Hey friends! I’ve been on the road for the past month to celebrate, sign, and coax people to buy my second cookbook Homemade Decadence. Literally… on the road, in the road, get-out-of-the-road-trying-to-take-a-picture-of-that-bridge-or-you’re-going-to-get-hit-by-a-car.
I’ve been in cities east and west, made countless pies, and written awkward paragraphs in many many books. Here are a few images from the road. Lots of coffee. Lots of life.
These are the days! Thank you for being part of them with me.
Note: The booties above are Seychelles (since so many of you were curious).
New York City… you’re such a mondo, mega, ridiculous, and exciting place. The veins. The pulse. The thumps and thuds. You’re everything, terrifying, and tremendously exciting.
I started my book tour with a celebration at MacKenzie Childs‘ Flagship store at 20 West 57th in NYC. The morning was full of whimsy and decadence and we shared brunch with new friends.
Imagine Alice In Wonderland, all grown up, in the middle of Manhattan. Also… I covet Mini Courtly Check Enamel Pedestal Platter. I’m going through a black and white phase, obviously.
I wanted to visit the NYC Public Library because… well, you reconstruct the dramatic scene from Sex and the City. Instead I found Maleficent and her minions.
Totally normal.
I was in stunning New York City with one of my best friends Whitney.
It’s good to have a friend in New York. You can get into trouble and then play it off like it ain’t no thing. Whitney also knows ALL of the best restaurants to try. I basically just follow her wherever she goes.
The back patio at Maison Premiere reminds me of New Orleans, and really cool people, and waiting for table for hours, and fancy cocktails, and servers with attitude. Oh… wait.
All of the oysters and all of the cocktails. Thank you.
Art at a house in Soho. AKA I know this feeling.
Too much?
These are the days, aren’t they. They really are. They really are.
2am streetlight glow. Just trying to find my way home.
My book signing at The Brooklyn Kitchen was tremendous. We made pies, drank beer, took mega pictures together. It was supreme indeed. Brooklyn Kitchen has some really stellar events, a butcher shop like WHOA, and aaallll of the kitchen things you want. It’s awesome.
KitchenAid has been lovely enough to join me on this book tour. I’ve been making pie crust in their 11-cup food processor AND giving away food processors at the signings. I mean… pretty rad.
The flower stand and book store at Club Monacco in New York is so lovely. I would like to stay for a good long while.
Tiki bar meets ultra lounge with the finest of cocktails… the very finest. Have you been to ZZ’s Clam Bar? Get the Pistachio. Don’t fight with me on this one.
Windows look into other windows in NYC. It’s a mirror game.
Penn Station makes me anxious. Wait and wait and wait and wait and RUNNN! There’s got to be a better way. No?
October vibes train view on my way to Philadelphia.
All of the lines at the Philadelphia train station. Structure.
They let me into the library to make pies in front of people and write in books.
They did a lot of hard work to build America in Philadelphia. Bells and halls and history.
Also… ALL of the donuts at Federal Donuts.
Lunch with Art in the Age at High Street on Market. The grilled cheese and soup are perfect for rainy cold Philadelphia days.
This lunch was also the inspiration for my Apple Snap Cocktails!
I drove from Philadelphia to Vermont to teach pie baking at the King Arthur Flour Baking Education Center. The air felt crisp and clean and I listened to Emeli Sande like it was going out of style… which it’s NOT.
Waiting for class to start, marveling at the fact that I have two cookbooks and travel around talking about them. That’s just crazy.
All the people making all the pies. I love King Arthur Flour + Vermont.
Can we talk about San Francisco from the sky? It’s beautiful. But who is the person that thought that Alcatraz prison was a good idea?! That seems just crazy… totally crazy.
A sticky bun with my MAJ.
You can have everything in this store if you have 18 billion trillion dollars. No joke. It’s pretty and perfect and speckled and you’re not supposed to take pictures… so there. March, San Francisco.
Burma Superstar where the best Burmese salads are made. 1,000 ingredients. 1 million times awesome!
Library and blue skies in the Presidio.
Tracy is showing me ALL of the Vine videos before I go make pie in front of people and sign cookbooks. That’s what friends are for.
