Let me give you a real-life look inside the fridge of a real-life baker.  I know… this is not brownie batter.  This is not cookie dough or chocolate cake.  It would appear that the vegetables in my refrigerator have staged a coup and overtaken the butter.

On Joy the Baker, you know what to expect:  doughnuts, biscuits, browned butter and the occasional nail polish obsession.  For this reason, you might be surprised to find all of this green goodness in my fridge.  I’m either eating cookie dough or spinach salad.  It’s a diet of extremes.

Let me tell you how this all started.  I was raised in a house of pie.  Not literally – this wasn’t an old woman in the shoe situation.  See, my dad is an avid home baker and every weekend, we had a fresh baked pie in the house.  As a result, I’m pretty stellar at both making and consuming pies.  My mom instilled another appreciation which had everything to do with tofu and broccoli.  Dad would jump in the kitchen and emerge with a pie.  Mom would emerge with a tofu potato bake with tofu cheese… in the ’80s, before tofu cheese was even remotely edible.

As Joy the Baker, it looks like I may have sided with my dad in the kitchen.  But when it comes to everyday eating, I gravitate towards grains and greens.  I’m also obsessed with smoothies.  Strawberry Cucumber Smoothies are incredible!

I can’t live in a kitchen that doesn’t have bread in it.  I always have a crusty loaf on hand.  Fresh bread with a thin layer of salty butter and sliced radishes is one of my favorite snacks.  I also usually have a container of cooked farro or quinoa in the fridge.  These grains go into almost every meal from scrambled eggs to fresh salads.

I am a baker.  I feel like butter is one of life’s sweet luxuries.  My fridge is always stocked with unsalted butter, organic large eggs and organic heavy cream.

For health, I have things like whole flax seeds and Amazing Grass Green Powder.  These go into smoothies and juices.

Oh!  There’s beer in my fridge.  This is the last bottle of a recent homebrew.  Yes.  I brew beer.  Brewing beer is just like baking bread, but it takes 3 months and you don’t have to turn on the oven.

I love good condiments in the fridge.  Good condiments are like having fancy eye creams on your vanity.  It just feels good.  These are my equivalent to fancy eye cream:  strawberry rhubarb jam, peanut butter from Compartes chocolate, homemade cardamom pear butter from Shutterbean and Luxardo cherries for the occasional Manhattan.

The essentials that live just outside my fridge are simple.  Coarse grey sea salt from France.  Coconut oil that goes in cakes and can also be used as a lip gloss or body lotion.  Balsamic reduction is a secret ingredient on salads or roasted herb potatoes.  California olive oil fresh off the press.

For treats – because everyone needs treats – I enjoy Penzy’s Hot Cocoa Mix with steamed coconut milk.  Askinosie cocoa nibs and Eclipse Chocolat from San Deigo.  Eclipse is seriously some of the best chocolate I’ve ever enjoyed.

Another essential in my kitchen?  Well… it’s my first cookbook, the Joy the Baker Cookbook.  It’s born of all of the butter, cream and sugar I could get my hands on. It’s 100 simple and indulgent recipes like creamy rice pudding and grapefruit soufflé.  It’s meant to be approachable, fun and a total treat in the kitchen.

Because this book is a brand new essential, I’d love for you to have a copy! The Chalkboard and I have teamed up to get you a signed copy of The Joy The Baker Cookbook. All you have to do is tell us on The Chalkboard’s Facebook page what your favorite thing to bake is, and the answer that has our mouth watering the most will get a signed copy! Good luck!