Sunday was Mother’s Day. I usually spend Mother’s Day with my mom and in the past, she has usually made dinner for her mom and we’ve celebrated there. This year my grandmother passed away a week before and my dad had retinal surgery, so my mom decided to stay home and celebrate with me another day. This left me at loose ends for Mother’s Day.

Mr. MarthaAndMe made breakfast (Dutch babies) while I lounged in bed and the kids had thoughtful gifts for me. It was a nice morning. Expecting Mr. MarthaAndMe to cook dinner though is a bit much. No one in this house has forgotten the Meatloaf Incident (in which he made meatloaf with a little meat and a LOT of ketchup). So, I made a roast chicken and mashed potatoes. But I really wanted a dessert of some kind. Martha to the rescue! I was intrigued by the recipe for Versatile Vanilla Cake (Everyday Food, May issue). The idea behind this recipe is that you can easily modify it to make chocolate or lemon cakes. I decided to make one batch, but split it in half so I could have a chocolate and a vanilla cake (since we have two camps in this family – chocolate and vanilla).

The cake was easy to make. Of course I ran out of eggs and had to send Mr.  MarthaAndMe to the store. The cakes baked up nicely. Once I had the cakes made, I made Martha’s frosting. I must admit, I was a little scared of this frosting. It’s made from egg whites, sugar, salt and water. Frosting without butter? Seemed weird.

You cook the egg whites in a double boiler until the sugar melts and you reach 150 degrees. I must say it didn’t look too appetizing at this point! But I kept at it and once it is cooked, you whip it. Now it began to resemble frosting.  It whipped up nicely and was light and fluffy.

Next, I spread it on the cakes. Because it was so light and fluffy, it went on very easily. I had just the right amount to frost two one-layer cakes. If I had made a two-layer cake like the recipe directed, there would have been enough for that.

The frosting looks really pretty on the cakes, don’t you think?

Now for the taste test. The cakes were delicious! The cake was very moist (because of the buttermilk in the recipe) and had a nice consistency (heavy but not too heavy) and a good flavor. The frosting was quite good. It was sweet and light and was not overpowering like some frosting can be. I also love that it is non-fat.

I will definitely make this cake and frosting combo again. It was a winner!

Sunday was Mother’s Day. I usually spend Mother’s Day with my mom and in the past, she has usually made dinner for her mom and we’ve celebrated there. This year my grandmother passed away a week before and my dad had retinal surgery, so my mom decided to stay home and celebrate with me another … Read more →

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms reading this. On Martha’s show Friday, she made an arrangement of lilacs using a bowl and a vase together (this is also in May Living, page 50). Our lilacs are just in bloom, so I decided to give this a try. Of course, it was complicated by several factors. First of all, I don’t have a pedestal bowl and a vase that matches it. I do not have floral tape. I am also not a very talented flower arranger. I tend to prefer to leave my flowers growing outside, where they last longer. If I do pick them, I tend to just stuff a few in a vase.

I used an actual snipper thing to cut them with instead of wrestling with scissors. I found a pink bowl and pink vase to use, but the bowl has no pedestal and the vase is not very tall, so it didn’t come out looking like Martha’s.

The best tip I picked up from Martha’s demo was that you are supposed to smash the ends of the flower stalk so it will last longer. I never knew that and in the past, my lilacs have never lasted more than a day or two. It will be interesting to see if they last longer this time.

I’m not really wild about my arrangement. It’s ok. I love the lilacs and will enjoy looking at them and smelling them though. While I was cutting them, I was thinking of my grandmother, who just passed away. I remember helping her cut them behind her house, and seeing her arrangement on her dining room table.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms reading this. On Martha’s show Friday, she made an arrangement of lilacs using a bowl and a vase together (this is also in May Living, page 50). Our lilacs are just in bloom, so I decided to give this a try. Of course, it was complicated by several … Read more →

I have to say I wasn’t wild about the idea of Martha including fashion in each issue of Living, but I liked the handbag feature. The issue arrived just as I was searching for a new spring purse, so I read it with excitement. I am extremely picky about purses. I have a few hard and fast rules:
1. There must be a cell phone pocket.
2. There must be a pocket for keys
3. There must be a zippered area for chapstick and lipstick
4. The handles must fit comfortably over my shoulder with a coat on
5. There must be enough room to fit all my stuff
6. The purse must zip or snap closed so things don’t fall out.
7. The purse must be cute.

