Hello my dearhearts. How are you holding up? I just took a big deep exhale just posing that question. I’m ok. You’re ok. All of us are doing our best for ourselves and for the people around (but far away) from us. Those are truths we can carry with us today. How are you staying…
Hello friends. Let this be a bit of sunshine in your day. This is a very vintage Joy the Baker recipe I’ve brought back to life for this modern day. Cupcakes feel… I dunno… maybe a little trivial considering our current reality, but even as strange as things are, some things remain the same –…
Hello dear friends. Welcome to another Sunday. It’s a weird one, but we’re in it just the same. In one of my posts this week Suzy Parker was kind enough to help me switch my brain with a blog comment. She left a comment with a “modality to get back to the present moment”. I’ll…
Someone on the street today said (from a safe distance) “How are you?” . “Great!” I said. Confident for several seconds before adding, “Ya know… scared and anxious but also… great?” That’s where we are these days. In two realities: one of occasional fear and constant uncertainty, the other of just normal TGIF feelings. We…
I just lit a candle. I just lit a candle and took a lap around my house, passing shoes my feet discarded under the dining room table and a pile of dishes in the sink I’ve promised myself I’ll wash later. As is always true, there’s no escaping myself – especially these days. How are…
Hello dear friends. We all know what’s going on and we all know it’s not feeling great. We’re all experiencing disruption in one way or another and it’s extremely unsettling. In what is true and good news, some aspects of day to day life still go on. We’ve got each other in this little Let…
. One of my favorite Mardi Gras costumes this year was a woman with a jacket embroidered with the message” I’m ok! You’re ok!” It felt both celebratory and comforting and like a mini pep-talk to all of us. I’m ok! You’re ok! Sure, it may not always be true. What’s always true is that…
I love to roast a whole thing. Come late winter (I know we’ve had it mild, but still) I’m ready to stick the entirety of something in the oven, crank up the heat, and let it go until it’s reduced to a bubbling, golden, caramelized dream. It’s a comfort and without much slicing and dicing,…
Hello friends! Welcome to another sweet Sunday. We’ve lost an hour but we’ve gained a springtime sunset. It’s a solid trade. I’ve spent half of this week in Charleston, SC teaching, demo-ing beignets, shaking hands and seeing old friends at the Charleston Wine and Food festival. Fun? Truly. A little overwhelming? Sure, there’s that too. …
It’s not that chocolate chip cookies need anything at all. They don’t need the razzmatazz. They don’t need and songanddance beyond their own simple perfection. But…. but but but but. You know I can’t leave well enough alone around here. If we’re not adding browned butter to cookies then we’re adding an extra pinch of…
Hello sweet friends! You’re here. I’m here. It’s Sunday. We’ve got a good thing going. Thank you for sticking with me through Mardi Gras season. I know it’s a weird thing to get into if your whole city hasn’t also exploded in glitter so – thank you for the grace. I hate to be the…
There are truly a million ways to do carbs at breakfast. I know because I’ve tried most, if not all of them. I mean… there are at least a hundred thousand ways to pancake alone. We’re thankful, especially on the weekend. My latest morning carb craving has been English Muffins and as a baker, I’m…
Hello dear friends! Happy Sunday! Happy Mardi Gras! We’re in full celebration this weekend. My house is full of friends and cakes. There are beads everywhere. It’s hard to imagine a few years back when I didn’t celebrate like this every February. This year’s Mardi Gras looks are mostly variations of lace gloves and cowboy…
Hello sweet friends! This week marks the meat of Mardi Gras – the real good stuff. Parades every night. Long lunches that somehow turn into dinner. Parking strategies. Late night snack strategies. Comfy sparkle shoes to walk from one side of town to the other. Friends that leave their houses open for long parade nights….
