Today’s Martha Mondays Pasta with Brussels Sprouts and Bacon was chosen by Pru at My Life: Pru Singer. Thanks Pru.

Let me be honest. I didn’t think I would like this. At the least, I knew I would be the only one in my house who would eat it. Mr. MarthaAndMe really doesn’t like Brussels sprouts. The kids are not fans. I like them a lot, but the idea of them in pasta was kind of weird.

I cooked my bacon (anything with bacon can’t be horrible) and then added my shallots (I cheated and used one shallot and then some onion), garlic and sprouts. Once it cooked a bit I added chicken broth. By the end of the allotted time, the sprouts were not cooked, so I covered it and cooked it longer until they were soft.

I didn’t have rigatoni, so I used some curly pasta in the pantry. Mr. MarthaAndMe ate it under duress (not much else on the table to pick from), TeenMartha ate most of hers (picking out the sprouts for the most part). Dude Martha wanted no part of it. I liked it, but still think Brussels sprouts in pasta are weird. I needed something more. I admit I didn’t have fresh sage, so I used dried – maybe that was the problem. It just tasted like pasta with Brussels, bacon and some onion. I don’t know what else it could taste like since that’s all that is in it, but it really needed something else for me. I don’t think I would make this again, but I will probably be picking at the leftovers for lunch all this week. It was fun to try it though.

If you made this, please post the link to that post and let’s try to visit everyone else’s posts!

Today’s Martha Mondays Pasta with Brussels Sprouts and Bacon was chosen by Pru at My Life: Pru Singer. Thanks Pru. Let me be honest. I didn’t think I would like this. At the least, I knew I would be the only one in my house who would eat it. Mr. MarthaAndMe really doesn’t like Brussels … Read more →

I am probably in a minority here, but I’ve never had green bean casserole before. My mom was not into traditional Thanksgiving dishes, so this was never served in our house. For years I’ve seen photos of it in magazines, with those canned fried onions on top. I always thought it looked a little gross. But Martha has a recipe for it in November Everyday Food using homemade onions. I decided to try it out.

First, let me say, this dish was kind of a pain in the butt to make since it used a lot of pans and bowls. I cut up the shallots and dredged them in flour and fried them (1 bowl, 1 pan). This took a few batches, even though I cut the recipe in half. Next, I had to blanch the beans, which required another pot and a strainer. Then I made the mushroom cream (quite easy actually – butter, mushrooms, broth, flour and milk, although this was another pan). You could make the dish up to this point and refrigerate for a day or two I think. Next, I baked it (1 casserole dish). When it comes out of the oven, you add the onions to the top (what was left of the onions – ahem – I couldn’t stop sampling them, they were so good!).

This smelled and looked good. It tasted good too. It was a totally new experience for me. I usually steam or blanch green beans and serve with slivered almonds or just plain butter. I don’t think I’ve ever done anything else with them. It was very good. I loved the mushrooms and beans together. The fried onion topping is wicked good. This doesn’t feel like a veggie dish – it feels like a casserole. In fact, it could be a main dish for my family, served with some other veggies and a potato or rice side.

I liked it, but don’t think I would serve it for Thanksgiving. For one thing, there are so many rich things on the table that day that I prefer to serve some simple veggies to kind of cut the decadence. Since it’s not part of my family’s tradition, I don’t feel like it’s missing. I do recommend this recipe though. I’ve never had the one with the canned soup and the canned fried onions, but this has got to be a million times better! I ate the leftovers for lunch the next day and enjoyed them very much.

As you’ve already noticed, I have no photo. I took photos of this with the new camera, but somehow in trying to download them everything on the camera and memory stick got erased, so I can’t show you my results. I can tell you that it looked very much like the photos I’ve seen in magazines of this dish. The beans were a nice bright green. The sauce was creamy with slices of mushrooms. The onions on top were very thinly sliced rings that were golden brown and very crunchy.

I am probably in a minority here, but I’ve never had green bean casserole before. My mom was not into traditional Thanksgiving dishes, so this was never served in our house. For years I’ve seen photos of it in magazines, with those canned fried onions on top. I always thought it looked a little gross. … Read more →

A few days ago I made Martha’s Spiced Pork Roast with Acorn Squash. I had some leftovers, but not a lot. I always have trouble with pork roast leftovers, because it tends to get very dry if you reheat it. So I decided to get a little creative. I scraped the remaining 4 slices of squash and smashed up the insides. I dumped this in a pan with about 1/4 cup cream. I added a few sprinkles of garlic powder, lots of salt and pepper and a little cinnamon. I also added a few tablespoons of water. I slowly heated the mix and stirred until it was thickened. I put in the leftover pork roast slices, turned them over in the mixture, put a lid on and turned the heat off. We ate about 10 minutes later. The pork was nice and moist and sauce was really delicious, if a bit different. Dude Martha said it tasted like pumpkin to him. I was quite proud of myself for finding this creative use of the leftovers. I am sure Martha is not big on leftovers, but in the average American household, leftovers are a way of life. Applying a little Martha creativity to them was fun for me.

