Food Diary

Aperol is a bitter Italian aperitif that is meant to stimulate the appetite. It is primarily used to make a variety of light and refreshing cocktails, since it actually has a very mellow sweetness to it, along with its signature bitter orange flavor. I enjoy making Aperol spritzes – mixing the aperitif (2 parts) with prosecco (3 parts) and a splash of soda water (1 part) over ice – at home during the hot summer months, but it is one of the most popular drinks going in Italy. This Aperol and Olive Oil Pound Cake is a very Italy-inspired dessert. The dense, tender pound cake is made with aromatic olive oil instead of butter and is flavored with Aperol, giving it a sweet start and a very complex finish as the flavors of the aperitif and the olive oil blend together. The cake is easy to make and the batter will come together in just a few minutes. Unlike a traditional pound cake, you don’t even need to wait for the butter to soften, since there is no butter in this recipe! The cake has

Hello dear friends!   I’m not going to say this meal is perfect – that’s a big sentiment.  The thing is though – it’s not not perfect.   Chicken and Waffles is a tale as old as time.  A tale as old as sweet and savory.  A tale as old as carbs and fried.  A tale as old as crunch and fluff.  A tale as old as pass the maple syrup and the salt shaker and hot sauce, please and thank you.  Chicken and waffles is just that meal.  It’s breakfast as easily as it’s brunch. Continue reading Gluten-Free and Chickpea Chicken and Waffles at Joy the Baker.

We have this “breakfast cookie” recipe going out to our Cooking Club members this week and I wanted to put the recipe here too. The feeding babies section is a crowd favorite, and my kids plow... Please visit Sprouted Kitchen to view this Recipe.

We created these crisp bread topping recipes for a celebration last week and thought you might enjoy them too. A Swedish summer spread, a herby green pea hummus with a sting and the classic bell pepper and sunflower seed spread from our first book.

Hello friends!  Today’s Sunday post is a bit different.  I turned 38 this weekend and each new year has me feeling reflective of years past.  I stood in my closet yesterday, suddenly deep in my thoughts, staring blankly at a few cotton dresses I might throw on when I thought – wait… did I make like, a five year plan a few years ago?  Did I leave a note for myself?  I know what I’m doing, right!?   I freaked out for a moment.  Then another moment.  Then I chose a floral cotton dress and took a deep breath.  I’ve been leaving myself notes all along.  For the last 11 years.  Here, for better or worse, with you.   It’s funny having a record of all the things I’ve been SURE about for the last 11 years, though funny isn’t the right word. Continue reading Let It Be Sunday! Hello, I’m 38. at Joy the Baker.

Memorial Day is often considered to be the start of the summer grilling season. It comes right near the end of the school year and it is the time when the whether really starts to warm up all over the country. A backyard barbecue is a must to kick off the season (even if you grill the rest of the year) and a good excuse to have a party. Whether you grill burgers, hot dogs, skirt steak or chicken, you need to end a good barbecue with a great dessert and these delicious ideas will ensure that your party ends on a high note! Grilled fruit  is one of the simplest and most delicious desserts that you can have at a barbecue or other cookout. The summer grilling season is when many fruits are at their peak, and grilling them only serves to make them even more flavorful. Once your fruit is grilled, you can serve it with ice cream. Grilled Peach Sundaes  are one of my favorites. You can also turn your grilled fruit – or roasted fruit – into a shortcake by pairing it with buttery biscuits an

I had a house full of people this week and I pulled deep into my reserves of ‘what can I make in about 15 minutes ‘ recipes.  There are blueberry scones that I can make in a snap, if I don’t get too distracted and forget to add the sugar.  They’re versatile enough to be made with a gluten-free flour blend and if I set the timer and don’t ignore the timer, I can get them made, in and out of the oven in about 30 minutes.  For baked goods that just about makes me a wizard.  There are my I Need A Cookie Right Now Cookies.   A dough that whisks together to soft and glossy but bakes into soft and chewy.  They’re covered in a cinnamon sugar that makes them little comfort bites for everyone.  These snickerdudes also happen to be grain-free with very little refined sugar thanks to almond flour and maple syrup and come from one of my most used baking book, Sweet Laurel .   I don’t just love these cookie for the speed.  They’re nutty and moist, sweet with maple syrup and really simply spiced.

