I LOVED seeing the office spaces of MSLO employees in the January Martha Stewart Living (pp.100-107). Martha’s office looks too bare to me. And the color coordinated books in Kevin Sharkey’s office would make me nuts – I need them organized by topic. It really felt as though you could get a good feeling for each person’s personality by looking at their workspace.

Isn’t it interesting that they did this big spread on their creative offices, then the big controversy hit the news, about Martha’s employees no longer being permitted to personalize their spaces. The bit about no garbage cans in individual offices is going to mean, in my opinion, that people are going to pile trash up on their desk or in a drawer and dump it in the community receptacle rarely.

I once worked in an office where they wanted a “clean” look, which meant nothing hanging on the walls and no personal photos, and as clean a desk as possible. I thought I would lose my mind and needless to say, I did not work there very long. In a lot of ways, the rules about that office environment clearly reflected the management personalities and firm culture and none of it was pleasant. I hope that that is not the case at MSLO. I can say for certain that even the limitation on what pens you can use would make me wacky. I’m very picky about pens and really, really prefer those with purple ink!

I now work in a home office, which as you can see, is certainly not minimalist! We actually redid the room in a reality show way – two people, one weekend, $500 – and painted, carpeted, put together new furniture, installed cabinets and countertops and made the closet a functioning part of the room. I was so proud of what we accomplished that weekend. I painted my office plum, since purple colors are supposed to inspire creativity.

The stuff that fills the room has gradually crept in. In the past, I’ve shown you my fortune cookie collection, which is part of my office. I also have a collection of bookmarks and book art.

The personal items mean so much to me in my office – photos of my kids and drawings by them. I can’t imagine trying to be creative in an office space that did not permit them. I also have a collection of sand from beaches we have visited. My office has to contain things that inspire and motivate me. I need to be reminded of why I am working – for my family and to be able to travel. I need to be able to see out the window. We use window air conditioners in our house and I’m now at the point where I don’t even put it in my office window because I can’t bear to have my view blocked.

I understand the idea behind the MSLO changes – I can just see that people’s clutter would drive Martha completely bonkers. I also can see how the execs would rationalize that reducing clutter would help people focus more clearly on their work. However, I think it’s incredibly stupid to expect people to be creative in a sterile environment.

I LOVED seeing the office spaces of MSLO employees in the January Martha Stewart Living (pp.100-107). Martha’s office looks too bare to me. And the color coordinated books in Kevin Sharkey’s office would make me nuts – I need them organized by topic. It really felt as though you could get a good feeling for … Read more →

“Gentle Reminders” is at the beginning of January Martha Stewart Living and I read this section with interest. I like reading the little tidbits that are included.

Martha suggests that this is a good time to order plants and seeds.  Someday, maybe. Outdoor gardening is not a strong suit here. I love to pick out plants and watch them grow, but boy, do I hate weeding. Mr. MarthaAndMe hates it even more than I do, so our gardens aren’t the greatest. I would love to start planning my garden in January – it would give me hope that summer will come.

Wiping down windowsills or painting them is supposed to help us enjoy the sun more during these winter days. That’s a good tip, although I don’t know how you can paint just the window sill. You would end up painting the entire window. No thanks. I think cleaning the actual window might help you get more sunlight than just the sill.

Martha says this is the time to take stock of your plates and dishes. I just broke a good ceramic pie pan this week, so I need to order a new one of those. This month I also ordered some new pots. I agree with this tip.

Another section talks about how ice melting solutions can be harmful to pets. This is absolutely true. One of my parents’ dogs get a rash on his underside when he goes for walks on a road that has been treated.

Martha reminds everyone to get their credit reports. I second that! As the author of The Complete Credit Repair Kit, I can tell you this is absolutely crucial to do once a year. Most people don’t do it and you will be surprised at what you will find on your report!

I had never heard that you are supposed to keep your gas tank half full in the winter. It’s not a bad idea anyhow because if you get stuck somewhere, it would be nice not to have to worry about running out of fuel!

This section also reminds us that January is National Blood Donor Month.  None of us in this house can donate because of medications we take, but I would if I could.  I would add to this reminder to ask everyone to decide to be an organ donor – sign your driver’s license and tell your family of your wishes. My daughter is active with a school club in promoting organ donation, so it’s  a cause we think is important.

I already sent in my receipts to clear out last years FSA (flexible spending account). Now if I could just get the card to work for this year’s! There’s some glitch I need to get straightened out.

Martha warns of the dangers of serving alcohol at parties — no worries there. We don’t drink alcohol at all and don’t serve it, unless a guest brings wine.

“Gentle Reminders” is at the beginning of January Martha Stewart Living and I read this section with interest. I like reading the little tidbits that are included. Martha suggests that this is a good time to order plants and seeds.  Someday, maybe. Outdoor gardening is not a strong suit here. I love to pick out … Read more →

“Gentle Reminders” is at the beginning of January Martha Stewart Living and I read this section with interest. I like reading the little tidbits that are included.

