My first Martha project

May I have a trumpet sound please? (doo-doo-doo!) I am proud to announce and reveal my very first Martha craft, from the November issue of Living (Martha doesn’t have it up on her site yet, but once she does I’ll put a link in here). I am quite shocked at how well (almost) it turned out. Of course, it looks nothing like the one in the magazine, but I would say it’s not half bad.

First please allow me to vent about Martha’s craft projects. While it’s nice that she has a guide in the magazine that tells you where to order all the supplies, there’s no way I’m about to do that. First of all, the prices are ridiculous. Secondly, by the time I order it all and it arrives, it will be next month. Not practical. So off I went to Micheal’s. They only had one kind of wreath form and it’s much wider than the one Martha uses in her directions. I also chose one with a smaller diameter. They also did not have any “metallic papers” so I bought gold wrapping paper and used that.

I honestly thought there was no way this was going to work. The instructions are very vague and not very detailed. Martha left it up to me to design the leaf shape. Eeek. Deep breathing.

I did not understand how to staple paper onto a metal wreath, but shockingly, it actually worked. I guess I stapled paper to paper which held it on. My leaf sizes are not uniform and the gold ones stand out a bit, but really, for a first effort, I’m pretty pleased with myself.

Ok, so my bow is totally dorky. I know. And she didn’t say how to attach it, so I stapled that sucker on too.

Would I proudly display this on my front door for the entire month of November. Um, no. Not a chance. But it’s not as hideously embarrassing as I expected.

Now for the real question – did crafting relax me? I guess maybe a little, when I wasn’t shouting at it “Come on, Martha!” I do think that I can see the pleasure is making things yourself. The whole project took about 50 minutes from start to finish and I did it while my son was doing his homework.

Have you attempted this project? Let me know how it went.

May I have a trumpet sound please? (doo-doo-doo!) I am proud to announce and reveal my very first Martha craft, from the November issue of Living (Martha doesn’t have it up on her site yet, but once she does I’ll put a link in here). I am quite shocked at how well (almost) it turned out. Of … Read more →

Then I went to the grocery store to buy the ingredients to make the Butterscotch-Pecan Cake, also from the November issue. Budget buster!! $40 just for ingredients, not including basics like flour, baking powder, baking sodea, salt, corn syrup, etc. I could probably buy 2 of these cakes at a bakery for this price. It’s totally insane.  I am sure this cake is going to be divine – it had better be considering I had to buy two pounds of butter and 4 8 oz blocks of cream cheese and a pint of heavy cream. Yowza! No wonder Martha is looking a little chunkier than her old self these days.

Percy and Merlin – our dogs

The other night on Martha (I can only get her show on the Fine Living Network at night) she had an interesting segment on dog training. For someone so organized and precise, Martha really lets these dogs walk all over her. She described how they get into fights over her attention and how she sent one of them to a week-long dog therapist (if only we all had that kind of cash). Yet she still cannot control them.

I have to say I loved this peek into the inner chaos of Martha’s life. She’s just like any woman her age who babies her pets and lets them run her life. She’s a total softie when it comes to those dogs.

We have two golden retrievers who though certainly not well-trained do not get into fights with each other. I have to say I don’t much care for Martha’s French Bulldogs, but then I am and always have been a golden retriever person.

Isaac Mizrahi crafting with Martha was hysterical. I love it when things go wrong and Martha must make the best of it. Isaac is quite the character and has no fear of Martha. Did you see this episode? What did you think?

 I’m not even a week into the Martha life and it’s already hugely expensive. Today I went to Michael’s to buy supplies. I bought supplies to make 3 crafts from the November issue of Living. Two little ones and one big one. I spent $22. I didn’t know Martha has a whole line of craft … Read more →

In my quest for all things Martha (which is now constantly on my mind), I sought out two Halloween festivities over the weekend that are definitely something Martha would approve of.

Dogs hitting the pavement

Old Town Alexandria, Virginia has dog trick or treating the week before Halloween. What a sight! Dogs of every kind in every imaginable type of costume were on the streets. The dogs didn’t seem to be too excited about the costumes but they were happy to get the treats.

The whole town turns into Martha for this event, with pet owners brainstorming terrific costumes. We saw a bumble bee, a race car, witches, an inmate, clowns, a cowboy and many more.

Sponsor a scarecrow

Also in the spirit of the season, we saw this amazing display in Middleton, Maryland. The town attaches scarecrows to signposts throughout the main section of town. Businesses can sponsor a scarecrow. Each business gets to select the design and the name of the business is pinned to the scarecrow’s chest. Very festive! Martha would definitely approve.

In my quest for all things Martha (which is now constantly on my mind), I sought out two Halloween festivities over the weekend that are definitely something Martha would approve of. Old Town Alexandria, Virginia has dog trick or treating the week before Halloween. What a sight! Dogs of every kind in every imaginable type … Read more →

Ok, so this quiz on Martha’s site caught my eye. Am I a master chef or a novice cook? Yikes! That sounds like a challenge (or a throwdown as Bobby Flay would say – have I mentioned I don’t like Bobby Flay’s antagonistic attitude?). I like to cook, but mostly I make it up as I go.  I’m not big on reading up on cooking techniques. But who doesn’t love a good quiz?

I scored a four out of eight. So I guess I’m halfway in between the two categories. Either way, Martha recommends I buy her new book, Martha Stewart’s Cooking School. Well, I’m going to do that, but not because the quiz told me to! In fact, I would probably have been really annoyed to take this quiz and expect some great explanation of how my skills rank only to be told I should just buy her book.

