January 2, 2009 
Say “Hey Neighbor!” with homemade. Nothing says “Hey! I like who you are. I’m glad we’re in the world together” like homemade chocolate chip cookies. Nothing helps makes the world a better place like letting people know they’re appreciated. See how that works? Spread the good.
Whole Wheat, if not little by little then lot by lot. Sure, whole wheat flour has been all the rage for years now, but it hasn’t really touched my heart. This year, approach whole wheat little by little. Your belly might just welcome a whole wheat triple chocolate cake, emphasis on the triple chocolate.
Vegan time? A few less sticks of butter and eggs and milk might just do a body good. Those Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies I made with Jill treated me right. There should be more vegan baking in our futures.
Play. Commit to playing in your kitchen. Visit to one of those fancy food shops and buy yourself a treat. Maybe something that you never played with in the kitchen before. Get it home and get crackin’. There’s something fundamentally awesome about playing with new ingredients in the kitchen. It’s like getting that new color of Play-Doh for Christmas, and just about losing your mind.
Give. The best part of baking, aside from eating a brownie fresh from the oven, is being able to share your treats with others. You might even consider contacting a shelter that might be able to take your goods. That’s thinkin’.
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December 31, 2008 
Tonight, from San Francisco, I’m raising my glass to one heck of a memorable year.
There have been highs and lows, lots of learning, some tears and plenty of beauty.
Loads of goodies have come out of my oven. Photos have filled the memory of my computer, and silly stories have flowed out onto the Internet.
Here we are at the end and at the beginning. Like a hop, skip and quick restart.
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November 24, 2008 
This weekend, I went to Oakland, smiled a lot, sat in a tree and ran over a tumble weed at high speeds.
I wanted to sit down today and tell you about pie… about pie that’s so full of love and goodness it might make your heart explode. I’ve got the pictures, I’ve got the proof, and I can’t find the recipe. It’s got to be here somewhere covered in crumbs and flour.
Gimme a minute. Ok… gimme a few hours. I’ve got pie. You’ve got a heart that’s ready to explode. Now we just need to find that darn recipe…..
November 15, 2008 
There are wildfires raging all over Southern California and although I don’t live in the danger zone, the thick air and daunting skies make the fires impossible to ignore.
Driving around at dusk tonight, listening to the fire coverage on my car radio, I remembered that between the ages of about seven and eleven I would proudly proclaim that I wanted to be a firefighter to any adult that would ask.
It’s funny the reasons you choose to declare your future profession when you’re a child. See, I don’t particularly like fire, or being hot, or tall ladders or carrying heavy things. I’m not much of a hero. I don’t have that life saving gene inside me, aside from not killing the cricket that was in my kitchen last night.
My seven year old brain wanted to be a firefighter for several unheroic reasons: I liked (loved!) how awesomely clean and shiny fire trucks were. I also really liked color and something about the red truck and the yellow suits and the black and white Dalmatian was totally exciting. This is going to sound totally weird, but I used to love to do pull ups (I know, nutty), and my child brain somehow connected the ability to do pull ups with the ability to save lives and fight fire.
So I wanted to do pull ups and be a firefighter, until I wanted to own a zoo and be a vet, until I wanted to be a brooding writer, until I wanted to be a lady baker. Phew… figuring out that stuff is nearly exhausting, and I’m not even done dreaming yet.
How about some squash?
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November 12, 2008 
On Saturday afternoon I found my self standing in my kitchen, sipping a hot cup of milky Ovaltine. As I stood there, I started reading the Ovaltine canister… you know, like you read the box of cereal as you eat breakfast.
It turns out that my unassuming canister of Ovaltine had a recipe for me. I paused. I raised an eyebrow. I set down my mug of Rich Chocolate Ovaltine and I decided to bake their Ovaltine brownie recipe.
Let me stop here to answer the questions that have undoubtedly formed in your mind.
Yes, on rare occasions, I’ve been known to enjoy a cup of warm Rich Chocolate Ovaltine. A girl can only drink so much tea.
No, I will never again enjoy a warm cup of Rich Chocolate Ovaltine.
Why? I’ve discovered that Rich Chocolate Ovaltine is neither rich, nor chocolate. I’m not even convinced that it’s food. It should not be baked into brownies. Ugh. God. Ick. No! Mistake.
What happened? My ‘brownies’ came out of the oven bubbling with butter and chocolate-ish preservatives. Brownies are not supposed to bubble with butter. My house didn’t even smell like warm brownie goodness. It wasn’t a pretty picture. I felt sorry for the two sticks of innocent butter that I subjected to such torture.
