Joey Wilson - Joy the Baker Over Easy Sweet and Savory Recipes for Leisurely Days

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

It is with deep care and ravenous appreciation that I thank each and every one of you who has pulled up a recipe from joythebaker.com and set off to your kitchen. The community of butter enthusiasts, chocolate hoarders, and doughnut creators weve become together is astounding, inspiring, and downright silly. I thank you for sharing in and feeding my passion.

Jon, thank you for envisioning this book with me and holding a camera to all of my harebrained cocktail and pancake ideas without ever batting an eyelash.

Kari Stuart and Ashley Meyer, high-five and fist-pump. We made another beautiful book together! Thank you for caring about words, images, eggs, and grits as much as I do. I feel deeply fortunate to work with such strong, clear, life-loving women such as you two. Thanks also to Aaron Wehner, Doris Cooper, and La Tricia Watford at Clarkson Potter.

Thank you to my family! My fear of soft-boiled eggs was born with you, but so was my love of biscuits. Love wins. Your support and pride make life worth living and brunch worth serving.

My maj Tracy, Whitney, Sister, Lauren, and Cara: Thank you for helping me know when to shut up, buck up, carry on, and settle up. Aside from the side-splitting, life-giving laughter, your friendship and encouragement is a blessing to my life and, hallelujah, Im thankful for you all!

Amos, thank you for sharing your breakfasts and your food brain with me. Your big heart keeps me.

Thank you, coffee; thank you, spell check; thank you, yoga; thank you, long walks; thank you, pep talks; thank you, Pizza Delicious in New Orleans for the pizza breaks and sanity wine. Were good. We made it.

JOY WILSON is well known for her daily dabbles in butter and sugar as her blogging alter ego, Joy the Baker. Since its launch in 2008, Joy the Baker has received many accolades, including being selected as one of the 50 Best Food Blogs by The Times (London) and named Best Baking and Desserts Blog by Saveur. Joys content has also been featured on sites such as Food52, The Kitchn, and Buzzfeed.

A native California girl, Joy now lives in New Orleans with her big orange cat, Tron. When shes not baking, blogging, or Instagramming, shes searching for the best Sazerac in town or finding her zen in yoga class.

There is a marked difference between Tuesday morning coffee and Saturday morning coffee. Tuesday morning coffee, if youre anything like me, is sipped gingerly from a travel mug in the car, rushing and likely ten minutes late for something. I probably couldnt even tell you what that coffee tasted like; I just know its hot, brown, and buzzing with energy. Tuesday morning coffee is more necessity than enjoyment, which, though a shame, makes Saturday morning coffee that much more enjoyable.

Saturday morning coffee is the cup I get to savor. The level of care taken with that coffee is what separates a simple breakfast (thats likely eaten in a hurry) from a decadent brunch. Im not talking about fine teacups or linen napkins with napkin rings but simply about attention to detail and the time spent that makes a morning meal special.

This chapter is all about time, care, and celebration in drink form. I like to make everything from refreshing herbaceous lemonades to sherbet punches and boozy treatsand so Ive shared them all. An indulgent cup of coffee just for you, or a big tipsy punch for many. Every recipe has an interesting twist, and its these layers of effort that make the morning meal noteworthyand worth spending our day enjoying. Brunch calls for cocktails. Tuesday not so much, unless its an emergency or tax season.

MICHELADAS FOR MANY

It would be a mistake to think of the michelada as a beer-substituted Bloody Mary. That doesnt do justice to this delicious chameleon of a drink. Micheladas are popular in their home country, Mexico, where theyre made every which way from Sunday. Some versions are a simple mixture of beer, lime, and salt, while others are a more complex blend of clam juice, spice, and chicken stock. For me, the essential components are a good Mexican lager (like Negra Modelo), chilled tomato juice, and, yes, clam juice, if even just a splash. That hint of sea flavor makes a michelada special. My recipe also calls for a few extra dashes of hot sauce, as well as Old Bay seasoning to complement the clam juice. Savory, slightly effervescent, and spicy. Serve with the .)

SERVES 6

3 cups chilled tomato juice

cup clam juice (I like Bar Harbor)

Juice of 3 limes, plus more to taste

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons hot sauce, plus more to taste

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning

3 (12-ounce) bottles chilled Mexican lager

Ice

Pickled carrots, for garnish

Pickled jalapeos, for garnish

Lime wedges, for garnish

In a large pitcher, combine the tomato juice, clam juice, lime juice, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, soy sauce, and Old Bay. Stir well. Taste and add more lime juice or hot sauce as desired. Stir in the beer.

Fill six glasses with ice and divide the michelada among the glasses. Garnish with the pickled carrots, pickled jalapeos, and lime wedges.

PEACH AND ORANGE PALOMA

A paloma is a classic tequila cocktail often overshadowed by the better-known margarita, but margaritas arent the only way to combine tequila and citrus. My paloma is a classy combination of sweet orange and tequila, with the addition of fresh peach and a little fizz to dress it in its summer finest just for brunch. This is the sweetest way to sneak tequila onto the breakfast table. Youre welcome.

SERVES 4

teaspoon grated orange zest

cup kosher salt

2 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice, plus more to rim the glasses

2 cups fresh orange juice

1 ripe peach, pitted and coarsely chopped

Ice

8 ounces silver tequila

Club soda, chilled

Orange, peach, and lime slices, for garnish

In a small bowl, combine the orange zest, salt, and sugar. Using your fingers, work the zest into the salt and sugar until the mixture is fragrant. Place on a shallow plate.

Coat the rim of four glasses with lime juice. Gently dip the rim of each glass into the salt mixture and set aside.