Thanks to Tiny Skillet for today’s project, Molasses Ginger Cookies. I am a big fan of molasses cookies and was interested to give Martha’s version a try. I made one change in the recipe – I did not add white pepper, since I do not like pepper in my cookies!

These turned out nicely – all crinkly on top and they smelled divine. There was too much ginger in these for me. They had too much bite to them. Other family members liked them though, so they have not gone to waste. I’ll be interested to hear what others think!

Thanks to Tiny Skillet for today’s project, Molasses Ginger Cookies. I am a big fan of molasses cookies and was interested to give Martha’s version a try. I made one change in the recipe – I did not add white pepper, since I do not like pepper in my cookies! These turned out nicely – … Read more →

This is one of my favorite fall dishes. I make it every year. It’s hearty, warm, smoky, rich, and cheesy. It freezes well also. The kids don’t like this very much and Mr. MarthaAndMe is lukewarm about it, but I could eat this every night and be a happy camper.

Peel and cut one butternut squash into even 1 inch pieces. Roast on a baking sheet with a few tbsp of olive oil at 425 for about half an hour, until it is soft and beginning to brown.

Start with 4 ounces of chopped pancetta (you can use bacon if you prefer). Cook it in a large pot. Remove the pancetta when lightly browned, leaving grease. Add 1 chopped white onion, adding a little olive oil if necessary. Cook until translucent.

Add 1 cup risotto and stir to coat it with the oil and onion. Cook for about 2 minutes. Begin adding chicken stock, following instructions on your risotto package for how much water and/or stock to use (I use mostly stock with some water). Add salt and pepper to taste and 1 tbsp thyme. Cook until risotto is done. Add the squash and pancetta. Stir until heated through. Add 8 ounces of cubed fontina cheese. Stir and serve.

To die for. A bowl of this on a fall evening and I feel comfy and cozy and well fed!

This is one of my favorite fall dishes. I make it every year. It’s hearty, warm, smoky, rich, and cheesy. It freezes well also. The kids don’t like this very much and Mr. MarthaAndMe is lukewarm about it, but I could eat this every night and be a happy camper. Peel and cut one butternut … Read more →

Somewhere recently I saw a mention of lamb meatballs and it’s been haunting me ever since. I definitely had to do something to get it off my brain. So I decided to play around with the concept. Here’s what I came up with:

Greek Meatballs over Couscous with Yogurt Sauce
1 cup couscous
1 onion
parsley
1 lb ground lamb
1 garlic clove
Greek seasoning (mine comes from Penzey’s)
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
1 egg
2 tbsp heavy cream
1 cup feta cheese
4 cups spinach
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
8 oz plain yogurt
1 small cucumber
4 tbsp lemon juice

Cook 1/4 of the onion in a few tsp of olive oil. Add the couscous and some chopped parsley. Add water as instructed by couscous package and cook according to direction.
Make lamb meatballs by combining lamb with 1/2 cup chopped onion, egg, cream, chopped garlic clove, Greek seasoning, salt and pepper, 1/2 cup feta, and breadcrumbs. Mix and form meatballs.
Place meatballs on greased baking sheet and add cherry tomatoes and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
Wilt spinach in a pan with a small amount of olive oil, seasoning with salt and pepper.
Mix yogurt with remaining onion, remaining feta, lemon juice, Greek seasoning, salt and pepper and small cucumber which has been peeled and chopped.

Serve by placing couscous on the bottom and topping with meatballs, spinach and tomatoes and yogurt sauce on top.

This was SO good. A wonderfulm lighter alternative to regular spaghetti and meatballs and easier to eat than souvlaki pitas. I loved it. The meatballs are tender and flavorful and the yogurt sauce is creamy and delicious. Absolutely fantastic. And my kids love Greek food so it was a hit all around.

Somewhere recently I saw a mention of lamb meatballs and it’s been haunting me ever since. I definitely had to do something to get it off my brain. So I decided to play around with the concept. Here’s what I came up with: Greek Meatballs over Couscous with Yogurt Sauce 1 cup couscous 1 onion … Read more →

Martha was on Oprah yesterday. It’s not often that you get to see Martha interviewed, so I was anxious to watch. Oprah had a lot of questions about prison. And that’s about it. It seemed like such an interesting opportunity – the two women who have made some of the biggest changes in how we think about our lives together, chatting. I would have loved some talk about how Martha built her empire, if she ever dreamed it would be so big, what she thinks about public perception of her, what it’s like to be so dang rich and powerful, and so much more. The prison talk was interesting of course – any time you get to hear Martha reflect on things and give real (meaning not pre-packaged) answers to questions, I am interested. I enjoyed the video of her Maine home, but I’ve seen most of it before, so there wasn’t a lot that was new there.

The grilled cheese recipes are from Everyday Food this month I think. I still can’t fold a fitted sheet. And I didn’t quite understand the instructions. Having a swap out was cheating – I really wanted to see her do it and I don’t feel like I did. The crafting was a chance for her to hawk her products.

So I enjoyed the show but was hoping for just a little more of an in depth interview.

Did anyone else catch it?

Martha was on Oprah yesterday. It’s not often that you get to see Martha interviewed, so I was anxious to watch. Oprah had a lot of questions about prison. And that’s about it. It seemed like such an interesting opportunity – the two women who have made some of the biggest changes in how we … Read more →

Two breakfast favorites in one? Oh yes.

We make pancakes or waffles a couple of times a month for weekend “big breakfasts.” I love blueberry or buckwheat. The kids tend to like theirs plain. I recently stumbled on a recipe in a magazine for oatmeal pancakes and decided to customize it to my own tastes.

