Joy the Baker

Friends,  

The truth is… I haven’t quite been able to get my act together since my move.

I’ve been trying to distract you with posts about my box grater.  I’ve been trying to distract you with candy giveaways…. but that’s all starting to feel a little silly.  

The fact of the matter is, my KitchenAid is still unplugged and my new oven needs a good scrubbing… and, I just ate a giant slice of store bought coconut cream pie.

Want to take a peek into my new space?  Suuuure you do… come on in!

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Joy the Baker is two years old.  Two years of cookies.  Two years of cupcakes.  Two years of pancakes.  Two years of me standing on a chair in my dining room trying to get the right shot of a slice of cake before I gobble it up.  Two years of me.  Two years of you.  

Here’s what the last two years have looked like around these parts.  Come along… let’s reminisce. 

Once upon a time I made a podcast.  It’s totally dorky.  I can’t bear to watch it.  It’s like listening to your own voice on the answering machine.  Too much.  Totally.  Dorky.  

I made these cookies waaaay back in the day when Barack Obama was still battling it out with Hillary Clinton.  My Dad hated it.  He hated it so much he left a nasty comment on my blog.  Yea…. that happened.  Thanks Dad.  Love you.  Always.

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I’m a regifter.  

Yep.

Please reserve your judgement.  This is about to get interesting.

See… I’ve been given all sorts of gifts this year.  From two blogger conferences, I’ve amassed enough kitchen supplies to equip a small army of chefs.  

The good news is that I want to share all of this loot with you.  It’s not that I don’t love these things, it’s just that I love regifting more.  It’s like the most fun recycling… ever.  That’s where you come in. 

I’ve got silly whisks.  I’ve got gorgeous cookbooks.  I’ve got coffee and milk frothers.  I’ve got choppers and tenderizers.  Cuisinart, people.  I’ve got fancy sporks and way cool forks… all sorts of little gems.  

I’m regifting four little bundles of kitchen goodies to four of you.  Keep the goodies as a gift to yourself or regift them this holiday season.  I won’t tell a soul!

To enter this (both humble and perhaps ethically questionable) giveaway, just leave a comment in this post sharing the best holiday gift you’ve ever received.  Comments are accepted until Sunday at noon.  

Aprons.  Aprons.  ApronsApronsAprons!

We made aprons.  We bought the fabric.  We cut the patterns.  We sewed and stitched and sewed and stitched and sewed and stitched about a million (ok… just fifty)  times over.  Maybe ‘we’ is a bit too liberal.  My darling and most talented mother made each and every one of these aprons.  Where I can work wonders with a spatula, she can work wonders with a sewing machine.  Please don’t make me sew anything… I just make myself bleed.  

So here’s the plan.  I want you to have fun in the kitchen making Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls or whipping up a batch of Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes.  I also want you to look cute, and feel pretty, and not be afraid to get in there and get some bakin’ done… even if that means dirtying every single dish and emerging from the kitchen covered in flour.  Do it!  I think a fun little apron might help.  

For you pleasure, I’ve even made an Etsy store to showcase Joy the Baker Aprons.  Sweeeeet!  

All aprons are 100% cotton, one size fits darn near everyone… and bonus:  each apron comes nicely wrapped for your gift giving pleasure.  Supplies are limited.  The fabric is flying.

My Mom took this picture with my cellphone.  See?  Proof of cuteness.  Aaaaand… go!

I made you Sweet Potato Cookies with leftover mashed sweet potato my Dad’s infamous pie.  I mixed up the dough.  I portioned out little walnut size balls.  I popped them on the baking sheet and into the oven.  Then I sat down and made a terrible mistake.  Good things did not happen.  Not as good as these awesome cards from The Beautiful Project. 

See… I started browsing Etsy.  

Thirty minutes later my Sweet Potato Cookies were sad little creatures.  They were hard enough to pack into a canon and use as a weapon to storm some unsuspecting village… if I were in to that sort of thing.  

Truth is… I didn’t really want cookies.  I really wanted to shop.  

Instead of cookies, I bring you Etsy.  Cute.  Handmade.  Precious.  All from happy crafters.  I’m shopping all Etsy this holiday.  I like knowing that people as kooky as me are making me cool things.  Also,  it’s impressively cheap.  Also, I think my neighbor is cooking fish sticks for dinner.  On Thanksgiving!?  Very distracting.  

Look at this photo from Meganlee.  It’s so simple and  gorgeous.  Want.  Maybe a picture like this will be just the inspiration I need to write that dang cookbook. Yes.  I think this will do the trick.

Now excuse me while I try to do something about this fish stick smell.

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Can I tell you about my new favorite kitchen tool?  

Nope… not a big ladle… not a fancy spatula, but a mighty fine and beautifully crafted pizza cutter from Green Kitchen Tools.  

Ironically enough, I have not yet used this pizza cutter to slice pizza, but so far it’s worked wonders helping me with the homemade pasta and slices right through the giant kale leaves that I like to eat for dinner.  Soon enough I’ll use the sharp blade and lovely bamboo handle to slice through my favorite pizza.  

Before I get cooking, I wanted to take a minute to give two of you a set of these super sweet bamboo handled kitchen utensils.  

One happy reader will get a full set of Green Kitchen Tools spoons, spatulas and pancake flippers.  

Another giddy reader will get a full set of grill tools.  Sweet deal right?

 All you have to do to enter this giveaway is leave a comment telling me about your favorite kitchen tool.  Come on!  Play along!