Food Diary

Bakers tend to go through a lot of vanilla because the majority of dessert recipes call for it. It’s not that recipes can’t be made without vanilla – they can be and many are – but it is because vanilla is so delicious, adding a uniquely sweet, subtle flavor of its own and amplifying any other flavors it is combined with. If you go through a lot of vanilla, you will also have noticed that the price of vanilla has significantly increased over the past year. Instead of buying it, try making vanilla extract at home. It’s not only a fun project, but it will produce plenty of vanilla extract for all your baking recipes. Making vanilla extract is simple and only requires two ingredients: vanilla beans and vodka (or white rum). Vanilla beans can be just as expensive as ready-made extract, but the good news is that you can get a lot more flavor out of them, so your vanilla extract will taste more potent than many store-bought products. You will also need a little bit of time, as it can take

If we’re paying attention to the small milestones (and good grief- WE ARE), it’s been just over two years that I’ve had a backyard.  It’s an anniversary of sorts (but really not at all). The backyard is still partly graveled, with hopes of future raised beds.  I still battle the weeds – but there are moments of such sweetness.  Earlier this spring the gardenias made me think of my grandmother ever morning. Continue reading Simple Fig and Mascarpone Cake at Joy the Baker.

Cashews are a delicious nut that often turns up in trail mixes, granola and other recipes where nuts are the stars, but rarely turns up in other baked goods. I think that this is a shame because, like macadamia nuts, cashews have a buttery sweetness to them that works extremely well in desserts. These Coconut Cashew Cookies combine chewy coconut with crunchy, toasted cashews for a cookie that is unexpected and very delicious. The cookies use sweetened coconut and toasted cashews. I prefer not to toast the coconut before using it because it brings a little extra moisture into the cookies, but the cashews benefit from being lightly toasted to enhance their texture. I typically buy cashews that are lightly toasted and salted to make these cookies with – and because I can snack on the leftover nuts when I’m done baking! That small amount of extra salt also contrasts well with the sweetness of the coconut, leading to very balanced cookies. The dough comes together very quickly and bakes

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While zucchini can be used to make a wide variety of delicious savory dishes, it can also be used in desserts and can make some delicious breads and cakes when it is in season. These Whole Wheat Zucchini Muffins with Walnuts are a tasty breakfast option for extra zucchini. The hearty muffins are made with whole grains, warm spices and just the right amount of brown sugar. They’re also packed with shredded zucchini for a healthier element that helps to keep the muffins moist and tender. You will need one large or two medium zucchini for this recipe. The zucchini should be shredded with a cheese grater and packed into a 1 cup dry measure, but the truth is that you don’t have to be too exacting with the amount of zucchini that you use. While it does bring moisture into the muffins, the batter can handle a little more or less zucchini, so don’t worry if you end up with an extra 1/4 cup in your mixing bowl – or only have a scant cup available because you ran out of zucchini while grating

Hello dear friends! Thank you for your patience yesterday!  I hope you’re coming out of a lovely August weekend (literally HOW is it almost September!?) and I hope you’re feeling steady in this Monday.  Take it slow. Let’s just ease in.   Maybe this recipe for Red Beans and Rice will help… it is a Monday tradition.   This past week I taught my first yoga class to a handful of very patient students. Continue reading Let It Be Monday, 186! at Joy the Baker.

Friends! Thank you for your patience and grace this Sunday!  I’ll have our Sunday links for reading up on Monday this week.  These days have been so full and I’d rather do a great job than a rushed job.  Ya feel me?  Just like every other Sunday, I hope for you hot coffee and lots of ease.  Perhaps this French Toast For One or Two will inspire you to take a few moments in the kitchen today. Continue reading Let It Be… at Joy the Baker.