Please forgive my lack of a photo. We just got a new camera and it is refusing to let us take the photos off it. On top of that, I’m struggling with yet another bout of kidney stones and had a CT scan Friday for it.  I’ve been sick for more than 3 months at this point and am simply bone tired. Dinner last night was grilled cheese (on wheat Italian bread with some cheese I don’t know the name of – but it was not yucky American and was very good) and basil tomato soup (from a can – I had none frozen). Dinner tonight was at Friendly’s, where we took Dude Martha and his pal. They enjoyed it is about all I can say! I didn’t have much appetite anyhow since the latest kidney episode started about then. I’m gearing up to make my Martha Mondays dish tomorrow and hope that I am through this current episode by then.

A few days ago I made Martha’s Spiced Pork Roast with Acorn Squash. I had some leftovers, but not a lot. I always have trouble with pork roast leftovers, because it tends to get very dry if you reheat it. So I decided to get a little creative. I scraped the remaining 4 slices of … Read more →

A while ago I made the Buttermilk Cornbread recipe from the Nov issue of Everyday Food. My kids love cornbread. Last year I experimented with cornbread stuffing for the first time at Thanksgiving and they liked that too. I was interested to try Martha’s recipe for buttermilk cornbread. I don’t have one recipe I rely on for this. I haven’t yet found one I love. I like my cornbread soft and sweet.

Martha’s cornbread was easy to make. I thought it was done when I took it out of the oven, but when we sat down to dinner, we discovered it was only cooked around the edges and the middle was mush. So, we picked around the edges. The pieces I had were quite good. Soft and sweet enough. The buttermilk is definitely a must in this.  I think this recipe was a winner, but it was hard to tell since not much was edible.

I stuck it back in the oven as I was doing the dishes – and then promptly forgot about it! As you can see, that had a bad outcome! Into the trash it went. Sigh. I think I might make this again to make my cornbread stuffing though – and this time I’ll cook it longer.

A while ago I made the Buttermilk Cornbread recipe from the Nov issue of Everyday Food. My kids love cornbread. Last year I experimented with cornbread stuffing for the first time at Thanksgiving and they liked that too. I was interested to try Martha’s recipe for buttermilk cornbread. I don’t have one recipe I rely … Read more →

Check out my guest post over at Wasabimon about my take on Martha’s stuffed cabbage.  Thank you to my friend Stephanie Stiavetti for inviting me to guest post!

Check out my guest post over at Wasabimon about my take on Martha’s stuffed cabbage.  Thank you to my friend Stephanie Stiavetti for inviting me to guest post!

If you’ve been following along with me, you know that I started this blog and my Martha project a year ago. My mission was to do one Martha project a day for an entire year and see if it changed my life. The year is up.

I have lots of thoughts on how it has affected me and my family. I’m going to share just a few here. One of the biggest changes is that Martha has made me pay attention to details and thus I’ve found that the details really do matter. I’m nowhere close to Martha-perfection on anything, but I find that when I make a little extra effort in whatever I am doing around the house (cooking, cleaning, organizing, crafting, decorating, etc.),  it almost always pays off.

Another important lesson has been focus. Martha has an incredible ability to focus on things. I’ve often heard her practically squeal with excitement over how orange some carrots are or how a loaf of bread turns out. She’s able to find the sublime in the everyday and I’ll always thank her for showing me how to do that. If you can find happiness in the small things, it carries you through the harder parts of your day.

I’ve had a lot of failures (recipes that were just plain awful, crafts I murdered and organizing jobs I didn’t quite complete) but I’ve also tried so many new things (corning my own beef, eating celery root, using glitter). I feel as though this year has been a complete education for me, like going to culinary school, apprenticing in a new trade, and practicing to open a shop on Etsy.

It has also been exhausting. In the midst of all the Martha lessons, I’ve had a busy year. My grandmother passed away, we went to the UK on a two week vacation, husband and daughter continued the balancing act required with rheumatoid arthritis, I wrote a book about the history of cookies (coming out next fall), I did massive numbers of indexes and wrote several book proposals, my daughter had swine flu and pneumonia, I struggled with an ongoing infection, my son started middle school, my daughter applied to and visited colleges, and I continued to be daughter, wife, dog owner, and mom to the people I love.

I’ve been contemplating what I would do when my one year of Martha ended. On the one hand, I’m tired. I’m tired of cooking Martha food all the time, tired of pushing myself to craft, and tired of spending a large portion of my disposable income on food for Martha’s recipes, supplies for Martha’s projects, and on Martha’s favorite products.

But on the other hand, I can’t see a life without Martha. I admit it – I am slightly hooked. I’ve already decided I’m ordering one of Martha’s turkeys for Thanksgiving and I’m giddy at the thought of her new line of cleaning products. I’m already looking forward to the December issue of Living. So, I don’t think Martha and I are going to part ways. Instead, I think we will reach a compromise.