Hello sweet friends. It’s my pleasure to welcome you to another fine Sunday. I’m actually coming to you from Saturday late-morning, what might be the last sunny day for a week. The sunshine coming through my window is begging me to get up and outside. If felt like there was not enough coffee in the…
Hi friends do you know what this week is!? You do. I know you do. It’s Valentine’s Day week. Which… well it’s really just a day but I’m counting it as a week considering that’s how long I’ll have willed the romantic gesture of flowers into this home come Friday. I don’t ask for much,…
Hello dear friends! Welcome to another fine Sunday. This week has felt like a week of waiting. A week of refreshing my email. A week of waiting for permissions and collaborations, and checks. It’s ok. I’ve steadied myself for a windfall of tasks next week. Hopefully. Maybe. This week has also been a flurry of…
Hello friends! Down here in New Orleans we’re adding to the long list of reasons you should come plan your visit! We’re gearing up Mardi Gras, we’re tuning the instruments for Jazz Fest, we’re always always always cooking, and we’re praying for warm but not rainy weather for Fat Tuesday. What I’m saying is… we’re…
Hello dear friends! Welcome to another fine Sunday! We made it through January! I’m not alone in feeling like January was a full 7 years long, right!? Like… I full abandoned and then recommitted to my New Year’s Resolutions all within the first month of the year. What a trip, honestly. Let’s see what February…
We take our king cakes very seriously this time of year. We take them seriously and we take them every which way. The rule is: the person who finds the baby inside of their king cake slice, has to buy the next king cake for everyone. It’s a never ending cycle which means there is…
I went back to Los Angeles for a quick visit a few weeks ago. I spare my parents from picking me up at the airport, and I still have my house key on my ring, so I came back home to not much fanfare save for my dad in the kitchen meticulously kneading together a…
Hello friends and welcome to your Sunday! I’m keeping it short this week since it’s been a long week and I’ve promised to live a life off of the computer this weekend. I hope this finds you happy and well, with a good amount of time for yourself today (if you’re into that sort of…
I did it again. I bought bananas with great hopes of probably smoothies and healthy afternoon snacks and here we are – where we always end up – at banana bread. Honestly it’s what we deserve and where we belong so why fight it? Today’s recipe offering is a must-make. While I think everything I…
Hello friends! Happy Sunday! I feel like everyone is talking about Paris Hilton’s lasagna… but, I’m not. This weekend we hosted our first Bakehouse workshop of the year and it feels good to fill this space with people again. It’s always fun and a little rowdy and I wouldn’t like it any other way. I…
I’ve got a long list of King Cakes to make this carnival season. They vary in degrees of complication and amounts of butter. Most are sweet. One is savory. All are being testing this month and shaping up to be deeply delicious. Lord knows there’s no shortage of King Cake around here. There’s an Original…
Hello friends! Welcome to another Sunday! This week I’ve been back and forth to Los Angeles for a quick family trip which always jumbles up my week and clouds how I feel about whether I’ve done a dang thing or not. Turns out I likely have done all sorts of productive things and there are…
If there is something in my house that I can eat while standing at the kitchen counter, I can guarantee I’ll try my best to eat enough to make it a meal. I speak specifically of hummus and crackers, hummus and pretzels, hummus and a hastily chopped vegetable, hummus and a spoon – it’s almost…
Friends! Here’s one late addition to our holiday cookie table! Last week I told you about my holiday cookie swap. It’s this coming Saturday which means I’ve had my nose firmly planted in Dorie Greenspan’s cookie book for the last week straight. Dorie has a recipe for a mulled wine jam cookie topped with a…
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…
The internet is home to some 8,467,326 recipes for chocolate chip cookies. How many of them do we actually need? I would argue, most of them. We need options! We might want to pan-bang our chocolate chunk cookies, maybe a super chewy cream cheese chocolate chip cookie. We definitely need a trusted browned butter version. This…
I want a cookie, but make it breakfast. I’m thinking a little chocolate something with the second cup of coffee I know I don’t need (but I’m going to have anyway). I’m hoping for a little snack distraction with an afternoon cup of tea while I think about what to make for dinner. The answer…
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…
Friends, hello! It’s feeling a little buzzy around my house this week as I get ready for houseguests. The incomparable Erin McDowell is coming to stay a few days – dreams, really. We’re going to make pies (and see about Drake-ing them), teach a class of Easter breads, dye Easter eggs, and generally throw flour…
