A Peek Behind the Scenes of the new Joy the Baker Magazine

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 decorated. The twinkle lights were my nightlight for weeks.

This past December, me and a small team of my most creative friends made you SUMMER amid the falling leaves and muggy chill of the South.

Joy the Baker Magazine – Summer 2022 is on shelves now, wherever magazines are sold AND available for purchase online (with a sweet sale price until Monday June 27th)!  All our winter toiling was dedicated to filling your summer days with road trip munchies, ice-dye projects, the juiciest berry desserts, and so much no-churn ice cream you feel downright dangerous.

I LOVE (love love love) making these magazines for you – here’s a little behind the scenes peek at how the magazine comes together.  Below you’ll find a look at the process (usually shot on my iPhone), followed by the magazine-ready version.  It’s all a labor of love, friends. I hope you enjoy the magazine as much as I love making it for you.

My photographer, Emily Ferretti and I style and shoot all the recipes at my home studio in New Orleans.  That’s after I’ve tested the recipes extensively enough for my neighbors to get sick of tasting them.  Emily and I drink an alarming amount of sparkling water, forget to eat lunch, shove Whoppers in our faces, and sometimes lay on the floor when nothing else feels right.

For this issue our only goal was the make the food look like something you would want to get in the kitchen and make for yourself.  Obvious, right? Sometimes food photography gets away from that essence.  We kept it simple…. and swoopy, with so many layers of Oreos in this No-Bake Chocolate Malt Cake.

There are few things that please me more than turning every white fabric in my home into an ice-dyed MASTERPIECE (if I do say so myself) and it’s an honor to pass that obsession on to you. Apologies in advance to your unsuspecting duvet cover and bathrobe for your new addiction.

You’ll find an ice-dye step-by-step in the latest magazine and you’ll be happy to know that this new picnic blanket is still Tron’s favorite back of the couch perch.  This is the white blanket I purchased for dyeing and all of my colors are from Dharma Trading Co.

For all of December my freezer was packed with no less than six variations of no-churn ice cream and more bags of Trader Joe’s Frozen Peaches than I care to admit.  If you feel like the lone New Orleans Trader Joe’s was sold out of frozen peaches for most of the winter – admittedly that was me. I bought them all. I was trying to make summer where not a single actual stone fruit existed.

The no-churn ice cream recipes are the sleeper hit of the magazine. The wonders of sweetened condensed milk and whipped cream can not be over exaggerated at this time.  My favorite recipe was the Coffee Ice Cream with Fudge Swirl. Super creamy and scoopable and not a single frustrating frozen ice cream maker bowl in sight!

Tell me you’ve been to a Shakey’s Pizza.  If you grew up in Southern California and needed a celebratory meal after a hard-fought day of selling Girl Scout Cookies, you know the unabashed THRILL of ordering both pizza and potatoes.  The pizza was fine, if not slightly better than fine BUT THE POTATOES? Good enough to reinvent 30 years later.

These are my ideal burgers and very summer friendly for those who would rather be indoors smashing meat in a cast iron skillet rather than outdoors where it is currently IMPOSSIBLY HOT, flipping burgers on a grill. The meat is smashed thin, coated in a sweet + savory Root Beer Barbecue Sauce and topped with American Cheese for it’s perfect meltyness. On a soft brioche bun, there’s nothing better.

Emily’s vision was to shoot this Peach and Ginger Lemonade (again, yes – I bought all the frozen peaches) at a pool, in a vintage ice chest, AND WE MADE IT SO. My friend and florist, Sara Ekanger, was on hand to style the ice chest and the pool as only a florist can and my dear friend Jessica was kind enough to lend us her Shire and pool.

I made the lemonade, tied the cloth napkin around the handle of the ice chest and stepped back to let the rest of the magic happen. It feels so generous of my friends to lend their vision and creativity to my projects. That feels like the real blessing, to be sure.

Pick up your copy of Joy the Baker Magazine at your local grocery store, Walmart, Target, Barnes and Noble or Michaels. The magazine is also available online here and on Amazon here and a digital copy can be purchased here!

Have the best summer, friends! Thank you for letting me and my hardworking team MAKE for you.  It’s the thrill of my life.

Now get workin’ on that bucket list and eat ice cream straight from the freezer.  You best believe I’m working on the upcoming holiday magazine for you right now!

xo Joy

With so much love and appreciation to Emily Feretti, Suzonne Stirling, Danny Alas, Trevor Ekanger, Sara Ekanger, Mari Turpin, and Sarah Kirkwood.