The first time I tried a S’mores Frappuccino was about four years ago, when Starbucks first rolled out the marshmallow-infused coffee drink as part of a summertime promotion. I am a huge fan of s’mores in general – and regular readers know that I make all kinds of s’mores treats during the summer – so it should come as no surprise that I enjoyed the drink as a sweeter treat after my usual coffee! The Starbucks drink is made with a coffee frappuccino base that is infused with a graham cracker syrup and is then layered with marshmallow-infused whipped cream and chocolate syrup in the cold cup it is served in. The drink captures the nutty flavor of the graham cracker and the fluffiness of a marshmallow in each sip and it is surprisingly delicious. I tried to capture all those same elements in my Homemade S’mores Frappuccino, which you can make at home without running to your nearest Starbucks store on a hot day. I used a mocha base made with unsweetened cocoa powder and added whole

Hello friends, It’s late Saturday and I’ve, oddly enough, found a cozy spot in my closet to write today’s Sunday post.  All is well (right?) and there’s a coziness being surrounded by sweaters and aprons.  Also… it’s a small walk-in closet so things aren’t as dramatic as they sound over here.   All of my energy this weekend is going into Bakehouse workshops. Today was some pretty stellar Drake on Cake work and Sunday we’re making Berry and Apple Pies.  Six of them, to be sure.  Does it get better than this?  If it does, don’t tell me about it just yet.   Um.  I turn 38 next weekend.  Weird because I’m pretty sure my mom is 38 so somewhere the math is wrong.   How are you? Continue reading Let It Be Sunday, 223! at Joy the Baker.

You can never make fruit cobbler too often during the spring and summer, when wonderful fruits of all shapes and sizes are in season. I’ll make cobblers with any kind of fruit that I have in my kitchen. The problem with fruit cobblers during the summer is that you have to turn your oven on and leave it on for a while while the fruits and topping cook – and there are definitely days when you don’t want to heat up your kitchen any more than absolutely necessary. On those days, I opt for a stove top cobbler, rather than an oven-baked one. This Blueberry & Nectarine Skillet Cobbler with Coconut Streusel is prepared entirely in a skillet and will be ready to serve in just a few minutes – no oven necessary. The cobbler starts with the streusel topping. This topping is put together much like any other streusel topping, where flour, oatmeal, shredded coconut and sugar are combined with melted butter. After the topping is mixed up, it is transferred to a skillet and cooked until golden b

Here I am, yet again, making a case for carbs – the pasta kind of carbs, for breakfast.  The hidden truth is that this pasta dish has an equal amount of Brussels sprouts.  One part pasta / one part sprout.   I like those proportions and I like those odds.  And, in the year of our Lord 2019, we can add an egg to anything, serve it in the sunshine, and call it brunch.   This platter of Brussels pasta is inspired by a really lovely new cookbook Mostly, Plants .  I added the eggs because I wanted to serve it at a friend brunch at The Bakehouse alongside brunch favorites: praline bacon, fruit salad (no bananas / mostly watermelon), cream scones , Muffuletta Deviled Eggs , and a sweet potato hash made from leftover Chili Baked Sweet Potato Fries .   It was a spring dream, made even better by the sweet friends who came through hungry and excited.  I forgot to mention the cinnamon rolls .  My love language.  We told stories about the worst roommates we’ve ever had.   A lot of trash ca

Sprouted Kitchen turns ten this week. TEN! My goodness. I had some Instagram friends tell me their favorite SK recipes and it was so neat to hear what your favorites are. The ones that were on repeat... Please visit Sprouted Kitchen to view this Recipe.