Late night Nopa. I love the line. That’s where all the romance is. All of it.
Seattle. Known for its coffee, its needle, and my sister.
Right?
Maple Buttermilk at Top Pot.
Two sisters. One Seattle.
Cinnamon Works at the market.
Can we take a moment to talk about Seattle coffee? It’s INCREDIBLE. It’s so cared for. It’s a ritual. I drank WAY TOO MUCH and tried to balance it out by drinking all of the wine. Success? No.
This: Milstead & Co.
We should also talk about the beards, and the coffee served in wine glasses, and the self-righteous customers at Slate Coffee. The beards tho. The beards.
Years ago I lived in Seattle and worked at a crappy restaurant, worked really hard in school, and didn’t have a ton of friends. I took to straight up asking people if they wanted to be my friend. It worked. My old friend Jakeee used to live in this building in Seattle and all the memories of his giant pet tortoise Morla and his many copies of Hunter S Thompson books came flooding back.
Now there’s a bandaid car out front and no Jakee inside because time goes on and does what it does.
COOL STORY.
Thank you to each and ever one of you who has joined me to make pie, allowed me to write in your book, and smiled as I awkwardly wrote an entire paragraph. Your support and excitement is exactly everything to me. Also thank you for allowing me to discuss important issues such as butter and drunk texts. I mean… let’s just be real people. Right?
This: Book Larder
Aubrey Jenkins
love the seattle photos!
Deanna
Oh my God, you are so right that you need a billion trillion dollars to buy everything in March in San Francisco. I clicked over onto their website and I exited out when I saw a drying rack for $2,100. Thanks for a great post, though. It was fun traveling around the country with you from my chaise in my living room. I also think my sister will enjoy the pic of the flight of coffee being served in wineglasses in Seattle. She lives closeby, so maybe it’ll inspire her to visit Slate Coffee.
Courtney
Hey Joy! Can I call you Joy?
Anyways, I just wanted to say…you rock! I know I’m a little late to the party on that one (two cookbooks and innumerable fans late), but I just wanted to let you know that I love your blog, I loove your photos, I looove your recipes, but maybe even more, I loooove the way you write! And that says a lot, cause I really love your recipes! But you write just like we’re sitting in a kitchen over drinks waiting, for stuff to come out of the oven, swapping life’s big questions and little pleasures. It’s the perfect recipe of life, personality, and of course, good food! And I guess that’s how it should be! So, in conclusion, thanks for being so rad and keep up the good work!!
And now it’s back to the kitchen for me, my cookies are calling! :)
Mae - Passionatemae
If only you would come visit Sydney, Australia! Love the photos from all your trips!
kiraselina
JOY! You are the coolest. Thank you so much for taking the time to chat and say hi (I’m sure there were SO MANY of us) – keep kicking ass. I’ll for sure be getting my copy of Homemade Decadence ASAP and will keep it on hand for you to sign the next time you’re in NYC.
Lori
I wish I lived closer to one of your tour cities! Love your new cookbook and so happy for your travels and success!
Tracy
I might be late to the party on noticing this, but your haircut is lovely! Very grown-up and elegant. And yes these are the days!
Tamar
Thanks for sharing your exciting adventure. Just want to tell you how much I have loved your new cookbook. I am only halfway through and there are so many delicious and unique recipes that I can’t wait to try. Your cookbook flows really well and is an enjoyable read. Thank you!
Sarah M.
Loved hearing your history with Seattle and found your drunk texting worries quite relatable… is that good or bad? Probably bad, drunk texting is always bad. Anyways… loved meeting you at Book Larder and am so happy you were willing to sign all 3 books I had :) I can’t wait to give my best friend her copy at Christmas!
joythebaker
you’re amazing! thank you for coming out and thank you for understanding me!
Paula
I love love love Seattle! My husband and I went there for our honeymoon last year for 10 days and stayed in a cute apartment on the waterfront that was a 5 minute walk from Pike Place Market. Did you go to the French bakery when you were there? I have dreams about their lemon tarts and chocolate croissants some nights!