But I learned something- something that I had already known, but my judgement must have been clouded by artificial chocolate flavoring. Use real ingredients. There is no substitute. Ovaltine is not chocolate. It might say it’s chocolate. It might strive to be chocolate, but it’s not, and it has no business in your brownie pan.
Sigh.
Don’t get it twisted. I’m not entirely hating on Ovaltine. Ovaltine rocks the house in my Chocolate Buttercream Frosting.
November 11, 2008 
On any given day my diet is consistently composed of scrambled eggs (seriously the perfect food), some variety of baked goods fresh from the oven, cheese (lots of cheese) and tea (I drink so much I run out of mugs).
Have I mentioned that I love scrambled eggs? I’m convinced that the perfect way to eat them is in tortillas, standing in the sunny spot in my kitchen flipping through cookbooks.
But this post obviously is not about my love for the egg.
There are days that I decide to slow down, take a deep breath and make myself something other than scrambled eggs for dinner. On those days I go for my no frills, yet somehow impressive Hungarian Paprika Chicken dish. It’s flavored with sweet Hungarian Paprika, onions, tomatoes, and the added creaminess of a touch of sour cream. Served it over a bed of buttery egg noodles, and the world is instantly coming up roses.
Everyone should have a no fail chicken recipe in their back pocket. This is mine. From my stove top to yours.
As a note, I think the big red tin of Hungarian Paprika is the only way to go with this chicken. You should be able to find it in your local grocery stores, it’s not a fancy pants thing.
Go say hello to the boys at Foodproof for my recipe. It’s a winner, I cross my heart.
Print this Recipe!
November 10, 2008 
It should come as no surprise that I relate to the world through food. Sure, I’m fairly well adjusted, I can carry on a warm conversation and function in life, but in the secret world that is my brain, I’m always trying to understand the world around me by relating it to something I’ve eaten.
Crazy? Maybe. Confusing? Let me explain.
Say I walk into my parents’ house and am greeted with a hug and kiss from my father. That’s just like eating a bowl of vanilla bean ice cream smothered with warm dulce de leche sauce. The hug from my dad and the ice cream create the same feeling in my brain. Get it?
The smell of fresh rain on concrete is just like eating a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup.
Having a heart to heart with my mom is just like sipping Earl Grey tea with extra sugar and milk.
Getting a paper cut is just like taking a shot of cheap tequila with salt and dry limes.
Falling absolutely, head over heals, silly in love with someone is just like smooth bourbon and cigarettes at midnight.
Sitting next to Grandmother at the dinner table and feeling her almost thoughtlessly stroke my hand as if it were her own… that’s just like this perfectly spiced Banana Cranberry Bread. Yes, there’s that much comfort in the bread. It’s the real deal.
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November 6, 2008 
To Do: Thursday 11.6.08
-Scowl at 6:30 am alarm clock.
-Randomly hit night stand in search of snooze button.
-Search the bed for warmth, find it, snuggle hardcore.
-Force self out of bed. Write. Seriously. Write something.
-Um…. snuggle more. It’s not a crime.
-Dress. Aroma Cafe. Tea. Breakfast. Dreamy.
-Write, seriously, you have to write.
-Jump on the bed.
-Make Sugar Crusted Ginger Cookies- eat a great deal of the dough.
-Watch Foodproof videos.
-Snuggle more. For your health.
-Think about showering.
-Shower.
-Discuss cheese. Make cheese look pretty.
-Bourbon. Drink some.
-Bed. Snuggle. Prepare to scowl at forthcoming early alarm clock.
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November 3, 2008 
It’s November, and that means that we’ve undeniably entered the holiday season. In my world that means lots of family, lot of parties and eating a ridiculous, almost painful amount of food. Cocktail parties. Tacky Christmas sweater parties. Surprise guests and…. my oh my… is it too early to be this excited?
Despite all of my (possibly premature) excitement, I’ll admit that I’m sometimes at a loss when it comes to a holiday night out. If I’m not fussing over what I’m going to wear, I’m getting nit picky about the dessert that I’m going to bring. It’s enough to drive myself crazy and send me straight to the egg nog bowl when I hit the party. The egg nog is always such a nice thought, but the actual introduction of egg nog into my system is a very, very bad idea.