Peaches are a versatile fruit that can be incorporated into a wide variety of desserts and baked goods. From muffins to cobblers, you can’t go wrong with peaches. But when it comes to desserts where peaches are the star, it is hard to beat a Classic Lattice-Topped Fresh Peach Pie. The pie filling is made with lots of fresh peaches and is absolutely bursting with peach flavor in every bite. The filling is sandwiched between two layers of buttery, flaky pastry that contrasts well with the tender fruit inside. Peach pie is a classic for a reason and, if you haven’t tried it yet, you should pick up some fresh peaches and bake one this weekend! The filling starts with lots of peaches. You want to choose peaches that are ripe, but still fairly firm. If the peaches are too soft, they will break down and lose their shape during the pie’s long baking time, so very ripe peaches are better used in other recipes. The peaches should be peeled (easy to do when they are firm), the pits should be re

It’s been three weeks notice, about 27 texts, and four menu swaps in the making, but tonight is Friend Dinner around the big table at my house.  We call it Friend Dinner because, well… I poorly named it two years ago well… we are in fact friends who dinner, so.  Just be careful what you call things.  It could be lame but stick. Everyone has a task around the big table at dinner – not to bring a dish but rather, one person is in charge of the record player, someone is on water duty, someone helps me finish setting the table. Continue reading White Bean Skillet Crostini at Joy the Baker.

Langues de Chat are crisp, buttery cookies with an unusual look and name – but with a delicious flavor that is well worth trying. The name translates to “cat tongues” and is a reference to the fact that the long, thin cookies are roughly the same shape as the tongue of a cat. They are always pale in the center with a golden brown, caramelized edge that runs evenly around the outside of the cookie. While some specialty stores carry molds for making this type of cookie, you only need a regular baking sheet and a piping bag to make them easily at home. The dough for these cookies is a vanilla butter cookie dough made with a fair amount of sugar, which contributes sweetness and aids in getting perfectly browned edges. They use confectioners’ sugar, rather than granulated sugar, so the dough has a very fine texture to it. The dough is thick, but soft, and it is put into a pastry bag fitted with a round tip and piped onto the baking sheet. Piping the cookies – I like to use a 1-cm or 3/8-i

Traveling with a toddler? Here are tips on traveling to Europe with toddlers, including toddler travel beds, packing lists, plane activities, and more! Affiliate links are included below. When Alex and I decided to take our toddler son Larson on vacation to Europe , some people thought we were crazy! Heck, we felt like we were crazy. But with the guidance of several friends who had also traveled to Europe with toddlers, we were assured that yes, we could do it. A dear friend assured us that “Traveling with kids is an adventure, not a vacation!” and we lived by that mantra. And you know what? A few days in and it actually did feel like a vacation! Incredible food, clear blue Mediterranean waters, and ancient ruins combined to make the most memorable adventure ever . Since we’ve returned, we’ve had so many people ask, what are your tips for traveling with a toddler ? Good news: we’ve got you covered! All our secrets for the best toddler travel bed, plane activities, and more are below

Mexican hot chocolate is known for having a hint of spice that sets it apart from other types of hot chocolate, making it both distinctive and delicious. Ibarra is a brand of Mexican table chocolate that is primarily used to make amazing hot chocolate. The chocolate is packaged in a distinctive hexagonal yellow box and each tablet – there are several in each package – is also a hexagon. The chocolate is somewhat coarse in texture – not because it isn’t quality chocolate (it is!), but because it contains undissolved coarse sugar and cinnamon for flavoring. If you haven’t tried it, you should pick up a box when you see it at the market and give it a try. If you have tried it, you should consider making a batch of these Ibarra Chocolate Brownies next time instead of – or in addition to – traditional hot chocolate. This is a variation on my go-to brownie recipe that uses a generous amount of Ibarra chocolate, along with just a bit of cocoa powder, to make the batter. The chocolate shoul

I do love breakfast. I enjoy the ritual of warm coffee with a glug of coconut creamer, first thing. The first hot sip, just creamy enough; two hands wrapped around my mug. It's not the caffeine,... Please visit Sprouted Kitchen to view this Recipe.