Now those requirements do not seem to be outrageous to me, but since it took me weeks and weeks to find the right purse, maybe they are!

I ended up with this fabulous Liz Claiborne madras (I am mad about madras) purse, which I got at TJ Maxx for $29.99 . I love how it has an outside pocket so I can stick receipts in it without opening up the whole purse. The straps are long enough to fit over my shoulder. I prefer a purse with one strap, not two, but I can make do with two (it seems as though if you have two,  one is always falling off your shoulder).

This is the main section of the purse which has a cell phone pocket, a keys pocket and an extra pocket where I keep all my store reward cards. It also, as an added bonus, has a cute little zippered section that is for a pen (it’s the oblong brown section on the bottom part of the photo). That is mighty handy, since pens always get lots in the bottom of a bag.

This section has the zippered pocket for lipstick, etc. Don’t you just love the fab pink polka dot interior?

This section of the purse has some built-in features I don’t use. I don’t know why you would put your credit cards, money, license, etc directly in the purse. Not only is it hard to find things, but if you want to switch purses it is much more difficult to take it all out than it is to just remove a wallet. In this photo you’ll see two wallet type things in the bag. The brown one is my medical wallet – I have bandages, Advil, Tylenol, etc in that. The striped one is my coupon/punch card wallet.

Did you catch Martha’s show yesterday where she showed the purse her mom inscribed to her? I thought it was a bit odd in a way. Can you imagine having so many bags that your staff just opens them up and puts them away somewhere without even showing you?

What are your handbag requirements?

I have to say I wasn’t wild about the idea of Martha including fashion in each issue of Living, but I liked the handbag feature. The issue arrived just as I was searching for a new spring purse, so I read it with excitement. I am extremely picky about purses. I have a few hard … Read more →

Lots of people are wild about Martha’s calendar, which has reappeared at the beginning of Martha Stewart Living. I have a calendar, but it’s just appointments and events – not household things. So, I’ve decided to follow Martha’s lead and make up a calendar for May. I’ve tried to think ahead and plan out what tasks will need doing when, but it’s hard to know. It will be interesting to see how closely I can stick to this.

F 5/1 House cleaning

Sat 5/2 garden clean up, clean garage, wash winter coat, walk dogs

Sun 5/3 seal deck, put away snowblower, walk dogs

Mon 5/4 morning walk, daughter’s prom dress fitting; buy Mother’s Day gifts

Tues 5/5 morning walk, webinar with one of my publishers

Wed 5/6 morning walk, son’s piano lesson, use new pet hair remover on furniture

Thurs 5/7 morning walk, phone interview, return items to store

Fri 5/8 daughter’s AP exam; house cleaning

Sat 5/9 clean porch furniture, plant vegetable seedlings in garden, put up awning, buy hanging plant baskets, buy new carpet for front porch, walk dogs

Sun 5/10 hang hanging plant baskets, cut lilacs,  Mother’s Day dinner with my parents, walk dogs

Mon 5/11 morning walk, son’s chorus concert

Tues 5/12 morning walk, daughter’s AP exam, dentist appointment

Wed 5/13 morning walk, son’s piano lesson, wash comforter

Thurs 5/14 morning walk, cook for tomorrow’s party

Fri 5/15 son’s dance and sleepover, daughter’s prom and post-prom party here, download Paypal reports, house cleaning

Sat 5/16 party clean up, plant herbs, walk dogs

Sun 5/17 replace basketball net backboard, buy perennials for new garden, walk dogs

Mon 5/18 morning walk, kids’ dentist appointment

Tues 5/19 morning walk, clean inside of dishwasher

Wed 5/20 morning walk, son’s piano lesson

Thurs 5/21 morning walk, clean out refrigerator

Fri 5/22 housecleaning, wash insides of wastebaskets around the house

Sat 5/23 clean windows,open pool, walk dogs

Sun 5/24 go to the lake

Mon 5/25 Memorial Day

Tues 5/26 morning walk, MSL Radio Morning Living appearance

Wed 5/27 morning walk, son’s piano lesson

Thurs 5/28 morning walk, son to camp with his class

Fri 5/29 house cleaning, make vet appointment

Sat 5/30 get new keys made, trim lilacs, walk dogs, clean behind beds

Sun 5/31 order new parts for grill, clean curio cabinet in bedroom, walk dogs

Lots of people are wild about Martha’s calendar, which has reappeared at the beginning of Martha Stewart Living. I have a calendar, but it’s just appointments and events – not household things. So, I’ve decided to follow Martha’s lead and make up a calendar for May. I’ve tried to think ahead and plan out what … Read more →

I am a big fan of brisket, even though I only started making it a few years ago. I had never had brisket before then – except for corned beef brisket. Martha has a recipe for braised brisket  with carrots, parsnips and garlic in the April issue of Martha Stewart Living. I usually use Emeril’s recipe for brisket, so I was interested in giving Martha’s version a whirl to see how they compared.

