Food Diary

Hello sweet friends! Gosh I’m glad for this day, aren’t you?  This week was, as the world does, everything all at once.  Last weekend, as I was leaving camp in Texas I heard mention of a storm in the Gulf. In October. So far into hurricane season I did a double take.  Turns out it was a fast wollop of a hurricane that passed directly over New Orleans.  As I stood at my backdoor watching the storm and willing the tree in my backyard to hold tight, I thought… what is this feeling I have? Continue reading Let It Be Sunday, 296! at Joy the Baker.

I haven’t had to pull out all the stops, and all of my party tricks to host brunch and dinner guests this year. In some ways it’s been a luxury to let the dishes pile and air dry on the kitchen counter and I’ve been a little lazy about keeping champagne cold in the fridge because there’s no one here to help me finish the bottle.   I feel like I’m juuuuust starting to feel comfortable gathering in small groups in my little backyard.  We have birthdays and job changes and engagements to make up for with celebration, as humble as a little backyard gathering may be.   My backyard gathering is a perfect excuse to flex one of my party hosting tricks: waffles! Continue reading Savory Pumpkin Pancetta Waffles with greens and eggs at Joy the Baker.

This easy classic banana nut bread is everything a banana bread should be: moist, warm spiced, and studded with crunchy toasted walnuts. Do you like your banana bread…nutty? A few dark brown bananas are an ordinary sight on our counter (yours too?). Usually our go-to banana recipes are healthy muffins or banana oatmeal pancakes , but this time we wanted something new. Meet this ultra Classic Banana Nut Bread ! This one is just like Grandma’s: moist and cinnamon-scented, with bursts of crunchy walnuts throughout. To take it over the top, toast the nuts in a skillet to bring out their nutty undertones before gently folding them into the batter. Ingredients in this banana nut bread This banana nut bread is a straightforward take on the classic! We’ve got a few tricks up our sleeve, so here are a few notes on what you’ll need: Bananas: Make sure they are ultra ripe! Spotty and brown is good and black works too! Walnuts : You can use any type of nut in banana nut bread. Walnuts and

In what I can only describe as an act of pure optimism, my boyfriend bought something like 12 pounds of Halloween candy this year.  I’m taking it upon myself to devise some sort of pulley or boomerang system to safely get as many of these pounds of candy safely to each and every, few and brave, Trick-or-Treaters.    I am not safe with even one pound of candy in my house. Continue reading Candy Bar Blondies at Joy the Baker.

This classic vegan butternut squash soup recipe has just the right fall flavor! Creamy and cozy, serve it with crusty bread for an easy meal. When the air gets that certain chill, it’s like a flip switches. Suddenly the name of that pale orange, oblong squash is on everyone’s lips. It’s butternut squash season ! Here’s a recipe that morphs this tough-to-cut squash into a silky orange puree. Meet our go-to Butternut Squash Soup recipe ! To put a modern spin on the classic, it’s a plant based and vegan butternut squash soup. You’ll find the flavor is so lusciously creamy, it makes all your fall dreams come true. All about butternut squash The squash that everyone’s talking about is more than just a trendy craze. Butternut squash is a pear-shaped winter squash with pale orange skin. Its flavor is sweet and subtly nutty, almost like a mild sweet potato. Popular ways to eat it are in soup recipes, as a pasta sauce , or in risotto . Is butternut squash healthy? Here’s a little breakdown

This coconut shrimp is baked to perfection: no one can resist that crunchy, coconut-scented, juicy bite ! Serve as an appetizer or dinner . Who can resist a plate of coconut shrimp? (We certainly can’t.) Each crunchy, coconut-scented, juicy bite is so supremely satisfying, we want to devour the entire plate. This appetizer is popular at seafood restaurants and Tiki bars: and it has that nostalgic 1990’s chain restaurant vibe. Here we’ve decoded the secrets behind the flavor: and for a lighter twist we’ve made it baked, not fried! Serve it with sweet chili sauce for a tasty appetizer: or you can make it dinner by adding a few sides like rice or sauteed veggies . Ready to get started? Coconut shrimp that’s baked, not fried! Of course, we had to put our “A Couple Cooks” spin on this coconut shrimp recipe. We’re all about making pretty simple recipes with a healthy twist: and that’s exactly what you’ll find here. Instead of deep frying, all you have to do is bake these babies in the ov