My mistakes? I didn’t know what brunoise was (do you??). I didn’t know you shouldn’t add iodized salt to consomme (listen, I have never made consomme and do not know when I ever would). I did, however know what a bouquet garne is and what is the smallest member of the allium family (ok, so I guessed – just don’t tell Martha).

Give the quiz a try and let me know how you did!

Ok, so this quiz on Martha’s site caught my eye. Am I a master chef or a novice cook? Yikes! That sounds like a challenge (or a throwdown as Bobby Flay would say – have I mentioned I don’t like Bobby Flay’s antagonistic attitude?). I like to cook, but mostly I make it up as … Read more →

It was a Monday night and I needed something quick and simple for dinner. Mondays are a busy day here and I often work right up until dinner time, leaving me little time to cook. What Would Martha Do? A recipe from Everyday Food for light chicken parm seemed like it should fit the bill for this. I actually found this on the web site, not in the mag.

The first hurdle with the recipe is something that’s not in the recipe – or any recipe for that matter. Defrosting the chicken. While it’s nice to use fresh meat, I don’t often plan my meals out in advance, so I don’t have fresh chicken sitting in the fridge, singing a little chicken song to itself and waiting happily to be used.

I find defrosting to be a challenge. You have to be careful to do it slowly so it doesn’t cook the edges, but you do have to get it to defrost fully. Nothing is worse than that gross white cooked edges you get. What I usually do is defrost it most of the way, then let it just sit in the microwave for about 10 or 15 minutes and it seems to do the rest itself. That’s my tip for the day, folks. Genius, I know.

Homemade Wheat Breadcrumbs

Ok, to get down to business I had to first make the breadcrumbs. Normally I just use a store brand Italian breadcrumb mix, but Martha dictates the use of pieces of wheat bread ground up with some salt and pepper, oil and parm cheese. I do like the idea of using up some old bread crusts and I always prefer whole wheat to white, however having to get the Cuisinart dirty is a pain. There’s never room in the dishwasher for that darn thing. I usually avoid it like the plague. I do think this breadcrumb mixture needed some herbs, but Martha did not suggest them.

Ready for the Oven

The most exciting idea in this recipe is the directive to only bread one side of the chicken breasts. I never thought of doing this, but it is brilliant. It cuts calories and you do not notice the difference.

My chicken breasts did not cook in the time specified – 10 to 12 minutes. Granted, I used organic chicken and I find it does take longer. At 9 minutes it was raw inside and getting almost burned on the outside. I switched to convection at 375 degrees and cooked it another 10 minutes and it was perfect.

Voila!

The breading did not taste as crisp as I normally would like. I usually pan fry my chicken parm with a little olive oil, so I did miss that a little, but this is a nice light alternative.

I confess I used a jar of spaghetti sauce that was sitting already opened in the fridge (I know, so not Martha)instead of making the tomato sauce in the recipe. On a Monday night I would much rather do that, not to mention my 10 year old would much prefer something from a jar.

All in all, I would call this recipe a good thing. My biggest takeaway from it is the idea of breading only one side. Thanks Martha.

What Martha recipes do you suggest for a busy weeknight?

It was a Monday night and I needed something quick and simple for dinner. Mondays are a busy day here and I often work right up until dinner time, leaving me little time to cook. What Would Martha Do? A recipe from Everyday Food for light chicken parm seemed like it should fit the bill … Read more →

Today is Day One in my year of Martha. I am so unprepared. Just looking at the home page of her site, I feel completely overwhelmed.  Halloween is bearing down upon us. I have never sewed a Halloween costume (taped one together, definitely, but sewed, no). The only craft supply I have is some dried up Play-Doh from when my kids were little, so I don’t have fiberglass window screening lying around that I can whip up into a spider web for my front door. And I can say with certainty that I’ve never ever made food that looked like a human brain.

I’m willing to jump in feet first though and give it all a try. Figuring out where to start is a challenge though. Martha Stewart not only has a universe in her web site, but she’s got about a zillion books out too. And a mere 6 magazines. And then there are the tv shows. She’s not only got her own show, but there’s the Everyday Food show that falls under the Omnimedia umbrella. Oh, and she’s also got a Sirius radio show.

And then there’s probably my favoritest show of all, Whatever, Martha. Martha’s daughter, Alexis, and a pal watch old Martha shows and make fun of her, her projects, and guests. Don’t worry, we’re going to have to chat about this one in depth in the coming days.

Let’s not forget that Martha has her own product line. She started out at KMart but has swiftly moved herself into Macy’s. Who knows, she might even be riding with Santa in this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving parade. Martha does tend to take over.

In my quest to live the Martha way, I have just signed up for her 7 newsletters, 6 daily tip emails, and 3 workshops. That’s exhausting all by itself. How am I going to cope with it all? I’ve got my November issue of Living ready to go, so that’s the starting line I guess.

Come with me on my journey. Please – I need some support! I want to hear about your successes and failures with Martha’s projects and directions.

Today is Day One in my year of Martha. I am so unprepared. Just looking at the home page of her site, I feel completely overwhelmed.  Halloween is bearing down upon us. I have never sewed a Halloween costume (taped one together, definitely, but sewed, no). The only craft supply I have is some dried up Play-Doh … Read more →