Emeril’s recipe requires you to make the brisket a day ahead, refigerate it and then reheat it before serving. Martha’s version is a one day plan. Emeril’s recipe creates this wonderful tomato-y sauce which is really tasty.

I started Martha’s brisket on a weekday afternoon. I knew both kids would be home for dinner and Mr. MarthaandMe too, and I was thinking Teen Martha’s boyfriend might also make an appearance, so I would have a crowd.

First I browned the brisket on both side, then I cooked the onion and garlic. Next I added tomato paste, broth and wine and bay leaves, creating the liquid the meat would cook in.

I put the meat in and put it in the oven. The recipe says to cook for 2 hours, then to flip the brisket and cook another half hour. Then you’ve got another hour in which you cook the veggies you’ve added. Then you’re supposed to take it out, cover the beef and let the liquid cool so you can skim off the fat. Then you need 20 minutes to cook the liquid down.

After the meat had been in the oven an hour and a half, our power went off. Praying to the gods of the brisket, I called the power company and found out they would not have it back on for another 2 1/2 hours – 6:30 pm (also known as dinner time). So that was that for my brisket that day. Instead we went out and had hot dogs. The brisket went in the fridge.

The next day, I planned to continue the cooking process once I returned from an important excursion – prom dress shopping with Teen Martha and Big MarthaandMe. Silly me, I didn’t realize it would take SEVEN HOURS of hard labor to obtain the perfect dress. I got home at 5 pm. Quickly, I shoved the brisket in the oven and put it on convection roast. After an hour, I added the vegetables. I let those cook about 25 minutes (I used baby carrots and had my parsnip cut thin). No time to cool the cooking liquid and skim fat. Instead I boiled the hell

out of it and added flour to make it a gravy.

So there I am with this lovely brisket ready for dinner. Dude Martha announces he doesn’t feel well and doesn’t want to eat. Teen Martha says she’s tired and is going to bed. So there Mr. MarthaandMe are with a giant brisket before us. He unfortunately forgot the adage about slicing against the grain, so our slices were not very nice looking. We each had a few slices. I thought it was quite good, but I still like Emeril’s recipe better. The sauce/gravy was good. The veggies were good. I enjoyed it,but am going to

stick to my usual recipe. Sorry Martha!

I am a big fan of brisket, even though I only started making it a few years ago. I had never had brisket before then – except for corned beef brisket. Martha has a recipe for braised brisket  with carrots, parsnips and garlic in the April issue of Martha Stewart Living. I usually use Emeril’s … Read more →

I am a big fan of brisket, even though I only started making it a few years ago. I had never had brisket before then – except for corned beef brisket. Martha has a recipe for braised brisket  with carrots, parsnips and garlic in the April issue of Martha Stewart Living. I usually use Emeril’s recipe for brisket, so I was interested in giving Martha’s version a whirl to see how they compared.

Emeril’s recipe requires you to make the brisket a day ahead, refigerate it and then reheat it before serving. Martha’s version is a one day plan. Emeril’s recipe creates this wonderful tomato-y sauce which is really tasty.

I started Martha’s brisket on a weekday afternoon. I knew both kids would be home for dinner and Mr. MarthaandMe too, and I was thinking Teen Martha’s boyfriend might also make an appearance, so I would have a crowd.

First I browned the brisket on both side, then I cooked the onion and garlic. Next I added tomato paste, broth and wine and bay leaves, creating the liquid the meat would cook in.

I put the meat in and put it in the oven. The recipe says to cook for 2 hours, then to flip the brisket and cook another half hour. Then you’ve got another hour in which you cook the veggies you’ve added. Then you’re supposed to take it out, cover the beef and let the liquid cool so you can skim off the fat. Then you need 20 minutes to cook the liquid down.

