Check out my guest post on the Writer’s Inner Journey! Thank you to Meredith for inviting me to her blog!

Check out my guest post on the Writer’s Inner Journey! Thank you to Meredith for inviting me to her blog!

1. Celery tastes better peeled. Really.

2.  How to seed a pomegranate. Martha says to score the skin into quarters, then pull it apart. You then whack the back of each quarter with a spoon, and the seeds come out. Who knew?

3.  Beds are nicer when they are made. Making them still isn’t fun though.

4. Refrigerating cookies on the sheet before baking means they will spread less and retain a nice shape.

5. Packaging a gift beautifully makes it seem more special.

6. An organized home feels luxurious.

7. Stuffed cabbage is actually really good.

8. Salad dressing is easy to make and there’s no reason to buy it.

9. You can lose weight and still eat delicious, wonderful food.

10. Aluminum foil should never touch food. Use a layer of parchment paper in between.

1. Celery tastes better peeled. Really. 2.  How to seed a pomegranate. Martha says to score the skin into quarters, then pull it apart. You then whack the back of each quarter with a spoon, and the seeds come out. Who knew? 3.  Beds are nicer when they are made. Making them still isn’t fun … Read more →

The folks over at Martha Stewart Living Radio asked me to help get the word out about this:

The folks over at Martha Stewart Living Radio asked me to help get the word out about this: Martha’s got a new book on the way– Martha Stewart’s Dinner at Home— and it’s all about simple, delicious and seasonal meals that you can quickly whip up in your own kitchen. In a true “Dinner at Home” spirit, … Read more →

When Martha Stewart Living changed its format in May, it began including a “Martha’s Pick” in the front of each issue, in the Apothecary section.  I’ve decided that as part of my Martha experience, I need to give these a try, even though honestly they are things I would probably never buy on my own. If they are things Martha personally highly recommends, I want to try them out in my life, to see if they make my life more Martha-like.

First up, Susan Ciminelli Marine Lotion, Martha’s Pick in August Martha Stewart Living. I bought the 2 ounce (yes only two) bottle. The magazine says it is $22. However, with the outrageous shipping and handling charge, this totaled $41.40. Eeek. For that price, it better give me the skin of a 6 month old.

I opened the bottle and my first reaction was that I didn’t like the scent. Martha says it “incorporates botanical ingredients – including algae oil, cypress, juniper, and marjoram.” I’m all for botanical ingredients, but this stuff really smells. To me, it almost smells like eucalyptus – kind of strong, somewhat minty smell.

I put some on and disliked the smell even more once it was on my skin. I also didn’t like the consistency of this – it’s a very thin liquid, almost like water, very easy to spill all over.

I rubbed the lotion in and it did make my skin feel smooth and even a day later I can tell where I applied it. However, I can’t get past the smell. I tend to be overly sensitive about smells, so I gave it to Teen Martha for her to try since she loves scented things. Her first reaction was “This reeks!” I’m a little more diplomatic and will say I just did not find the smell pleasing at all.  I think I’ll stick with my Cetaphil lotion!

More Martha Picks on the way in the coming weeks – I’ve ordered the May, June and Sept picks. Some are on back order.

When Martha Stewart Living changed its format in May, it began including a “Martha’s Pick” in the front of each issue, in the Apothecary section.  I’ve decided that as part of my Martha experience, I need to give these a try, even though honestly they are things I would probably never buy on my own. … Read more →

MarthaAndMe has been nominated for a Blogger’s Choice Award. I would love it if you voted! http://bloggerschoiceawards.com/blogs/show/79322 You do have to register with the site first before you can vote – if you click on ‘vote’ before you register it does not go through – you have to register then go back and vote.

MarthaAndMe has been nominated for a Blogger’s Choice Award. I would love it if you voted! http://bloggerschoiceawards.com/blogs/show/79322 You do have to register with the site first before you can vote – if you click on ‘vote’ before you register it does not go through – you have to register then go back and vote.

Big Ben

Hello dear readers and friends. Hopefully you’ve been enjoying my posts for the past two weeks. I’ve just read through your comments. I was away on a wonderful two week trip to England and Scotland. We saw so much, tasted so much and experienced so much.  It was a very Martha vacation in many ways. We saw the major sites in London, including the changing of the guard, Big Ben, the Globe theatre, a musical on the West End, Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London and some museums. We took a tour of Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace.

We also took some day trips from London and went to Stonehenge and Glastonbury.