Waffles are always a treat for breakfast. I used to save them for lazy weekend mornings, since they seemed to take more time to put together than a batch of pancakes, but that all changed once I discovered that it was possible to make waffle batter in the blender. Using the blender, smooth waffle batter will come together in just seconds, so you can enjoy fresh waffles any time you’re in the mood. These Vanilla Buttermilk Blender Waffles are one of my favorites, a classic recipe that makes waffles with a crisp exterior and a soft, custardy interior. The waffle batter is assembled in the blender, so you can measure out all your ingredients and add them directly to the blender pitcher. Once everything is inside, just blend to combine. I usually opt for low speed blending, then pause to scrape down the sides of the pitcher once or twice with a spatula, then finish off the batter with a few seconds at high speed to eliminate any lumps. Once it is ready, you can pour directly from the pi

Hello and Happy Sunday my friends! I’m in Los Angeles helping my parents celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary!  This picture sums up my dad giving my mom a little bit of a hard time and my mom ignoring / laughing about it.  If that isn’t the secret to a long and happy marriage then what is it?  Separate bathrooms?  That too.   By the time you read this I’ll be on a plane back south because I have to keep it moving… but I’m headed home with so much gratitude for my parents and the lifetime of memories we get to create together.  It’s all so much for than I’d know how to ask for.   It’s Mother’s Day and I hope you’re honoring that in a way that feels good.  Aside from Mother’s Day it’s also Sunday and I hope you find at least a few moments of good rest today. Continue reading Let It Be Sunday, 222! at Joy the Baker.

Neapolitan ice cream is a combination of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry ice creams that are all in the same container. You can scoop it so that you get just one single flavor, or so that you get some of each element in every scoop. Chocolate, vanilla and strawberry are flavors that you can’t go wrong with in any dessert and you will also find all three of them here in my No Bake Neapolitan Cheesecake, a rich no-bake dessert that is packed with plenty of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry in each bite! This No Bake Neapolitan Cheesecake was inspired by the Neapolitan Joe-Joe’s that I picked up the other day at Trader Joe’s. These Oreo-style cookies have a strawberry creme filling sandwiched between vanilla and chocolate wafer cookies, capturing the three flavors that make up the Neapolitan trio. I used the cookies to make the crust of the cheesecake – a no-bake crumb crust – so that I could bring in their Neapolitan flavor , too. The Neapolitan cookies are going to give you the bes

Peanut butter and jelly has been one of my go-to sandwiches for a long, long time. It’s the perfect combination of sweet and salty – and I always have the ingredients to make one on hand. I also like desserts that combine these two staples, like coffee cake and bar cookies , and that means that I instantly picked up a package of Trader Joe’s Peanut Butter Blondies when I spotted them on my last shopping trip to Trader Joe’s. The Trader Joe’s Peanut Butter Blondies are a dessert found in the frozen section of the store. They’re a triple-layered dessert, with a peanut butter blondie base, a strawberry filling and a topping of more peanut butter and crunchy peanut butter bits. The dessert comes pre-sliced and, although the slices are not large, they are fairly heavy and each piece is packed with plenty of flavor. It is frozen and needs to be defrosted at room temperature or in the refrigerator before serving (although in hot weather, you could probably also eat them cold). The dessert

Rhubarb season is elusive here in New Orleans, but it’s here… I think.   It’s here insofar as the cashier at Whole Foods wants to call rhubarb ‘red celery’ which is fully fine by me because she’s not wrong but not fully correct all at once.   I feel like I’ve indulgently enjoyed more than my fair share of sweet strawberries lately and I’ve been craving the sour bite of rhubarb alone. Continue reading Buttery Crisp Rhubars at Joy the Baker.

