
And today – we’ll make brownie thins about it. Let’s!
We’ve got simple and wholesome ingredients before us.
• olive oil (I used my new favorite California olive oil: Enzo) instead of melted butter or a more neutral oil because I like the depth of flavor.
• maple syrup as sweetener.
Continue reading Cacao Brownies Thins with Salted Pumpkin Seeds at Joy the Baker.
February 17, 2019
Let It Be Sunday, 210!
Hello dear friends!
I hope this Sunday finds you happy and well! It’s a holiday weekend here in the states which means we’re blessed with a second Saturday – isn’t it fine!? I took a last minute weekend trip to Miami to visit my friend Lauren for the weekend. Miami is a wonder! The architecture, the palms, the sunsets, the ocean – it’s gorgeous and it’s such a trip. I’m content thanks the the sidewalk cafes alone.
This past week has been packed with recipe testing and Bakehouse workshops and there’s nothing like hard work to make an afternoon bike ride on the beach feel pretty great. I hope you’re feeling steady and accomplished this weekend! The reading offering is below and stay ready for a brownie recipe this week.
I appreciate you very much!
February 12, 2019
Dad’s One-Pot Hawaiian Chicken
Did your dad cook chicken in an oven bag, too?
There’s something truly magical that happens in an oven bag – ok, sure it’s mostly steam but I’m here to tell you that steam is pretty high up there on the magic in the kitchen scale.
My dad made this Hawaiian Chicken (so named because it came from one of his 1970’s cookbooks and the recipe contains pineapple) every month as we were growing up. It’s a toss-in-a-bag type dinner which I think is an early version of a one-pot or sheet-pan dinner. Get it done, dinner. It never goes out of style, obviously.
Continue reading Dad’s One-Pot Hawaiian Chicken at Joy the Baker.
February 10, 2019
Let It Be Sunday, 209!
Hello dear friends!
Wow – isn’t every Sunday a wonder? Making it to this day is an accomplishment, to be sure.
This week I feel like I’ve put my forehead down upon a broom stick and run myself in circles. The current moment finds me a little dizzy from travel and car rental, and Waze following, and family visiting, and somehow working, and somehow chasing my dreams day in day out.
February 7, 2019
Grapefruit Yogurt Poppy Seed Loaf
Winter would just feel too hard without one things: citrus. Well, winter would also feel hard without Mardi Gras but that’s just us, down here, living our truths.
There’s an order to things in the world. As the holidays come to a close, as we pack up our ornaments and lights and send the Christmas tree off to be recycled, as a chill and maybe a few anxieties settle into the new year – just when we need a bright light and a kick in the pants we are blessed with winter citrus. Queen among these blessed fruits – the gorgeously pink grapefruit.
Dreamy any which way.
Continue reading Grapefruit Yogurt Poppy Seed Loaf at Joy the Baker.
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