Nicole
looks like you had a beautiful, fun time <3
Jessica
Thank you for sharing. I love your recipes, but I love these posts where you are just sharing your life even more. You are just lovely.
Amaryllis
You are adorable! And I think London needs you…
jayalaxmi
Your happiness is so contagious!!! love ur blog!! jus love it!!
sad i couldnt be part of ur book signing. i’m from India.
great pics.
meganmarie013
Joy You Rock! Love your boots, love the pictures and please keep making pies :)
cheyenne
so lovely to see what you’ve been up to. must’ve been quite the experience! :)
and i’m totally missing seattle right now. and craving pie!
xo, cheyenne
Jenni
I think I have a similar photo from Top Pot in Seattle. This whole post makes me smile!
Sarah
Where did you get the shoes in the first picture?!?!?
Natasha of Natashaskitchen.com
What an exciting chapter in your life! I’m so thrilled for you, lady! :-)
Chaucee
Hey Joy, so glad we got to catch up over lunch while you were in Philadelphia! I’m still dreaming about that grilled cheese…
rglw
This post was so fabulous. I’ve been missing the podcast but love seeing your adventures–and loved seeing my friend, Emily, in the front row of the King Arthur Flour sesh! Hoping you’re getting some much deserved rest at home these days….
Karen B.
Congratulations on what sounds like an amazingly successful trip. Are you anxious to get home to your sweet cat in lovely New Orleans?
Karen
Tracy
The picture of San Fran from the AIR!!!!!! I used to live on Treasure Island when I was 12-14 yrs old! (It’s the big man made island off YBI & the Oakland bridge in your pic- in the middle of your shot) SOOOO cool to see it like that. Great shot, great tour and LOVE LOVE LOVE NYC/Brooklyn too!
nshsgirl
I made the Toasted Marshmallow Squares and Raspberry Cream Cheese Brownies from your book and both are amazing! Love your books!
Heather
What an adventure. I think it’s worth mentioning that the bearded one is wearing a Crowbar shirt- a great metal band from New Orleans! NOLA represents.
tracy
Love seeing the pictures of your adventures! Congrats to you Joy, you certainly deserve it!
Lindsey
This is beautiful. I so appreciate the photos. It made me long to travel so badly. I’ve been reading since 2009 and I’m so happy for your life and success.
Natalie
love the photos – thx for sharing! and now i want some coffee… ;)
J
Come to Florida!!!!!!! You and your pies are needed here.
Jennifer @ Show Me the Yummy
So fun! Really wish I could’ve come to your book signing in Seattle!
JNJxn
You are awesome!!! Enjoyed your pics so much. You and your sis are so cute–and favor one another very much! Also digging your shoes in the first pic. :) You deserve the most success.
Argelia Rivas
are you coming to SanDiego>? or Tijuana??? :D
Alicia
I live in NYC and that is a perfect description of Penn Station: wait, wait, RUN! Be thankful you were here in the fall and not the summer because then it’s the same “wait, wait, RUN” with a side of pervasive smell of urine. But you know what? Still love living here!
Kat
Need to know where those shoes in the 1st pic are from! Love them!
susie zanandrea
Vicarious living via beautiful, creative, accomplished Joy. Thank you.
Kristin | Dine X Design
World domination aside…can we talk about those booties in the top photo please?!
joythebaker
Everyone loves the booties! They’re Seychelles! https://www.seychellesfootwear.com/Home.tpl?page=singleitem.inc&cart=141113683027&sku=maximum9sl&H_P_Special=maximum9sl
Kim d.
Yes, please tell more about the black shoes in the first photo…..don’t hold out on us! They, and you, are gorgeous.
Enjoyed this post very much, I love to see the fruits from all your hard work!
Marcie Prohofsky
That post was so fun. I have serious FOMO, which is getting better, thankfully! And, fact is, I did miss out witnessing you making pies in SF and now I feel like I was with you, for the whole tour, which is like eating a whole decadent meal at french laundry – amazing detail and sweet bites between the courses. Thanks for sharing. That flight of coffee is wine glasses is really cool.
