It was supposed to rain last Wednesday, as it’s always supposed to rain every summer afternoon down south. The rain is a welcome relief to the blanket of humidity we lie under unless, of course, you planned to be outside picking blueberries during said torrential downpour. I’ve quickly learned to just get out in the…
Hello friends and welcome to this fine Sunday. Today marks the 379th time I’ve come here to tell you how I think, what I feel, and what dresses and lip balm and sunscreen I’m into beyond the recipes that are the foundation of Joy the Baker. Can you believe? That’s no small feat. I’ve taken…
It would seem I’ve landed on baking these to get us through these summer days – small batch and EASY. That’s my level in the kitchen these days. I’m either making just two giant cookies, one cinnamon roll, or the actual best coconut sheet cake with cake mix. Since we’ve mirrored each other in the…
Summer books are meant to be defiled. Pages should be smeared with suntan lotion and potato chip grease; covers should be sun faded and waterlogged, used as coasters for your margaritas, a landing pad for unwieldy ice cream cones. (Unless, of course, you’re checking your summer book out from the library. In which case, you…
BUCKET LIST buck•et list (noun): a number of experiences or achievements that a person hopes to have accomplished during their lifetime. Also, a 2007 comedic film featuring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. SUMMER BUCKET LIST sum•mer buck•et list (noun): a list of things that a person would like to accomplish and experience during the summer months. If done correctly,…
Hello, friends! What are you eating and drinking to stay cool when going outside is like entering a furnace? As I type this, my fingers are buzzing from iced coffee and my fingertips are stained crimson from cherry consumption. It looks like my 4-year-old gave me a French manicure. Who knows? Maybe this’ll be the…
A few years ago when I embarked on the (incredibly exciting) journey of magazine making, I had no idea just how much it would flip my seasons and try to scramble my festive circadian rhythm. Last summer, I had a Christmas tree up in the living room for most of July and August. Yes, fully…
This post is sponsored by ALDI! Thank you for supporting the brands that make Joy the Baker possible! It is ICE CREAM SEASON! (A statement worth shouting from the rooftops) and I have the best-kept secret to beat the heat. I’ve never really been great with secrets anyway which is why we’re all making the…
Did you know there’s only 3 seasons in Chicago? Allergies, heatstroke, and hypothermia. When visiting during Allergies there’s so much in bloom and it’s so gorgeous. In fact, EVERYTHING is in bloom and pass the Flonase, please. No one visits during Hypothermia because they respect themselves. Oh, but Heatstroke (Summer)! With music and food festivals…
We’ve somehow already reached the level of summer where I am no longer willing to wear clothes, and it’s not even officially summer? Do we know what we’re wearing this summer? Correction, do we know what we’re sweating through this summer? It appears as though I’m only willing to wear loose linens and cotton short…
Here’s the last of the single serve recipes you didn’t know you needed. So far we’ve made a single cinnamon roll, two giant chocolate chip cookies, and two lemon poppy seed muffins. Last weekend while visiting my parents in Los Angeles my very own mother said, “I don’t get these single recipes,” and fair enough mom…
I see a lot of, let’s say, regrettable takes online. I’m on Twitter, for god’s sake. But I saw one this week about how my new favorite movie, Fire Island, is an F- (lolz) on the Bechdel test. Friends, if you glean nothing more from me this week, please know that if a group of…
I could argue that the very foundation of Joy the Baker is this recipe for Browned Butter Blueberry Muffins. Taking it aaaalll the way back to 2009 when I stumbled upon the wonder’s of browned butter and juicy baked blueberries. You loved them. I loved them so much they made it into my first cookbook…
A question was put out into the Joy the Baker-verse a couple weeks ago, “What are you into these days?” and you answered with gusto. This feels like the end of a PBS show where they say, “This episode was made possible… from viewers like you!” but it’s true! Your favorite things made today’s Let…
Micro batch baking – the invitation is to get all the way into it with me! This is all very Kristin Wiig making herself a single, sad cupcake in the movie Bridesmaids, save for the fact that there is absolutely zero sadness in me eating a single cinnamon roll over the kitchen sink in my…