So, my plan moving forward is to continue to experiment with Martha’s recipes, crafts, and projects, but at a slower pace. One year of doing Martha every day has been plenty. Instead, I’d like to see what sticks. I want to try a slightly different experiment – move forward with my life and see what Martha lessons and projects are truly me. I need some time and space to find what really works for me. So, I’m going to continue the blog, but may not have a post absolutely every single day. It almost kills me to write that, since I’ve come to depend on my loyal readers! I love coming here every day and reading your comments and knowing you’ve been on the journey with me.  I might take a weekend off! I do plan to post regularly and to continue sharing my results with you and hopefully sharing my thoughts with you about how I’ve incorporated Martha into my real life.

I also would like to show you some non-Martha recipes – my own creations. Martha has certainly influenced me to try new things and enjoy new things, so I’d like to show the direction she has steered me as I move forward.

Martha Mondays will continue and I’m still going to do the MS Cupcake Club. But those are my only required assignments. As for the rest, I’m going to do what really interests me and excites me. At this point, I’m not even sure what that will be – I’ve been so focused on doing Martha, I’ve lost sight a little bit of what I want to do.

Many of you have asked me if I will be writing a book about this experience. The answer to that is I hope so! It’s started, but it really wasn’t something I could write until I got to the end of the journey so I could have perspective on it. If you would like to read such a book, I would love for you to comment and say so.

I can’t thank you enough for the support, cheering on, commiserating and just general interest in my project! It has meant so very much to me to know that every single one of you is reading along. So, stick around and come with me on year two as I discover where I go from here and what lasting influence Martha will have on me!

If you’ve been following along with me, you know that I started this blog and my Martha project a year ago. My mission was to do one Martha project a day for an entire year and see if it changed my life. The year is up. I have lots of thoughts on how it has … Read more →

I’ve been meaning to make this recipe for over a week, but never quite got to it. I had an acorn squash ready to go, but then we ended up using it as a bowl for dip at the Halloween party! So I bought another and made this last night. The recipe is from November Everyday Food and was also made on the Martha show.

I had this planned for dinner and then suddenly had an unexpected Dr appt for late afternoon (kidney stones anyone?), so I got it started in advance and then stuck it in the oven on a timer. I started by browning the pork and tossing the acorn squash with the spice mix. I put it in the oven and programmed it to start cooking while I was away. I assigned Teen Martha to baste it while I was gone.

When I came home, the house smelled wonderfully spicey and warm. However, the pork took longer to cook than the recipe said.  I ended up cranking it up to 450 on convection and even then the total cooking time was an hour.

I enjoyed the squash very much, but the pork didn’t have much flavor. If I made this again, I would marinate the pork in advance to try to get some of the flavor into it. I also was missing garlic – I like garlic in my pork roast.

Other than that, this is a nice dish that doesn’t require a lot of work. I cut up some bread and some red pepper and it was a complete meal. Thumbs up!

I’ve been meaning to make this recipe for over a week, but never quite got to it. I had an acorn squash ready to go, but then we ended up using it as a bowl for dip at the Halloween party! So I bought another and made this last night. The recipe is from November … Read more →

I couldn’t help myself – I had to order a Martha Stewart turkey for Thanksgiving. If you order one this week, you can save $15 by entering the code Martha15.

I’m excited about Martha’s turkey for several reasons. The turkeys are not certified organic, but they are antibiotic and hormone free, vegetarian fed and humanely raised. Every single one of those factors is of great importance to me. The turkeys come in two sizes – 12 lb ($69.99) or 18 lb ($89.99), minus the $15 discount. You can choose your delivery date, which is a nice feature.

The turkeys are from Plainville Farms and I have had their regular turkeys in the past with great success.  I can’t wait to try it!

I couldn’t help myself – I had to order a Martha Stewart turkey for Thanksgiving. If you order one this week, you can save $15 by entering the code Martha15. I’m excited about Martha’s turkey for several reasons. The turkeys are not certified organic, but they are antibiotic and hormone free, vegetarian fed and humanely … Read more →

I couldn’t help myself – I had to order a Martha Stewart turkey for Thanksgiving. If you order one this week, you can save $15 by entering the code Martha15.

I’m excited about Martha’s turkey for several reasons. The turkeys are not certified organic, but they are antibiotic and hormone free, vegetarian fed and humanely raised. Every single one of those factors is of great importance to me. The turkeys come in two sizes – 12 lb ($69.99) or 18 lb ($89.99), minus the $15 discount. You can choose your delivery date, which is a nice feature.

The turkeys are from Plainville Farms and I have had their regular turkeys in the past with great success.  I can’t wait to try it!

I couldn’t help myself – I had to order a Martha Stewart turkey for Thanksgiving. If you order one this week, you can save $15 by entering the code Martha15. I’m excited about Martha’s turkey for several reasons. The turkeys are not certified organic, but they are antibiotic and hormone free, vegetarian fed and humanely … Read more →

The Martha Mondays for next week, chosen by Pru of My Life: Pru Singer is Pasta with Brussels Sprouts  and Bacon. Thanks for the pick Pru – I’m looking forward to trying it. If you make it, remember to come and post a comment with a link to your blog so everyone can visit it!

The Martha Mondays for next week, chosen by Pru of My Life: Pru Singer is Pasta with Brussels Sprouts  and Bacon. Thanks for the pick Pru – I’m looking forward to trying it. If you make it, remember to come and post a comment with a link to your blog so everyone can visit it!