My excitement for the day was discovering that The Parchment Paper Cookbook is now up on Amazon and can be pre-ordered!

My excitement for the day was discovering that The Parchment Paper Cookbook is now up on Amazon and can be pre-ordered!

My excitement for the day was discovering that The Parchment Paper Cookbook is now up on Amazon and can be pre-ordered!

My excitement for the day was discovering that The Parchment Paper Cookbook is now up on Amazon and can be pre-ordered!

I have to share the book cover for my very first cookbook! The Parchment Paper Cookbook will be out in early November, but I just got the finalized cover and am so excited to see it.

I have to share the book cover for my very first cookbook! The Parchment Paper Cookbook will be out in early November, but I just got the finalized cover and am so excited to see it.

I’ve got a sneak peek for you at the cover of my book, The Parchment Paper Cookbook! The book will be out in early November, so you’ll definitely be hearing more about it from me in the coming months, but for now, I just had to share!

I’ve got a sneak peek for you at the cover of my book, The Parchment Paper Cookbook! The book will be out in early November, so you’ll definitely be hearing more about it from me in the coming months, but for now, I just had to share!

I have some very exciting news I want to share with you. I’ve just signed a contract to write my first cookbook! I’ve already written a food history book (Cookie: A Cultural History, which contained some recipes), but that is tied up in the logjam that is a university press and isn’t out yet. I’m hoping that will see the light of day next year. In the meantime though, I’ve signed with Adams Media to write No-Pot Cooking or The Parchment Paper Cookbook (title is still not definite!). If you haven’t visited my other blog, NoPotCooking, you can click over there and see what it’s all about. The concept is no mess, easy cooking, all done in parchment paper. Perfect for small kitchens, busy people, and those who really hate washing dishes! I’m SO excited to be working on this. It will be in stores later this year (I’ll be sure to let you know when once I have a firm date).

This project is the reason I have been so slow to post lately. It was a rush to get it done so I had to cut back on everything I’ve been doing to get it done. I’m very excited about it and will be sharing more details as I have them.

I have some very exciting news I want to share with you. I’ve just signed a contract to write my first cookbook! I’ve already written a food history book (Cookie: A Cultural History, which contained some recipes), but that is tied up in the logjam that is a university press and isn’t out yet. I’m … Read more →

Winners of the 10 MS Holiday punch around the page snow flake sets are:

April Jacques

Kendra Gillilan

Darcy Bishop

Stephanie Thompson

Stephanie Allen

Becky Seelentag

Sharon Harmon

Vicki Kusina

Amy Hill

Sarah Allen

Winners of the 10 MS Holiday punch around the page snow flake sets are: April Jacques Kendra Gillilan Darcy Bishop Stephanie Thompson Stephanie Allen Becky Seelentag Sharon Harmon Vicki Kusina Amy Hill Sarah Allen

This week I’m giving away 10 separate Martha Stewart Holidays treat boxes kits. Each package contains 6  matchbox style boxes, 6 sheets of tissue paper, 6 self-adhesive labels and 6 ribbons.  Dimensions aren’t given but they seem to be 6 inches wide by about 8 1/2 inches long and about 3 inches tall each. I used Martha Stewart treat boxes last year and they are fantastic. I gave away lots of cookies using these. It’s perfect to have the tissue paper, labels and ribbons all provided for you. I also found the boxes to be of high quality. They held together, kept their shape, and could hold as many cookies as I could fit. MSLO is providing the prizes and sent me a sample to try as well.

Here’s how to win. Leave a comment on this post, then visit the NoPotCooking fan page on Facebook and “like” it before Saturday, November 27, 2010. I’ll randomly and blindly select ten winners by random number drawing (numbers assigned in order of subscription time). Sorry, offer limited to U.S. addresses only and entrants age 18 and up only. One entry per person. Winners notified by email given when entering, not responsible for email transmission problems. You are responsible for notifying me of your correct  address if you are selected as a winner. Contest closes at midnight Eastern time on 11/26/10. Prize is nontransferable and may not be redeemed for cash. MarthaAndMe reserves the right to announce the name of the winner on the blog. Prizes will be sent by MSLO to winner.

This week I’m giving away 10 separate Martha Stewart Holidays treat boxes kits. Each package contains 6  matchbox style boxes, 6 sheets of tissue paper, 6 self-adhesive labels and 6 ribbons.  Dimensions aren’t given but they seem to be 6 inches wide by about 8 1/2 inches long and about 3 inches tall each. I … Read more →

Ana at Sweet Almond Tree has chosen Greek Salad for next week’s project.  Thanks Ana!

Ana at Sweet Almond Tree has chosen Greek Salad for next week’s project.  Thanks Ana!

I usually prefer pot pie to shepherd’s pie, but I decided to try out Martha’s Shepherd’s Pie from Feb Living.

This is made with ground turkey and lots of veggies. I had to doctor this one a bit. You cook the turkey and veggies (celery, onion, carrots and peas – I also added green beans)  and add some water and cornstarch to make the gravy, but there wasn’t nearly enough of it and it wasn’t thick enough for my taste. So I added chicken broth and flour to thicken and increase volume. The top of the pie is potatoes mashed with parsnips and yogurt. I was surprised that I really liked the mash. The yogurt really worked for a creamy texture and the parsnips gave it some added flavor. This was a fun dish to make and it came together very quickly.

I usually prefer pot pie to shepherd’s pie, but I decided to try out Martha’s Shepherd’s Pie from Feb Living. This is made with ground turkey and lots of veggies. I had to doctor this one a bit. You cook the turkey and veggies (celery, onion, carrots and peas – I also added green beans)  … Read more →

Since several people have emailed me privately about this, I thought I would post about it. Today on the Martha Stewart Show, Martha did an entire show about blogging. She filled the audience with bloggers and had guests who are bloggers. Of course she included her daughter, Alexis, and Jennifer Koppelman Hutt from the Whatever show, but she also invited Andrew Ritchie of Martha Moments and Jeff Blumenkrantz from Jeff and Martha to be guests on the show. I hope you caught the show – if not check out Andrew’s and Jeff’s two blogs, which are simply wonderful.

Now let me answer the questions folks are emailing me about. No, I was not invited and no, I’m not upset nor surprised! I tend to be quite frank about how my Martha projects go and I suspect the MSLO folks who snooped around my blog felt I was not positive enough about Martha in general. Sorry Martha! As I’ve said many times, I have incredible respect for Martha. She is a truly amazing businesswoman and creative person. She has more talent in her little finger than I’ll ever have. That said, my project is about trying out Martha projects and trying to fit them into my life. I’m a regular gal (mom, wife, daughter, friend, writer) who is searching for inspiration and a little oomph. I’m all about honesty here. Some Martha things work, some don’t.  So, I’m not surprised I wasn’t asked and really it’s ok! I think it was great Martha did a show on blogging (although isn’t it funny that she really doesn’t actually blog – she just writes it and has an IT guy who has to post it and manage the blog – in Martha’s life there is always someone to do mundane tasks for you) and I am thrilled to see Andrew and Jeff get publicity for their blogs.

Since several people have emailed me privately about this, I thought I would post about it. Today on the Martha Stewart Show, Martha did an entire show about blogging. She filled the audience with bloggers and had guests who are bloggers. Of course she included her daughter, Alexis, and Jennifer Koppelman Hutt from the Whatever … Read more →