After the meat had been in the oven an hour and a half, our power went off. Praying to the gods of the brisket, I called the power company and found out they would not have it back on for another 2 1/2 hours – 6:30 pm (also known as dinner time). So that was that for my brisket that day. Instead we went out and had hot dogs. The brisket went in the fridge.

The next day, I planned to continue the cooking process once I returned from an important excursion – prom dress shopping with Teen Martha and Big MarthaandMe. Silly me, I didn’t realize it would take SEVEN HOURS of hard labor to obtain the perfect dress. I got home at 5 pm. Quickly, I shoved the brisket in the oven and put it on convection roast. After an hour, I added the vegetables. I let those cook about 25 minutes (I used baby carrots and had my parsnip cut thin). No time to cool the cooking liquid and skim fat. Instead I boiled the hell

out of it and added flour to make it a gravy.

So there I am with this lovely brisket ready for dinner. Dude Martha announces he doesn’t feel well and doesn’t want to eat. Teen Martha says she’s tired and is going to bed. So there Mr. MarthaandMe are with a giant brisket before us. He unfortunately forgot the adage about slicing against the grain, so our slices were not very nice looking. We each had a few slices. I thought it was quite good, but I still like Emeril’s recipe better. The sauce/gravy was good. The veggies were good. I enjoyed it,but am going to

stick to my usual recipe. Sorry Martha!

I am a big fan of brisket, even though I only started making it a few years ago. I had never had brisket before then – except for corned beef brisket. Martha has a recipe for braised brisket  with carrots, parsnips and garlic in the April issue of Martha Stewart Living. I usually use Emeril’s … Read more →

For Easter, I decided to make Martha’s Pineapple Mustard Glazed Ham (April Martha Stewart Living). I don’t generally make a ham for Easter. In fact, until last year, we usually were away over Easter and didn’t really celebrate at all. But this year we were home and I thought I would Martha-ify our Easter.

I often make a ham around Christmas and I usually baste it with Coke or pineapple juice and then make a glaze with brown sugar, mustard, and pineapple juice.

Martha’s recipe is more complicated (of course). She directs you to buy whole pineapples and peel, core and slice them (however, she does not give any instruction about how to do that). Fortunately, last summer in Hawaii we saw a demonstration of this at the Dole Plantation. Mr. MarthaandMe went to work with the pineapple. He used an apple corer to get the core out.

Once the pineapple is ready, Martha says to cook it with water and sugar for an hour to an hour and 20 minutes, until it is translucent. I did this and ended up with only half the juice the recipe says you will have. Sigh. So I dumped in some canned pineapple juice and cooked it down to the right consistency. Once that cooled, I mixed in mustard Note that at no point does this recipe say to remove the pineapple slices and reserve them, but I did take them out.

Next it was time to prepare the ham. Martha says to trim excess skin and fat and leave about 1/4 inch of fat. It has never occurred to me to remove the skin from the ham, but it struck me as a brilliant idea. I don’t like the skin or the fat and you make this wonderful glaze and it sits on the skin and doesn’t soak into the meat at all and you never taste it. So, Mr. MarthaandMe trimmed the ham. Next, I scored it and inserted cloves.

I brushed on half the glaze, covered it with parchment and foil and baked as directed. I then removed the covering, poured on the rest of the glaze and finished baking.  Martha makes reference to pan drippings, but everything in my pan burned to a crisp. In fact, I had to turn the oven temp down. Martha said to cook at 425 with the ham uncovered. My ham started to burn and smoke at that temp.

The recipe says to let the ham rest, and then to serve with the pineapple and the pan drippings  (of which I had none). Here’s where my biggest complaint comes in with this recipe. In the photo next to the recipe in the magazine, you see a big beautiful ham with pineapple rings attached to it. The recipe does not say to attach the pineapple to the ham at all.  I have never attached pineapple rings to a ham and was looking forward to that beautiful presentation. In fact, I have no idea how you attach them. Toothpicks?

The ham tasted good and it was particularly good when eaten with the pineapple slices which were practically candy. The family verdict was that my usual method is better. In the future, I will make my own glaze, but I am going to trim the skin and fat off, so that is my take away lesson from this.

I had planned to make an entire Martha meal and so I consulted the Cooking School book. I am sad to report I couldn’t find the kinds of recipes in there that I wanted. I wanted to make some cheesy potatoes and there wasn’t a single recipe that even resembled that. In fact, there are very few potato recipes in that book at all. I had artichokes and checked the book for some interesting recipes for that and all Martha has is how to boil them. So I abandoned that and went with some roasted asparagus, my grandmother’s cheesy potato recipe and some artichokes with butter for dipping.