Char
Absolutely beautiful post (reflects) the journey. God Bless You Joy
Christina @ The Beautiful Balance
Omg Burma Superstar….I dream and crave and continuously crave that salad and the samusa soup. Please tell me you had that soup! I thought about recreating both but like you said…a million ingredients. Can they please package and sell both? Haha. Awesome to see that your tour has been going well, the adventure seems so worth the insane hard work you put into the book.
liz
where is that SF sticky bun from? It looks amazing!
joythebaker
Ella’s? Emma’s?
liz
oh, Ella’s. yum.
Natalia
love all your words mama. also wore my scarf like that last night… same wavelength on so many levels. come back to the chi… we are waiting. XOX
Abby @ totesdelishblog
Looks like you are having a wonderful time Joy!
Andrew
Wow – what a fab post! Them Federal Donuts really caught my eye! Fortunately they are not within reach from Chicago!
Hilary
Those shoes in the first photo! So lovely.
Your hair looks shorter! And all these adventures look like so much fun. :)
Emily
Joy, I think you’re supposed to be a librarian in your next life! My librarian friends and I all visit and take photos of libraries when we visit other places, too. Although we aren’t doing book signings. :)
Julia @ Sprinkled With Jules
I so wish I could have gone to see you in SF! Damn you night classes! I love seeing your journey through food. That’s always the most memorable, isn’t it? I’m curious about that smurf-lookin’ donut though… I’m not sure how I feel about it.
Anna
Where oh where did you get that sticky bun?
Rachel
Joy – please share where the shoes are from! I’ve been stalking the comments for a reply to the shoe inquiries, they are just way too good.
so much love, Rachel
Catherine McCord
What a fabulous adventure. Thanks for all the tips ALL around the states!
Becky Haase
I loved seeing you in Seattle – you are as fun and silly and nice as I hoped you’d be! and I love the new book! :)
Audrey
I adore your sense of style, Joy! You always seem to put together such great outfits. Every now and then it’d be fun if you linked to clothing you liked or were already loving. Loved the post!
xx A.
Corrie
You went to two of my favorite coffee shops in Seattle hood, and one is 2 blocks from my house!! I really like Slate, but my jam is The Sip and Ship. Next time you’re in Seattle, you should drop by it’s on Market Street. Letter press cards AND coffee, and a swell neighborhood shipping joint? Yes please!!
Carol Carney, Lake Geneva Wisconsin
I love your posts, Joy. I have both of your cookbooks and one of these days I’m going to stop reading them, putting sticky notes on the recipes, and get down to baking something. I really will. I promise. Keep up the great work you do making us happy! Oh, and thank you.
tracey
I am in envy of your purse (and shoes) in the pic on the main page. Where did you find those gems?!?
chefkatiecooks
Fun post. It made me happy, too. Congrats on the books. I know it’s a lot of hard work and discipline. It’s nice to see your success and your gratefulness for all of it.
sweetphi
Love love love your notes from the road. And, I do have to say, I’m totally loving new book! Again, a million congrats!
Cheryl
I’m so jealous of all the lucky people who have gotten to meet you! And, of course, get that paragraph in the front of their book….love this post, keep on keeping it real, Joy!
Mary Ann
I hope you remember that salad and tell us how to make it – it looks amazing as do the places, faces, and food you’ve met along the way.
Lauren Ver Hage
I NEED to know where you got the shoes featured in the first photo!!! They are everything.
Thanks for sharing photos from your travels across the country and for giving us a peek into what it’s like in the life of JTB!
-Lauren
egeedee
Ugh I asked you to sign my book to “pancakes”. I promised I’m not usually this weird. Yes. Yes, I am.
These are the days, Joy. Soak. It. In.
Lauren
Joy, as usual, totally entertained by your wit and humor (being a New Orleanian I particularly chuckled at….and servers with attitude. Oh wait… lol) Insanely beautiful photography too— LOVE! Might I also say how fabulous you look! Swagger going on tour indeed! I second Lizz’s comment so might I inquire to where those fabulous booties came from that first picture on your post? The one where you’re in danger of getting run over by a car in the name of beautiful photography? I know. Daily occurence. =)
redbirdacupunctureclinic
All fabulous.. but I got stuck, completely sucked in by those gorgeous boots in first photo.. please reveal more info.
