I like to challenge myself. Yesterday’s challenge was pizza-related – and I’ll tell ya – many of my challenges involve yeast, flour and a very hot oven.. The challenge was whether or not I could make a homemade pizza faster than a pizza delivery dude could bring a pie to my house. It’s like a…
Hello friends! I’m on a high from one of the best Thanksgiving days ever. My parents came to New Orleans, bringing with them some of the finest Southern California weather. They helped me hustle the Bakehouse together into a little wonder of a Thanksgiving home with dinner outdoors, drinks on the patio, every detail accounted…
I have a better understanding, and much more gratitude to my parents who managed to put actual warm dinner on the table all the nights of my young life. They were hardly every overly fancy and they often involved a fish stick with a carefully drawn line of ketchup thankyouverymuch. There were some nights (and…
Hello friends! Happy Sunday, indeed! This week I went to my sorta monthly acupuncture appointment where my kind acupuncture lady asked me all sorts of questions about my mood and sleep and digestion and cycle (all while making steady unwavering eye contact). I mention this and that. I tried to meet her steady gaze. I…
Friends it’s time. This is not a drill. It’s time to fill the fridge with soon-to-be leftovers and preheat the oven for pies! It has come to my attention that I don’t have a classic pumpkin pie recipe on Joy the Baker. I sure do have Pumpkin Pie Spice but left you with the spice and…
Hello friends! It’s Sunday, let’s do this! This week we turned my house into the tiniest cooking school, yet again. This time we welcomed Zoe Francois into The Bakehouse for a weekend of puff pastry and pie crust. It’s been tremendous so far and Zoe and I are both patting ourselves on the back, walking…
If I were to say my baking is influenced by a place, I’d call it a hodge podge of my Tennessee-raised grandmother (who may actually have been from Alabama), my California-raised father who loves figs and fruit pies, my California roots that may entertain coconut oil and avocado as substitutes for butter, and my New…
Hello friends! Welcome to another fine Sunday. I’ve been talking with friends this week and the consensus is that November has snuck up on us. We were here, just minding our own business in the month of May- we might have rested our eyes and minds for a minute or two and WHAM- November is…
Friends! Game faces – ON! The most delicious holiday of the year is fast approaching! Yea… we’re talking about Thanksgiving though here in New Orleans I throw a giant Friendsgiving at The Bakehouse. We’re four years into Friendsgiving and I, even thought, I have more than a dozen chairs in my house, it feels like…
Hello my friends! We are well on our way into the cozy season – perhaps my favorite time of year – when my oven is always on and I roast or bake absolutely everything. Every dinner is a combination of vegetables roasted on a sheet pan combined with eggs of some sort. Do you eat…
Hello friends! Please excuse the tardy Sunday post two weekends in a row. This is my favorite post to settle on the couch to write on Saturday nights. The past two Saturday nights I’ve been out in the world celebrating this life, and that’s changed up our Sunday routine. My apologies. I’m here! We’re back….
It’s not that some cookies are better than others. Every cookie is a dang-good cookie by nature of it being… a cookie. There are good cookies and then there are BLACK AND WHITE COOKIES. The cookie that reigns supreme. The best cookie in all the world. The cookie that wins the universe. The cookie that…
Hello sweet friends. Let me be the first to welcome you to a fine Monday! We’ve been super stormy down here with, in what was absolute NEWS TO ME, a tropical storm. I truly don’t know how I didn’t know but maybe it has something to do with not having actual television channels and not…
I’m home from a week chasing the leaves and breaking in my knit hat in Maine. I left New Orleans, sweating through a sweater and found myself in a red, orange, and yellow actual autumn wonderland up north. Whenever I come home from a trip, which feels like a lot this year, I feel a…
Hello friends! I hope today finds you slow and warm, feeling like you have more than you need. Luxury, right? I’ve spent the week in the great state of Maine exploring Portland, Bethel, and Mt Desert Island. I’ve eaten so many of the best, most reasonably priced oysters. I’ve lazed around bookstores and hiked through…
Hello my friends! Welcome to another fine Sunday! So many of you threw your praise hands up for the article on the mental work of cooking last week – linked here if you missed it. RIGHT? We see each other. That feels good. Are you dressing up for Halloween? I’m invited to a big New…
I’ve lived in New Orleans long enough now that I have a jar of fry oil stored in my refrigerator for emergencies that require beignets. Oh… some emergencies require beignets. I know that now. I also have a respectable amount of powdered sugar in the pantry and a hurricane kit in the office so… I’m…
I’ve been thinking a lot about habits. Since I’ve had more than a just few days back home in New Orleans I’ve settled quite nicely back into the routine. Routine. It’s been both comforting and illuminating. Like… there’s definitely parts of my morning routine that aren’t serving me (clicking onto Instagram within 30 seconds of…
Hello my friends! A few days ago on Instagram I posted a picture of me, at home in New Orleans, in a sweater, in full-on 90 degree weather. I’m trying my best to will cozy, chilly weather upon us. I’m not the only one. So many of you responded that you’re doing the same: making…
Hello friends! I’m back home in New Orleans from Dublin where it is still somehow 90 degrees with no signs of it being anything less. Dublin was such a lovely, albeit too short a time. Everyone is so kind, the hills are so green, the sheep are so round, and the croissants at Bread41 are…
Hello my dears. Welcome to your Sunday. Or your Monday. Welcome to it, wherever this finds you. I spent the week in Los Angeles celebrating my dad’s 70th birthday (he’ll always be 45 to me) and hustling around town taking meeting about a project that may or may not see the light of day. Sometimes you’ve…
I stay prepared, big and small. I’m prepared for tomorrow’s day of work. I mean… insofar as I have a bra and a pair of jeans set out on my bedroom chair. I’m prepared for my hungry hungry cat with extra bags of food. I’m prepared for my travel schedule with my passport and this…
Hello friends. Welcome to another fine Sunday. Yesterday a friend brought this tweet to my attention: @dadman_walking: 1980s parents DGAF. I broke my arm at a friend’s house when I was 5 and my mom didn’t believe me and shoved it in my coat because it was time to go home and she didn’t have…
Here’s the thing. There’s no time to waste. We’re here. We’re here and we’re making our own dreams come true. We’re not waiting. From here on out – we’re just going for it. I’ve been at it for a few years now. Doggedly. Rather unapologetically. I bought a house. I made it a Bakehouse. This…
Hello friends. Happy Sunday! Wow you really came through for me this week. The comments you left on the Here’s What We Know post were staggering, generous, and so beautiful. Thank you! If you have a moment or two after you browse through the Sunday links, head over and read through the comments on the…
Every Saturday… well, most Saturday nights, I settle in to write the Let It Be Sunday post for you. It’s my favorite time of the week when I let a quiet settle over my mind and catch up on the million and three tabs I have open in my browser. A few hours usually take…
I made my favorite early autumn pie. I’m pretty confident it will be your favorite too. Here’s the vibe: a creamy pie with the spice and tang of ginger, a kick of rum, the brightness of lime, the bitterness of dark chocolate, and the nuttiness of toasty pecan in a brilliant nut crust and candied…
Friend friends, hello! I’m seeing messages everywhere that summer is over but I’ll tell you what – these tomatoes are telling us otherwise. Sure, our summer days are nearing a close but I’m set on enjoying as many tomatoes, peaches, and plums as the market will allow. I’m just back from a summer on the…
