Valley chef shares stories, recipes from her nonprofit with new cookbook

At The Joy Bus Diner in north Phoenix, every dish has a story. This fall, chef and Executive Director Jennifer Caraway will share them with the country when her new cookbook releases nationwide.

“The Joy Bus Cookbook: Meals That Matter” contains over 70 of Caraway’s signature dishes, and also traces the history of her organization. It also highlights the many people who work tirelessly to fulfill the mission of the city’s only nonprofit restaurant, which provides healthy meals to thousands of homebound cancer patients across the Valley. 

A cookbook with a story

Caraway started The Joy Bus in 2011 after the loss of her friend Joy Seitz-Butt to ovarian cancer. During Seitz-Butt’s illness, Caraway brought her friend healthy, homemade meals to cheer her up. After Seitz-Butt’s passing, Caraway continued delivering dishes to a small network of cancer patients in the city as a way to continue Joy’s legacy. 

The organization grew, and while Caraway is the leader, she credits the Joy Bus’ many collaborators, partners, volunteers and donors as being integral to the story – and food – she has created. To her, they are the main characters in the definitive biography of her organization. 

“We’re not just recipes, we’re a part of the community. The community got us here, and the book needed to reflect that,” Caraway explains. 

Caraway notes that the challenge of writing this book, compared to her previous collection, “Joy Bus: More Than a Meal Cookbook,” published in 2021, was to accurately capture both the meals and the expansion of the organization. The Joy Bus has recently relocated to a new 6,700-square-foot space, aiming to reach over 2,500 clients in the coming months. For Caraway, that growth is the result of a huge network of helpers. 

“I wanted the book to reflect that it’s not just about me, that it’s not just a one-woman show,” Caraway explains. 

The end result is a rarity for a cookbook: an excellent collection of recipes that also creates a compelling narrative and showcases the people who drive the Joy Bus. 

Like the author, it’s an authentic and unorthodox tale, a compelling story with some amazing food to boot. 

No filler recipes

While the narrative may be compelling, at the heart of any good cookbook are the recipes. This collection doesn’t disappoint. Fans of Caraway’s cooking, which leans on her experiences growing up in the Southwest, as well as her husband’s Southern roots and her collaborations with local vendors and chefs, will find plenty to love. 

Readers can expect diverse offerings that showcase Caraway’s influences: a rich Oaxacan mole sits comfortably next to spicy duck and tahini-dressed noodles, and her “Best Deviled Eggs” with goat cheese and bacon are nestled next to an excellent Kashmiri chile-roasted lamb. 

“I am from here, so all my stuff is spicy, but my husband is from the South, so you see some of my obsessions in things like the pimento cheese, which he introduced me to, crop up as well,” Caraway notes. 

The collection doesn’t hold back on Joy Bus Diner staples as well. Standards from the restaurant such as the Princess Poppy Seed Pancakes, the off-menu chicken and waffles and the Captain Super Breakfast Sandwich (named after the beloved character played by Pat McMahon on “The Wallace and Ladmo Show”), are all featured. 

Caraway is careful not to gatekeep the dishes that keep Joy Bus guests coming back to the diner. Her most famous recipe, the Papaya Clafoutis, also known as “The $10,000 Dessert,” which secured her victory on Food Network’s “Chopped,” is prominently featured as well. 

Necessity breeds creativity

Caraway also drew inspiration from the early days of the organization, when many of the dishes came about as a result of donations and creative ingenuity. The Joy Bus Tuna Burger, for instance, started with an unexpected surplus of seafood. Not wanting to waste a generous donation, Caraway set to work making something unique for her clients. The tasty outcome reflected Caraway’s DIY approach of “making it work with what we have.”

“I wanted to make sure the recipes were reflective of all the moments in the Joy Bus’ history. That tuna burger was when I was at my most creative within the organization,” Caraway says. “I could just create rad shit with whatever we had donated.” 

In addition to the plentiful recipes, Caraway’s candid personal photos give the book the intimate feel of a memoir. There are also several supplemental guides in the back of the book to aid in cooking basics, along with recipes for staples such as bread, biscuits, jams and sauces. The book also includes a guide to healing ingredients and their natural benefits, which are integral to the meals the Joy Bus delivers to its clients. 

Notable contributors

When it came time to consider who would contribute to the foreword, there was one local legend in particular that Caraway was eager to ask: two-time James Beard Award-winning chef and restaurateur, Chris Bianco. 

“Chris is the coolest dude ever. I freaking love him. He’s so nice and community-minded, and so this, to him, was right up his alley. When I asked him, he was instantly in. I was like, ‘You’re not going to make me beg or anything?’ but he was so rad about it. He’s just a very good human,” Caraway recalls. 

Another local legend, rocker Alice Cooper, also provided a blurb for the book after learning about Caraway’s culinary skills and organization. While they weren’t formally connected, Caraway, who was, in her words, “a token bass playing punk chick” for a few bands after high school, found a resourceful way to cold-call the Godfather of Shock Rock. 

“I had been asking some of my connections who knew him to connect us. He’s got such a passion for the local food scene and is obviously such a legend. But I had pretty much given up, until, one evening I was at Tarbell’s Tavern, having a bite at the bar, and I looked over and there he was,” Caraway recalls. 

Not wanting to interrupt his dinner, Caraway devised a plan to make an impression without intruding on the table service. She quickly purchased a copy of her first book, from the restaurant merchandise display (Tarbell’s Tavern is a partner in the Joy Bus organization) and dashed off a note on the title page. She introduced herself and the organization, summarized the pitch for the new book and asked if he might be interested in contributing a few words. She discreetly asked the server to deliver the book with the check and left. 

The next morning, Caraway received a text from Cooper’s wife, Sheryl Cooper, excitedly accepting the proposition. Alice Cooper was now an official blurb contributor for the Joy Bus cookbook. 

Punk roots make joy possible

In many ways, the bold introduction Caraway created with the local rock legend perfectly encapsulates the daring, can-do philosophy that Caraway has infused into the Joy Bus from the start. 

“I mean, in a sense, I suppose the idea of the Joy Bus is rooted in my old-school punk sensibility. No sane person who just followed along and did what they were supposed to do, they probably wouldn’t open a nonprofit restaurant because the idea is fucking crazy. But being naive, being optimistic that it’s going to work — that’s punk to me,” Carraway says. 

The chef admits that when she started, she had no idea how she’d open a restaurant and deliver meals for free. But that didn’t stop her. Now, as Caraway and her team turn the page to the next chapter of the Joy Bus, hungry supporters can enjoy the stories, images and recipes of a dream turned into reality.

“You figure shit out as you go along, and you keep going,” Caraway says. 

“The Joy Bus Cook Book: Meals That Matter” releases on Oct. 28 and is available for pre-order at Amazon, Bookshop.org , B&N, and the Joy Bus website.