Friends, welcome a special installment of our Sunday posts.  Cliff Notes is a new series on Joy the Baker, authored by, my favorite baker and my favorite Cliff – MY DAD! Dad is the inspiration behind so many of the classics here on the blog.  You know him and love him for his Chocolate Chip Cookies, Buttermilk Pancakes and of course the best Sweet Potato Pie on the planet. 

Continue reading Cliff Notes: Cordellia Ann’s Potato Rolls at Joy the Baker.

Welcome to the second installment of Cliff Notes, authored by my favorite baker and my favorite Cliff – MY DAD! Dad is the inspiration behind the classics here on the blog.  You know him and love him for his Chocolate Chip Cookies, his Buttermilk Pancakes, and he’s also baker of Buttermilk Biscuits that disappear so fast at the dinner table, it’ll make your head spin. 

Continue reading Cliff Notes: Dad’s Buttermilk Biscuits at Joy the Baker.

Welcome to a new series here on Joy the Baker called Cliff Notes, authored by, my favorite baker and my favorite Cliff – MY DAD! Dad is the inspiration behind the classics here on the blog.  You know him and love him for his Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Buttermilk Pancakes and he’s also author of, casually, the best Sweet Potato Pie on the planet.  Let’s here how this famous pie came to be from the man, the myth, the legend himself – Clifford Wilson.

Continue reading Cliff Notes: The Origins of Sweet Potato Pie at Joy the Baker.

This is a story with a happy ending.  

I bought The Bakehouse in 2016 two years after I moved from Los Angeles to New Orleans.  I spent a very memorable year living in the French Quarter where Tron became the unofficial mayor of Royal St.  He’d lord over the block on his second story balcony where tourists would stop, point, and take his picture from the street.  Honestly, it was the respect he deserves. 

Continue reading Goodbye, Bakehouse. at Joy the Baker.

Welcome to the wonderful world of baking where flour, butter, and our collective sweet tooth’s (teeth? teeth’s??) come together to create an absolute mess in our kitchens. Dirty every dish, I say! In the name of cookies, of course. Whether you’re a seasoned baker, or just tying up the apron strings for the first time, knowing how to read a recipe is one of the most crucial steps in your baking success.

It’s easy to take for granted exactly how to read a recipe.

Continue reading Baking 101: How To Read A Recipe at Joy the Baker.

I have the same regret every September: I didn’t eat enough summer peaches.

It never fails. Every July I take peaches for granted. They’re stacked high at the grocery store and though they never do, I think they’ll last forever.  I throw a mega watermelon in my cart, grab a bag of cherries, and head straight to the freezer aisle for coconut popsicles.  It’s all fun and games until the peaches and nectarines stacks start to dwindle that I recognize the error of my ways.

Continue reading You Have To Make Karlee’s Peach Butter at Joy the Baker.

Friends, hi!

You know Virgo season is hitting hard this year when even I take to the pantry with new canisters and labels.  Virgo season would have us holding ourselves to our highest standards and I’ve taken that on, and I’ve taken it personally.

I’m working with two pantries these days. In the Houston kitchen (pictured above) I cleared and organized a pantry I actually never organized when I moved in a (yikes) year ago.

Continue reading My 5 Best Pantry Organization Tips at Joy the Baker.

By the time I was 21 you couldn’t convince me to eat these two things: A dill pickle, and a raw tomato. While I still stand by the dill pickle, I will eat one on occasion if in the middle of a fried chicken sandwich. The later, thankfully, I’ve seen the error of my ways.

I was on summer break from college when my mom handed me half of her sandwich.

Continue reading Here’s What I’m Eating: A Summer Tomato Sandwich at Joy the Baker.

Better late than never when it comes to this year’s Summer Bucket List, friends!

Here we are, smack dab in the middle of summer and the unwritten rule of summer so far?  Have a glass of water and relax.

Of course, telling someone to relax is akin to telling someone to calm down. The advice is much easier than it is to do.  Nevertheless, everyday this summer is an opportunity to down some water and venture out into the heat to camp and ride and stuff my face with fruit.

Continue reading Summer Bucket List, 2023 at Joy the Baker.

This summer, I keep seeing the same book peeking out of my fellow readers’ tote bags. I won’t reveal the title here, but you know it. You’ve seen the cheery-cool cover. The author’s name consists of two first names (rhymes with Femily Benry). And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with her book. Or the book she released last summer or the summer before that. It’s fine, really. But don’t you want to try something different?  

Continue reading Food-Themed Summer Reads for 2023 at Joy the Baker.