This weekend I picked up a few party dresses and tights- festive and hip but not over the top. I also baked up the perfect all purpose holiday cake. It’s a winner because you can throw it together with virtually anything and everything you have in your pantry.
Let’s discuss…
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November 2, 2008 
Sometimes the sidewalks of Los Angeles hold helpful life instructions. Good lookin’ out.
I’m in the kitchen today. It feels right. Now… go kiss somebody, because you can.
November 1, 2008 
With a deep breath and a big fat smile I welcome you to National I’m a Maniac and Posting On My Blog Everyday for and Entire Month, also known as NoBloPoMo.
Well…. here we are. Now what do we do? Can we just sit and stare at one another for an entire month? No? You mean you actually want me to cook things, take pictures and tell you all about them? Ooooh. I guess that makes sense. What’s that? You want my crazy good Apple Pie recipe? Ok… we can do that.
What else? I’m coming to you with an empty bowl and a clean spatula. What would you like to see come from Joy the Baker in the next month? Do you have a recipe you want to share? Do you want me to make more pancakes? Do you need some sort of tutorial? Leave a comment announcing your deepest baking desires and we’ll see if I can make all your dreams come true. It’s going to be just like Disneyland, with shorter lines and fewer mice.
And now…. oatmeal.
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October 29, 2008 
Settle in friends. You might be here a while. Come and experience the better part of 48 hours behind the camera with Joy the Baker in San Francisco.
From the Oakland Bart Station to the streets of San Francisco and back again. It’s a whirl wind trip. Hold my hand and play along.
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October 25, 2008 
My pumpkin adventures continue. I think pumpkin is just something I have to get out of my system in order to move on to more enticing Fall foods. With these cookies, a version of some other out of this world pumpkin cookies, I can fairly say that I’ve got pumpkin out of my system. All is well.
Here’s what’s going on with Joy the Baker. I’m gearing up for NaBloPoMo. What’s that!? It’s a full month of daily blog posts in November. Joy the Baker will become a combination of amazing baked treats, holiday baking tips, and a fine cheese oasis. Cheese? Yes, I’ll explain more in November.
I’m going to San Francisco this weekend. It’s sure to be a dangerous collision of food, drinks, Halloween costumes, and the madness of my little sister. I’ll bring my camera and share the debauchery with you.
What are you doing this weekend? Besides baking these (insanely easy) Pumpkin Butterscotch Cookies?
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October 22, 2008 
Some recipes are good enough to serve at the church picnic. Some recipes are fine enough to take to the family barbecue. Other recipes you know will satisfy your office coworkers. Those savages will eat just about anything.
Then there’s the recipe that you pull out of your back pocket when you’re looking for love.
This beautifully simple Apple Crisp recipe is that “get a man (or woman!) and hold on to him (or her!) recipe”. If you already have that man, consider this your “it’s time for a ring” recipe, or your “sorry I scratched the bumper of our new car” recipe, maybe even the “thanks for working so hard today honey… I made the house smell like warm apples with this apple crisp just for you” recipe. See, I’m looking out for you.
This recipe is the perfect balance of warm memories and good love. The warm apples tossed with sugar and cinnamon beautifully collide with the toasted, crunchy topping.
It’s a dream come true.
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October 19, 2008 
I come to you with these pictures and recipes not knowing whether this combination of treats is awesome or terrifying. Blood and Bones.
Before we get down to the treats, can I share something with you? I’m not a big fan of Halloween. Honestly, it scares me a bit. The whole night seems unpredictable and slightly unstable to me, even as an adult. It’s the costumes. See, there are two categories of Halloween costumes that just chill me to the bone.
One one hand, there are the girls that use Halloween as an excuse to wear as little clothes as possible. Are you one of these girls? Are you dressing up as a ‘sexy boy scout’ this Halloween? What on earth is a sexy boy scout?? I’m scared. I also don’t like the medical and other uniformed professions you make sexy for Halloween. I don’t agree, and frankly, I’m frightened.
There’s also the teenage boys that dress up as murderers with bloody plastic knives and masks. Teenage boys dressed as murders in the darkness of a Halloween night? Is it just me being old, or do these kids seem totally out of control? They seem waaaay too old to be dressing up and run the neighborhood with a pillow case scooping up candy from everyone they can. Not ok. Just not ok.
Wow! Halloween makes me sound like a grumpy old lady.
To celebrate my inner old lady and to embrace any hidden desires to be a hussy for Halloween, I’m going to be Blanche from the Golden Girls. It’s going to be a perfectly ridiculous Halloween getup.
