Posted by Erica Joy on Jan 16, 2026
We’re here! The Cooking Fulla Joy Comradery is officially here, and I’ll be honest it’s been tough to know where to start, and then I thought to myself, “well, girl, start from the beginning!” It does feel right to kick this blog off with a bit of how I came to love cooking because it holds the nuance of the relationship I have to food, my body, and the people in my life.
Disclaimer: I’m recalling my life through the age of 7 or so, and things are slightly fuzzy and sometimes informed by the stories I’ve heard about my childhood.
First things first, I was a Food Network bb. When I couldn’t sleep I was watching reruns of Alton Brown in the middle of the night being a creepy food scientist on Good Eats, and I was seeing how chocolate covered pretzels were made on Unwrapped. Sandra Lee, Giada De Laurentiis, and Rachel Ray (and yes, Paula Dean 😫) were all teaching me recipes and telling me stories after school. I watched them seamlessly cut veggies, salt at every stage, and make note not to mix pancake batter too much or else they’ll be more akin to frisbees. My brain was a lil sponge cake for all this information, and soaking in all the flavor.
Simultaneously, my parents were being told by my pediatrician that they should be concerned about my weight, and that they need to be mindful about what I’m eating and my activity levels. This begins the journey of a very complicated relationship with food, as I was both celebrated for my interest in the kitchen and chastised for the food I wanted to make + love to eat — desserts. Soooo, I turned to making things when I couldn’t be stopped. I had (and HAVE) a major sweet tooth, and I have many a memory of calling my mom while she was enjoying a night-out and saying as soon as she picked up “Mommy, I’m making brownies! Bye!” at the speed of light (Betty Crocker mixes were a staple in the home, and cookies could easily be substituted). “Making” truly meaning in-progress, because again, I was not about to be stopped. My Aries rising was strong as a child.
With continued mixed messages and increased restriction, food + baking became a metaphorical flaky biscuit of shame, comfort, connection, secrecy, and passion. A biscuit that I’ve been separating layer by layer in my process of de-conditioning my internalized fatphobia and rejecting diet culture.
I’m committed to centering JOY and a praxis of Fat Liberation because our bodylands and environments are all different, and yet we are forced to believe that we should all fall within a small window of variation. Because food is essential to our livelihood, why not find the fun + pleasure in the mundane?! It hasn’t been easy to peel away the shame + secrecy, but so worth the added layers of ease, celebration, community, love, and understanding.
big hugs,
erica joy
Thank you for being a part of the Cooking Fulla Joy Comradery! These posts are for living, laughing, and learning™️. Alongside my one-on-one offerings, I wanted to share about my experiences (emotional + otherwise), inner-workings, and knowledge of all things food(-related). If you would like to work one-on-one to shift your relationship to food and the kitchen, you can book a vibe check with me here!I’m giving y’all a taste for a month with these first four posts, and after this month, 3 of the 4 posts each month will be for paid members only. You can become a paid member by going to the memberships tab; they start at $1/month. If you want to be in deeper (and in real time) conversation with me and a community of other fun foodies, join the Cardamom Pod!