As soon as strawberries come into season, I start making strawberry shortcakes for dessert. I love the combination of cake or biscuits, whipped cream and strawberries – especially when the strawberries are perfectly ripe and sweet – and it is so easy to make that it is always one of my go-to summertime desserts. These Strawberry, Mint and Lime Shortcakes put just a little twist on this classic by adding in some pops of flavor that will make a serving of shortcake a lot more memorable. The strawberries I used in this shortcake recipe are fresh berries, but they are macerated in sugar, lime juice, lime zest and mint before being put on top of the shortcake. Macerating the berries allows the strawberries to become more tender and to release some of their juices. Those juices can be added to the dessert to add a little extra flavor. The lime and mint contrast well with the jammy berries, adding just enough tang to make the mixture even more addictive than your average berry. The strawber

Hello friends! It’s been an emotional and exciting week and, don’t worry, I’ve eaten plenty of cookies and french fries about all of it. I’ve also gone in on comfort food like Apricot Chicken with couscous – which, if you’re looking for dinner this week, is a very good idea.   I’ve been working hard in my yoga teacher training and truly it feels like opening a box of infinity. Continue reading Let It Be Sunday, 185! at Joy the Baker.

Hey it’s me. Just sliding  in your inbox with a refreshing thirst trap for ya.  A thirst trap for the actually very thirsty.  And more than a trap it’s a solution.   Lemonade.  All kinda of ways.  Pink, green, spicy, tropical, healthy, caffeinated.  Gosh Beyonce would be proud. I’m just trying to keep it fresh for us this August!  These days are aggressive and we need a little solace in the glass.   Here are nine ways to lemonade. Continue reading 9 Ways To Lemonade at Joy the Baker.

There are all kinds of cakes out there, from single-serving cupcakes to towering layer cakes. One of my favorite types of cake is a snack cake, an admittedly less official category than some of the others. Snack cakes should be easy to make and are usually single-layer affairs, with straightforward ingredients that you can throw together on short notice. They’re not the showstoppers you might bring out for an event, but they’re delicious and satisfying any day of the week. This Cinnamon Sugar-Topped Banana Snack Cake is the perfect everyday cake, loaded with banana flavor and topped with a crisp sugary topping. The best thing about this recipe is that it is very easy to make and requires only a few ingredients. You only need a single banana, making this a good choice for days when you want a banana dessert but don’t have enough ripe bananas for a full sized banana bread loaf. I added a handful of chocolate chips simply because I was in the mood, and chopped nuts could be used just as

Ginger beer is a delicious ingredient in summer drinks and cocktails, but did you know that you can use it to make other tasty treats? There are actually a surprising number of recipes out there that call for soda as an ingredient because the sweet, fizzy drinks have pronounced flavor that can add a lot to both sweet and savory dishes . Ginger beer has a particularly distinct flavor, with the hot spice of fresh ginger, and that makes it a fun ingredient to work with in this Blueberry Ginger Beer Pound Cake! You will start out by creaming together butter and sugar for this recipe, just as you would for most pound cakes. I added some vegetable oil to ensure that that cake stays exceptionally moist. The ginger beer is poured into the batter where you might normally use milk, buttermilk or another dairy product. It may fizz up a bit as you mix it in, but just keep stirring until the batter has come together. I folded in fresh blueberries just before pouring the batter into the pan. If

Want to learn how to capture special memories with your travel photos? Here are our photography tips and tricks for how to take better pictures on vacation! Alex and I recently took a trip to Italy, Croatia and Spain , and man what special memories we made with our 1 year old son Larson! I don’t know if you’re like us, but when we travel we don’t buy a lot of souvenirs: instead our souvenirs are the photos we bring home! When you take a special vacation, it’s even more special to have photos that capture the essence of the trip. And believe me, that’s no easy task! For years we’ve been struggling to figure out how to take better pictures on vacation. If you’re looking to up your game in capturing special memories in your travel photography, we’ve got some photography tips and tricks for you! Below we’ll cover both smartphone photography and how to take awesome pictures using a DSLR or mirrorless camera. 1) Plan your photography gear Smartphone cameras (including iPhones) have becom