Oatmeal Pancakes
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 cup buttermilk plus 2 tbsp
1 egg
2 tbsp melted butter
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder

Mix buttermilk and egg and add oats. Let this mixture sit for about 10 minutes. Then mix together with the other ingredients. Heat a griddle or pan and pour about 1/4 cup for each pancake. Flip when the bottom is brown. Serve with maple syrup.

These were fan-friggin-tastic. Seriously. I LOVED them. I made one batch and it made 10 pancakes, but next time I’m going to double it because there was nearly fighting over the remaining pancakes. The oats give this a nice texture and it feels really homey and filling like oatmeal, but it’s definitely not a boring bowl of oatmeal nor does it have that “I’m a hippie eating pure whole grain oats”  flavor and texture you can sometimes get with something that is overly oat-y. The cinnamon gives it a nice flavor. I’ll be making these again very soon!

Two breakfast favorites in one? Oh yes. We make pancakes or waffles a couple of times a month for weekend “big breakfasts.” I love blueberry or buckwheat. The kids tend to like theirs plain. I recently stumbled on a recipe in a magazine for oatmeal pancakes and decided to customize it to my own tastes. … Read more →

We have lots of salmon Dude Martha and Mr. MarthaAndMe caught in Alaska, which is filling my freezer. This was our first try with the coho salmon Mr. MarthaAndMe caught. It was delicious – milder in flavor than the king, which I kind of liked.

I stumbled upon a great recipe for arctic char in Cooking Light and adapted it for the salmon. It it incredibly easy. Cook your salmon on the grill or in the oven, however you like it. About half an hour before dinner, mix one small container of plain yogurt, one peeled and diced small cucumber (gherkin size), 2 cups chopped cilantro, 1 tbsp lime juice, and salt and pepper. That’s it! Serve the yogurt over the salmon. It’s cool and creamy and light and refreshing. The cilantro, cucumber and lime give it a very fresh taste that allows the salmon to shine. Fantastic. A sauce that doesn’t have to be cooked – you can’t beat that! Even Mr. MarthaAndMe, who believes that he does not like yogurt really liked this one.

We have lots of salmon Dude Martha and Mr. MarthaAndMe caught in Alaska, which is filling my freezer. This was our first try with the coho salmon Mr. MarthaAndMe caught. It was delicious – milder in flavor than the king, which I kind of liked. I stumbled upon a great recipe for arctic char in … Read more →

Thanks to Lynn at Tiny Skillet for choosing next week’s project, molasses ginger cookies. Should be fun! As always, anyone is welcome to play along. Make the recipe by Oct 11 and post results on your blog. Leave a comment on my post so everyone will know who made it and we can all see how everyone made out. If you’d like a turn picking our weekly project, just let me know and I’ll add you to the list.

Thanks to Lynn at Tiny Skillet for choosing next week’s project, molasses ginger cookies. Should be fun! As always, anyone is welcome to play along. Make the recipe by Oct 11 and post results on your blog. Leave a comment on my post so everyone will know who made it and we can all see … Read more →

Thanks to Brenda at Brenda’s Canadian Kitchen for choosing today’s project, Pumpkin Muffins.

I love to bake with pumpkin in the fall and often make pumpkin bread and pumpkin cookies. The muffins sounded good. They’re made with yogurt and half whole wheat flour. I did not add the nuts since some family members don’t like them. They were simple to mix up. The recipe says it makes 12 jumbo muffins – I made 24 regular muffins with this. Mine took forever to bake. The recipe says 25 minutes for the jumbo muffins so I thought mine would be done before that, but they actually took about 10 minutes longer.

I liked them, but thought they were a bit lacking in flavor. The recipe uses pumpkin pie spice which I generally don’t like. I think you get a better flavor if you use separate measurements of regular spices. I ended up sprinkling some cinnamon and sugar on top of these to make them look nice and to jazz them up. Also – as I was tasting these I realized there was no salt in the recipe which might have been part of the problem too!

I’ll be interested to hear what everyone else thought.

Thanks to Brenda at Brenda’s Canadian Kitchen for choosing today’s project, Pumpkin Muffins. I love to bake with pumpkin in the fall and often make pumpkin bread and pumpkin cookies. The muffins sounded good. They’re made with yogurt and half whole wheat flour. I did not add the nuts since some family members don’t like … Read more →

I adore brisket. And I’d never had until about ten years ago when I tried Emeril’s recipe for it. Luckily, I happened upon this incredible recipe. Once a year or so I will make a big batch of this and freeze it. I get many meals from one brisket (the leftovers are fantastic on buns or if you buy refrigerated crescent roll dough and line muffin tins with them and fill them with shredded brisket).

You have to plan ahead for this recipe and make it the day before, because it needs to sit overnight. Then you just reheat it the next day. It is sublime. I’ve had so many compliments on this. My in-laws, traditional meat and potato folk, love it. A business associate of my husband’s from India came to dinner and was crazy about it, never before having heard of brisket. The sauce is sweet and a little spicy. It has layers of flavor because you start with studding the brisket with garlic, then browning the brisket, then you braise it in broth, then you add carmelized onions, chili sauce, ketchup, brown sugar and spices. The meat turns out moist and incredibly tender.  It’s a hit every time.

I adore brisket. And I’d never had until about ten years ago when I tried Emeril’s recipe for it. Luckily, I happened upon this incredible recipe. Once a year or so I will make a big batch of this and freeze it. I get many meals from one brisket (the leftovers are fantastic on buns … Read more →