Pecan pie is a dessert that is a staple of many fall dinner parties and celebrations, but fall isn’t the only time of year that I bake desserts using pecans. This Pecan Chocolate Cobbler is a wonderful way to enjoy pecans any time of the year! While most cobblers feature fresh fruit, this one has a filling that is made with chocolate and toasted pecans, giving it a rich flavor with plenty of crunch and just the right amount of sweetness from the cobbler topping. This cobbler is assembled a bit like a pudding cake, in that the dish is assembled in layers and hot water is poured over the top of the entire dessert before it goes into the oven. After all, pecans don’t give off any liquid while they bake – unlike the fresh fruits usually found in a cobbler – so, you have to add in some additional liquid to create a saucy filling around the nuts! The filling itself is made up of a generous amount of toasted pecans and chocolate chips. The chocolate chips will melt into the sauce, giving t

I always enjoy desserts that incorporate – or are inspired by – Mexican chocolate. a coarsely ground chocolate that is made with coarse sugar (in fact, the chocolate sometimes still has chunks of sugar in it when it is in tablet form) and spices, like cinnamon and cayenne pepper. The exact recipes vary from maker to maker, but they are all delicious and deliver lots of rich bittersweet chocolate and warm spices. This Mexican Chocolate Brownie Pie is inspired by the flavors in Mexican chocolate , a sweet, spicy dessert that is perfect for chocolate-lovers. The batter starts with a generous amount of unsweetened cocoa powder, which gives the dessert a wonderful bittersweet chocolate flavor. It includes cinnamon and cayenne pepper, along with vanilla and almond extracts, for just the right amount of spice to evoke Mexican chocolate. I usually fold in a generous amount of dark chocolate chunks, leaving a few reserved to sprinkle on top for visual appeal. If I happen to have a tablet of

Hello friends! Welcome to another fine Sunday!   I’ve been thinking this week about a few things – mostly cults and pies. I started the week by listening to a podcast about a recent cult (that podcast linked below), and it really got me thinking about if I have the sort of brain that could every fall into a cult… or the sort of brain that was already unknowingly in a cult.  I’m not in a cult. Continue reading Let It Be Sunday, 221! at Joy the Baker.

Neapolitan ice cream is a flavor that is actually composed of three flavors in one package: chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. Unlike some multi-flavored ice creams, neapolitan ice cream is always layered, rather than swirled together. This layering makes it a perfect choice both for those who like all three flavors and for a group of people who simply want to eat one flavor apiece. I have always enjoyed the combination of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry – particularly when the three meet in an ice cream sandwich – and so the Trader Joe’s Neapolitan Joe-Joe’s immediately appealed to me, even though they’re a room-temperature treat instead of a frozen one. The Joe-Joe’s have chocolate wafer and vanilla wafer cookies sandwiching a strawberry cream. The cookies are the same that you’ll find on some of the other Joe-Joe varieties and the cream filling is made with freeze dried strawberries. Using real strawberries makes a huge difference in these cookies, as you can smell, taste and se

Hello my dears!   A few weeks ago I shared some of the meals that I’m making for myself in the kitchen these days.  Meals that include more whole foods… though honestly I think the term ‘whole foods’ is kinda buzzy and I’ve always eaten whole foods along with the occasional NOT whole food(?).  Human, you know?    See: Six Weeknight Meals I’m Eating Right Now . Overall I’m paying more attention to the foods I eat as they pertain to my hormones.  I’m researching foods that can help my body balance its hormones and I’m paying attention to how those foods make me feel month by month.  That means I have a food journal, eat less white flour, bake with less white sugar, eat way more kale and as much avocado as I’d like.  Listen… I also drink coffee and have an occasional glass or two of wine and I treat myself when I want to.  It’s not a cold turkey, perfect ‘clean diet’.  It’s not a diet at all.   I’m not here saying I have all of the answers, I’m here sharing my exploration.  Maybe it’

Today we are teaching you about the sacred Swedish coffee + cake ritual known as Fika, share the recipe for a delicious Rhubarb Crumble Cake and have a fun competition where you can win a trip to Stockholm and a fika with us!

My life is a series of leftovers.  Every day I put the skillet on the stovetop and hustle something cold out of the fridge to fry in the skillet with an egg or a handful of greens.  8 times out of 10 that leftover is a bean of some sort…. listen,  it’s all romance here in my kitchen, and I’m romancing the dang bean.  Today’s recipe is truly an encouragement to work Red Beans and Rice into your monthly meal routine.  I’ve been tryna tell you about these beans and there’s no stopping me now. Continue reading Red Beans and Rice Burgers at Joy the Baker.