Stonehenge

Other day trips included Bath and Windsor Castle.

The best part of the trip was Scotland though. It is an awe-inspiring place.  We would be driving along (yes, Mr. MarthaAndMe drove on the wrong side of the road) and we would just be knocked over by the view. Unfortunately, the roads are narrow

Loch Ness

with no shoulders and no way to stop and take photos! We did get some good shots.

Loch Ness was a beautiful place even if we didn’t see any monsters! We visited the Highland Folk Museum where we got to see what life was like in the Highlands. We went to the Scottish Wool Centre where we saw sheep herding and got to pet sheep. And we tried our hands at fly fishing. Mr. MarthaAndMe caught the only trout.

The food was sometimes good and sometimes bad. We had cream tea at the

Scone with Jam and Clotted Cream

Orangery in London and at a cute little tea shop in Edinburgh. As Teen Martha said, we should have tea every day.

We had fish and chips in a pub and also had sausage rolls, an English breakfast, chicken pie, steak pie, mince and tatties, a ploughman’s lunch and smoked salmon. We did not enjoy prawns – tiny little shrimp that Teen Martha said reminded her of bugs. We got tired of chips and peas served with every meal.

It’s good to be home where you can turn on a bathroom light from inside the bathroom (switches in the UK are outside the bathroom), sleep with a top sheet (no top sheets there – only duvet covers), plug everything into regular outlets, recognize the money easily, and get back to life as we know it.

I’ll be posting more about the trip in the coming days. I’ve also got a fun Martha idea we can all do together, so please tune in!

Hello dear readers and friends. Hopefully you’ve been enjoying my posts for the past two weeks. I’ve just read through your comments. I was away on a wonderful two week trip to England and Scotland. We saw so much, tasted so much and experienced so much.  It was a very Martha vacation in many ways. … Read more →

Yesterday was our 20th anniversary. I don’t know how 20 years has passed. Because we’re taking a family vacation later this summer, we decided to have a low key celebration. This is distinctly un-Martha, but I ordered Mr. MarthaandMe’s favorite pizza for dinner. We never get pizza from here because it is so far, so it was a special treat for him.

Mr. MarthaandMe had flowers delivered for me. He tried to order Martha’s flowers from 1-800-Flowers. The site said that same day delivery was available, but it would not let him order them for the same day. So Martha apparently did not want to be part of our anniversary. I was a little disappointed – I would have liked to have seen one of her arrangements.

Our wedding cake

My big task of the day was the cake I made. Our wedding cake was a spice cake and it was decorated with flowers. I decided to make a little replica of it.

I used Big Martha’s Spice Cake Recipe with a few small changes. I didn’t have any mace and I used buttermilk instead of milk.

The next question was how to make a tiered cake when I didn’t have the proper pans. I used one regular cake pan, one medium Corning bowl and a ramekin. The sizes actually worked out quite well.

Once I had the cakes made, I needed frosting. I decided to use the Buttercream Frosting recipe from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes. First you whisk

The layers

egg whites and sugar in a double boiler then you mix the heck out of it. Finally, you add butter and vanilla. I thought the frosting tasted a lot like butter, but it was ok.

I stacked the cakes first, then frosted them (a cheat, I know). I went outside and snipped flowers to decorate it with. I have

Buttercream frosting

to say, I think it turned out pretty well.

The cake tasted good, but not out of this world good. If I made it again, I would increase the amounts of cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. I thought it was a tad bland. It was moist though, so the buttermilk did its work.

It was fun to make a cake like this, especially since there was no pressure. It was just for the two of us (and kids) and if it didn’t turn out, then it didn’t matter. I think it’s pretty though and I’m proud of myself for attempting it!

Yesterday was our 20th anniversary. I don’t know how 20 years has passed. Because we’re taking a family vacation later this summer, we decided to have a low key celebration. This is distinctly un-Martha, but I ordered Mr. MarthaandMe’s favorite pizza for dinner. We never get pizza from here because it is so far, so … Read more →

Tomorrow (3/26) at 9:05 I will be joining Kim and Betsy on Martha Stewart Living Radio to talk about this blog! You can tune in on Sirius channels 112 or XM157. If you don’t have Sirius, the producers tell me you can download a free 3 day trial on the Sirus site. Please join me!

Tomorrow (3/26) at 9:05 I will be joining Kim and Betsy on Martha Stewart Living Radio to talk about this blog! You can tune in on Sirius channels 112 or XM157. If you don’t have Sirius, the producers tell me you can download a free 3 day trial on the Sirus site. Please join me!