What are you going to be for Halloween?
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October 19, 2008 
Thanks so much for playing along and being a fan of Joy the Baker. All your love on Facebook and Twitter really means a lot to me.
I’m cookin’ up another post for you. It’s going to be a winner.
In the meantime, enjoy this picture of a slide of my parents at their wedding reception. You’ve got wedding cake, my Dad’s afro and my Mom’s seventies wedding dress. What more could you want? Rhetorical question.
October 17, 2008 
The Internet sure is a big place. Let’s make it just a bit smaller. You and me. Whaddya say?
You know you can’t get enough Joy the Baker. Why not follow me on Twitter and become a fan of Joy the Baker on Facebook?
All of this Internet socializing is pretty new to this kitchen junkie, so I’m not as popular as the prom queen yet. Oooh but with a little help from you, I’ll get there in no time!
Aren’t on Twitter or Facebook? That probably makes you a far more focused and disciplined person than I. I salute you.
Thanks for letting me shamelessly plug myself. You’re dreamy. Now, come on! Follow me!
October 13, 2008 
There are endless things for a young, single girl to do in a big city like Los Angeles. There’s shopping on Melrose. There are afternoons at the beach in mid October. There are concerts, countless happy hours to attend, and an array of ridiculously pretentious clubs to try to get into.
Yea…. those are all things that most normal twenty something girls might find the time to do. I’d like to consider myself a special breed. When I had a free morning a few days back I decided to go doughnut hunting. Yes, I made up a new sport. It involved just a few things: doughnut shops, milk or coffee, and an empty and willing stomach.
Wanna play? The beauty of this game is that you can do it in any city on any given morning.
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October 13, 2008 
An open letter year book response to you. Yes, you. Imagine it’s written in uncomfortably large bubble letters.
Hey! (Read: Dear Darling Most Wonderful Reader,)
It was so fun getting to know you this year in Ms. Roger’s class (Read: Thanks for reading my blog even when I don’t update it for four days) Isn’t Mark HOT!?!!? (Read: Isn’t Mark HOT!?!!?) Thanks for sitting next to me and letting me copy all you Spanish homework. (Read: Thanks for reading even when I just post a picture of an old stove.)
I hope we get to hang out this summer. (Read: I’ve got a date with WordPress and photos later tonight. Promise!)
You’re awesome. KIT (insert hand drawn hearts and flowers and peace signs) xoxxo- Joy
(Read: You’re awesome. KIT. For reals. Love, Joy the Baker)
October 9, 2008 
What is going on in the world? Is Al Gore messing with the global temperature again? We’re sneaking into mid October and here I am in Los Angeles trying to talk myself out of using my air conditioner. It’s as hot here as it was in July. We’re talking 90′s people. 90′s! That’s just not normal.
All I want to do is get the cider going, maybe curl up with some pear upside down cake or anything filled with pumpkin flavor. What’s stopping me? All this blasted sunshine and heat. I know… I know… I shouldn’t let a little sunshine get in the way of my dreams.
Incidentally, just as I’m writing this, I have my neighbors glorious barbecue smells wafting through my window. I suppose I can’t be all that grumpy about a little sunshine.
Are you having more cozy, spice friendly weather? Here are some of the deliciously spiced recipes I’ve played with here on Joy the Baker. No doubt this Fall (as soon as it kicks in) I’ll share some new goodies with you.
Now I’m going to go see if I can snatch some barbecue scraps from my neighbor…..
Gingerbread Pancakes with Homemade Pancake Syrup Yes. More pancakes. Don’t act like you’re the least bit surprised.
Zucchini Sweet Potato Bread This is one of my Dad’s favorite breads. A grated raw sweet potato adds amazing moisture and flavor to this bread. Also throw in nuts and dried fruit as you see fit. It’s totally customizable.
Super Soft Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies These are easily one of my favorite cookies of all time. They fall somewhere in between cake and cookie. Perfect. And the combination of pumpkin and chocolate is just so dear to my heart.
Cranberry Orange Almond Oatmeal This breakfast oatmeal is so good you might not mind dragging yourself out of bed ten minutes early to make it. Between the oats, dried fruit and almonds, this is one delicious balanced breakfast that would keep any normal person full well into the lunch hour. I’m a maniac though, so no matter what I eat for breakfast, by 10:30 in the morning I’m ready for second breakfast…. yes… second breakfast.
What spiced goodies are you baking up for Fall (or Spring, if you’re on the other side of the planet) ?
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