Ella
Joy, I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to see all the success that you’ve had. YOU GO GIRL.
http://www.youtube.com/sparklesandsuch26
Lissi
This is simply a brilliant post. I love your photos and I love the words, too. Thank you, Joy, for joining me for my morning cup of tea, today.
Louise
What a great post! Loved baking with you in Vermont! Hopefully can do it again sometime! And so glad you were able to hit Top Pot in Seattle – the best donuts!
Sharana @ Living The Sweet Life Blog
So much fun in one post – great pictures — soak in all the goodness <3
kristina
Seconding, wholeheartedly, needing to know more about your shoes in that first picture.
Also, kind of jealous of your life right now, but lord knows it’s not like you haven’t worked your ass off to get here. Congrats!
Marcie Prohofsky
ahhahhh…those shoes. whoa! hard work is paying off and you deserve it.
Rachel
I want to know about the shoes in the first picture too!
Mary-Claire
Joy, I love how candidly you write about your journeys. Your posts make me as happy as I am when I visit my hometown in SoCal. That’s quite an accomplishment. Sorry I missed you in Seattle, but if you ever return for another signing, I’ll make sure to take the day off for you! Enjoy being back home in New Orleans with your sweet cat, your own surroundings, and friends!
Mallory @forkvsspoon
Great post, Joy…I, like Kat, can’t place my finger on exactly what is so fantastic about this post … I just know I like it. perhaps it is all the donut (doughnut?) pics or talk of coffee and booze…or pictures of bearded baristas – I think they have their own tight knit community. Any who…love it and safe travels!
pattipanuccio
Short and Sweet. Yesterday I’m going over your cheese and olive rolls and the hubby is watching a morning show and I hear him say isn’t Joy the Baker that blog you love? I just heard her name on tv. Congrats on all your success/
Cherie
This:
“They let me into the library to make pies in front of people and write in books.”
Is the best thing I have read/heard all week.
Chris
Any planned book tour dates north of the border? You have a HUGE fan base up here, as I’m sure you know :)
joythebaker
no plans for north of the border. i wish! maybe one day!
Kat
I can’t put my finger on why…but this post is just fabulous :) It was a great way to start my day.
Nicole
This looks like it was a fun adventure! And the Penn Station thing? I can’t agree with you more. I live in the suburbs outside Philly and take the train to NYC when I want to go. On the way home, it’s every man for himself. People sitting at the edge of the staircase poised to run for the train….it’s terrible!
Joanna @ Everyday Made Fresh
I love all the angles in the photos, makes them all seem so very interesting! Love that you saw Malficent, haha. And that blue doughnut!!
Franziska
Joy, congratulations on your book. It is a beauty!
I am actually wanting to bake some of the pies from it, but it is virtually impossible to find a nice pie dish where I live. Luckily a friend of mine is in the US at the moment and he said he’d have some room in his luggage on the way back (YAY men that pack little). So now my questions… what is your favourite pie dish? Do you have a preferred material (glass, porcelain, stoneware…). I would love for my friend to bring me one back from the US but I don’t trust him to go buy one without detailed instructions ;)
Would really appreciate your help! xxx
erin
If you ever came to Melbourne, I would love it if you wrote a whole paragraph in my copy of the Joy the Baker cookbook and I would buy Homemade Decadence and ask for another one. I know I’m weird, but sometimes it feels like you run the same weird and it’s lovely. Thanks for existing.
Rachel
Whoever’s place that is in the final photo I have massive respect for them. They have your book. They have LudoBites. They have Polpo. They have the *original* Ottolenghi.
Natasha Lancaster
What a great adventure! Loved the photos – especially the food ones!
http://highheelsbrownhair.blogspot.co.uk/
lizz
where are those boots in the first picture from!? they’re great! and those tiger flats!!? such good shoes.
Rena
You are really a hord working woman! What a pity that I live here in Europe otherwise I would have taken the opportunity to let sign your book :) Therefore I thank you for the wonderful impressions you got on the road <3
xx from Germany/Bavaria, Rena
http://www.dressedwithsoul.com