For Easter, I decided to make Martha’s Pineapple Mustard Glazed Ham (April Martha Stewart Living). I don’t generally make a ham for Easter. In fact, until last year, we usually were away over Easter and didn’t really celebrate at all. But this year we were home and I thought I would Martha-ify our Easter. I … Read more →

Let me be the first to say I absolutely doubted Martha when she showed how to dye Easter eggs with scarves. I thought it was completely nuts, so I had to try it for myself. I went through my dresser and did not have any scarves I was willing to sacrifice, so Mr. MarthaandMe was able to give me a tie which I cut into pieces.

You wrap the egg in the fabric, with the print part facing the egg. Martha says to twist tie it – I used rubber bands. Then you cover it with a white muslin and rubber band it shut again.

You boil the eggs in water with vinegar for 20 minutes. I took them out, unwrapped them and was completely stunned at how gorgeous they are! This was very simple to do and results are stupendous! I now wish I had blown the eggs out so I could keep them. I am definitely going to be doing this craft again.

Mr. MarthaandMe said that this is hands down the best craft I have done from Martha and he is right. In fact, this is the first craft that I am willing to call a “good thing”!

Let me be the first to say I absolutely doubted Martha when she showed how to dye Easter eggs with scarves. I thought it was completely nuts, so I had to try it for myself. I went through my dresser and did not have any scarves I was willing to sacrifice, so Mr. MarthaandMe was … Read more →

It is Easter season and Martha made Hot Cross Buns on her show (also in April Martha Stewart Living), so I decided to get in the spirit and make some. I have never had hot cross buns (I know, hard to believe) and I have to say they never really appealed to me, but I was game to give it a try.

The recipe starts with heated milk and yeast, sugar, butter, nutmeg, cinnamon and eggs getting mixed with a dough hook. I have several important things to tell you. First of all, I dusted off the KitchenAid mixer (and I do mean dusted off) and used the dough hook, which I think I may never have used (it worked quite well). Secondly, I kind of goofed. In the instructions it says to use 1 cup of milk, but up in the ingredient list, it says 1 cup plus 2 tbsp and 2 tsp of milk. The additional milk is supposed to be for the icing. I just was reading along through the ingredients and so dumped in all the milk. I have to say it really annoyed me that this recipe listed it this way! If you are making two separate things, I think the ingredient list should be broken down into two sections so you don’t make a mistake like this!

I got that mixed and then added the flour. The dough was a little goopier looking than it should have been (because of the extra milk), but I just went with it. I mixed in the fruit and let it rise for an hour. It rose nicely. I made it into individual buns and let it rise again.

I was sure it was going to be a total disaster because of the additional milk, but it was perfectly fine! I brushed them with the egg wash and baked them and they turned out nice and brown.

Once they were cool, I mixed up the icing. Here’s where things got a little hairy. The recipe calls for 2 cups of powdered sugar. My icing was like liquid – there was no way it was going to stay in place on the buns. I ended up adding one and a half cups more powdered sugar to get it to the right consistency (and as you can see below, it was still pretty runny).

I piped it on the buns (I cheated and cut the corner off a ziploc instead of fighting with a pastry bag). I think they came out quite nicely.

As for taste? I wasn’t all that impressed, but Mr. MarthaAndMe, who has a long, checkered past full of hot cross buns, told me you need to split them open and butter them. I did that and then I thought they were better.

This was a fun thing to try and it was actually pretty easy to make as long as you have the time for the two risings.

It is Easter season and Martha made Hot Cross Buns on her show (also in April Martha Stewart Living), so I decided to get in the spirit and make some. I have never had hot cross buns (I know, hard to believe) and I have to say they never really appealed to me, but I … Read more →

I posted my Valentine’s and St. Patrick Day trees, so I thought I would share my Easter tree with you also. I have some other eggs around the house and I like to display them in egg cups. I like my Easter tree because it not only has eggs, but it also has rabbits and some baskets.

I posted my Valentine’s and St. Patrick Day trees, so I thought I would share my Easter tree with you also. I have some other eggs around the house and I like to display them in egg cups. I like my Easter tree because it not only has eggs, but it also has rabbits and … Read more →