Thank you, 52!
food52.com was kind enough to do a write-up on yours truly today, saying some awfully complimentary things. I need to return the favor and do a post on them sometime! Thanks to everyone who put the terrific profile together. “The Rolls Royce of pastry blogs.” Gosh, I’m blushing now…
That is how I found you! Great blog. Going to keep reading you. Love your steps by steps too!
Thanks, Monica!
That’s how I found you! Yay!! Any tips on baking bread in a hearth oven? Just got a Big Green Egg (which can act like a hearth), and am starting my first sour dough starter…
Practice, practice, practice! I have a tutorial on firing a brick oven under the Techniques menu that might be some help, but by all means get in touch if I can be useful to you. – Joe
Wow, I don’t mind the Rolls Royce mixed metaphor at all, though I might call you the “Gateau Royale of pastry blogs” instead. Congrats–and well deserved.
Hehe….thanks Nancy. Mixed metaphor or not, I’m going to me impossibly pleased with myself tomorrow. My wife won’t be able to stand me!
Great interview J. It’s always so interesting to learn about the person behind the blog.
Thanks K! It was a bim-bam-boom sort of a deal. I think they only recently came across me. I did the e-interview Monday and the post went up today. But that’s the blogosphere for you. Can’t believe how good they were to me. I’m really flattered.
Do you know of a recipe for pie crust using vegtable oil?
thanks,
Patrice
I don’t know of any specific recipes, but I know you can make pie crust with oil, they just turn out a bit harder and more crumbly. If I were going to try one, I’d add a little baking powder to lighten it and give it some flexibility. Good luck, Patrice!
Congratulations!
I’ve been following your blog since almost two years now.
You make complicated recipes look quite easy, encouraging lot of home bakers like me to try pastries whose name I can’t even pronounce.
Happy baking!
Thank you, Sweta…and I’m very pleased to meet you!
Hello Joe, Congratulations. You know, most probably I will never bake a single thing that you teach here . But I come back everyday to see and marvel at your knowledge, mastery and dedication. I learn so much from you everyday. I wish you all the best.
Kuntala, what to say about such a stunning compliment other than thank you very, very much. You have truly made my day (maybe several days!). Please continue to come back and maybe even try baking something sometime! I promise it isn’t a difficult thing to do. 😉
All the best to you! – Joe
What a wonderful piece! I’m so glad to find you Joe! I just completed 6 months of chemo after major surgery for Stage 3 Ovarian cancer…you are my new inspiration to get off the couch and into the kitchen. I want to make everything I see on your site. I may just gain back some of the weight I’ve shed. Keep it up – I am rooting for you!
Way to go, RM! You’re going to do great — I can tell that by the way you write, and the fact that all your priorities are in the right place! 😉
And thank you for your well-wishes. My lymphoma ordeal was the best time of my life if you can believe that. Or at least it was before my little ones were born (another supposed impossibility after aggressive treatment). That experience gave me license to learn how to get and stay happy. I let my doctors worry about my physical being, and I focused on my mind. That’s the advice I’d give to you. Explore around to find the things that give you that feeling of real joy, not to sound too Oprah, but you know what I mean. Then repeat them as often as you can. Likewise, look for the attitudes and habits that might have made it easier for cancer to get a grip on you, and leave them behind. Some people call me crazy when I say this, but cancer was the greatest opportunity I ever had…to change, orient my life toward things that mattered and help me understand how blessed and lucky I’d been my whole silly life. I wish you all the best, and happy recovery. You have a miraculous Spring ahead of you.
Your new friend,
– Joe
Thanks for your advice Joe. I pray that I can look back on this as positively as you. A challenge for me will be continuing my love for baking while staying away from sugar, which I know is so bad for me. It does give me joy to present friends with something delicious and homemade.
I’ll be working through your posts and spreading joy as much as I can. Happy Spring to you too.
I know you will, RM. Keep in touch, please.