Top o’ the morning to you! Hold onto your hats gang, this is going to be a looooonnnggg post.  We always celebrate St. Patrick’s Day – it’s a family tradition – with corned beef and cabbage and my cheese soda bread. This year, I decided to do it Martha’s way.

Corned Beef

First, Homemade Corned Beef with Vegetables, which is in March Martha Stewart living and also shown on the tv show. As I posted two weeks ago, I corned the beef myself. It was actually quite easy to do (other than not being able to find pink curing salt -I substituted a meat curing salt instead). The meat has to cure for two full weeks. I cooked this in much the same way I always do – in a big pot with some carrot, celery, and onion.

When I make this, I always add cabbage, carrots, and potatoes. Martha calls for tunips also, so I added those.  I followed her instructions about steaming the turnips and carrots, although in the past I have always just cooked all the veggies in the pot with the meat and they are good that way too.  The results?

Veggies

Excellent! I was worried my corned beef would not be pink since I did not have pink curing salt, but as you can see, it did mostly turn pink. It tasted very good. If I had any criticism it would be that it seemed a little too salty. The vegetables were great and the turnips were a nice addition. Martha says to serve this with broth and mustard. In my family, we serve it with horseradish and ketchup, and some sour cream for the potatoes.  I will definitely corn my own beef again next year!

Martha has a recipe for Irish Soda Bread in the magazine and she also made it on tv, talking about how she made up this recipe herself (I was excited to try something that really was straight from her hands).  I also made my own cheese soda bread so we could have a taste-off.

Martha's Soda Bread

Martha’s bread was easy to make, once I ran to the store for wheat bran! She uses milk that she sours with vinegar instead of buttermilk. Her recipe has no eggs in it, whereas mine does. She adds caraway seeds and raisins. The bread came together nicely. When I baked it, it flattened significantly though. Cutting it into slices was an adventure. It pretty much fell apart and wasn’t very nice

Soda Bread Sliced

looking. It did, however, taste FANTASTIC. Really, really amazing. I am not a raisin fan, so I picked those out. The wheat bran really makes this bread wonderful – crunchy and sweet and hearty.  I will definitely make this again (although maybe I’ll make a loaf for me without raisins in it!).

Cheese soda bread

Now for my own Cheese Soda Bread. Here’s the recipe:

4 c flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

3/4 tsp baking soda

6 tbsp butter

2 heaping cups shredded cheddar cheese

2 eggs

1 1/2 c buttermilk.

Preheat the oven to 350. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients and stir in the cheese. Beat the eggs and reserve 1 tbsp. Mix eggs with buttermilk and stir into dry ingredients. Turn it out onto a floured surface and form it into a round. Place on greased baking sheet and brush outside with reserved egg. Bake for 75 minutes and allow to rest for 15 minutes before slicing.

I have been making this for years and years and got the recipe from my mom (Big MarthaAndMe). It is  just as simple to make as Martha’s. It uses buttermilk and eggs and of course the cheese is a big change from Martha’s. I love this bread so much, but it is very different from Martha’s – almost like they are not both in the same family of breads. I think I will have to make both every year from now on!

My reuben

Now, on to the leftovers. One of the reasons I love St. Patrick’s Day dinner is because there are always leftovers! The next day I always make a reuben sandwich. I use pumperknickel rye bread. I put ketchup on one slice and mustard on the other. I use sliced corned beef, Swiss cheese and sauerkraut and cook it in a pan like grilled cheese. Oh! It is so good.

My other big leftover dish is corned beef hash. First, I cook some onion and set it aside. I use the potatoes from the corned beef because they are already cooked. I dice them and then cook them in a pan with olive oil, slowly, until they are brown and crisp. Then I add the onion and diced corned beef and salt and pepper to taste. I serve it with ketchup. It’s to die for.

Top o’ the morning to you! Hold onto your hats gang, this is going to be a looooonnnggg post.  We always celebrate St. Patrick’s Day – it’s a family tradition – with corned beef and cabbage and my cheese soda bread. This year, I decided to do it Martha’s way. First, Homemade Corned Beef with … Read more →

I just joined the Friends of Martha Blog Network. This is a terrific community of blogs that all have to do with Martha.  Join us (instructions on their site).

I just joined the Friends of Martha Blog Network. This is a terrific community of blogs that all have to do with Martha.  Join us (instructions on their site).