Martha suggests that this is a good time to order plants and seeds.  Someday, maybe. Outdoor gardening is not a strong suit here. I love to pick out plants and watch them grow, but boy, do I hate weeding. Mr. MarthaAndMe hates it even more than I do, so our gardens aren’t the greatest. I would love to start planning my garden in January – it would give me hope that summer will come.

Wiping down windowsills or painting them is supposed to help us enjoy the sun more during these winter days. That’s a good tip, although I don’t know how you can paint just the window sill. You would end up painting the entire window. No thanks. I think cleaning the actual window might help you get more sunlight than just the sill.

Martha says this is the time to take stock of your plates and dishes. I just broke a good ceramic pie pan this week, so I need to order a new one of those. This month I also ordered some new pots. I agree with this tip.

Another section talks about how ice melting solutions can be harmful to pets. This is absolutely true. One of my parents’ dogs get a rash on his underside when he goes for walks on a road that has been treated.

Martha reminds everyone to get their credit reports. I second that! As the author of The Complete Credit Repair Kit, I can tell you this is absolutely crucial to do once a year. Most people don’t do it and you will be surprised at what you will find on your report!

I had never heard that you are supposed to keep your gas tank half full in the winter. It’s not a bad idea anyhow because if you get stuck somewhere, it would be nice not to have to worry about running out of fuel!

This section also reminds us that January is National Blood Donor Month.  None of us in this house can donate because of medications we take, but I would if I could.  I would add to this reminder to ask everyone to decide to be an organ donor – sign your driver’s license and tell your family of your wishes. My daughter is active with a school club in promoting organ donation, so it’s  a cause we think is important.

I already sent in my receipts to clear out last years FSA (flexible spending account). Now if I could just get the card to work for this year’s! There’s some glitch I need to get straightened out.

Martha warns of the dangers of serving alcohol at parties — no worries there. We don’t drink alcohol at all and don’t serve it, unless a guest brings wine.

“Gentle Reminders” is at the beginning of January Martha Stewart Living and I read this section with interest. I like reading the little tidbits that are included. Martha suggests that this is a good time to order plants and seeds.  Someday, maybe. Outdoor gardening is not a strong suit here. I love to pick out … Read more →

Martha has a beautiful two page spread in January Martha Stewart Living (pp. 26-27) about organizers. I cannot live without my calendar. I remember when I a student, I had one of those checkbook sized calendars that showed a month at a time. I really liked being able to see an entire month spread out before me. Then I became an attorney and had a giant calendar that showed only day per page. This made me totally nuts. I couldn’t see ahead to what the rest of the week or month held.

Today I use a weekly engagement calendar and though I still miss seeing a whole month at a time, it’s nice to take things week by week. Every year I start the search for a new calendar in November. I’m pretty picky. For a while I went with Impressionism calendars, but lately I’ve been buying this Inspiration calendar that has photos of gorgeous landscape scenes.

I am not one to use electronic calendars or organizers. I keep all my work deadlines and payment information in a blue spiral notebook. I like to be able to page through it and make quick notes. Mr. MarthaAndMe loves anything electronic and so he keeps his calendar that way. Because he can’t easily see ahead to the next day or week, he never seems to know what is happening when. I also always think that if your device crashes, you lose the entire thing.

I would be lost without my calendar and notebook. Sometimes I feel as though they contain my entire life!

Martha has a beautiful two page spread in January Martha Stewart Living (pp. 26-27) about organizers. I cannot live without my calendar. I remember when I a student, I had one of those checkbook sized calendars that showed a month at a time. I really liked being able to see an entire month spread out … Read more →

Mini-Martha is having a birthday next week. To celebrate, he had some friends over last night. I approached the cake topic cautiously. I have made lots of crazy things for my kids’ birthdays – a brownie pizza, a spaghetti and meatballs cake (for an April Fool’s Day theme), pumpkin pie, strawberry pie, a bowling pins and bowling ball shaped group of cakes, red velvet cake – you name it. I have also purchased grocery store cakes (I know! The sheer horror of it). I wasn’t sure what he wanted this time around. I suggested baked Alaska and once I showed him the photo in Martha Stewart Living (January issue) he was hooked!

I made baked Alaska once many moons ago when Mr. MarthaAndMe were dating. Clearly it convinced him to marry me. When I made it before, I am pretty sure I made one big one. Martha advocates small individual Alaskas.

Now, what kind of a fool am I to think I should make baked Alaska for a group of 10 and 11 year old boys, to be served after an excursion to Dave and Buster’s (gaming place)? A big silly one I guess.

 

 

I made the cake the day before. What a strange cake this was – you beat egg yolks with sugar then add chocolate. Separately you beat 12 egg whites with sugar till they make peaks.  Then you fold it all together. There is no flour, but you absolutely would never guess that when you taste it. You cut out circles from the cake. There is a LOT left over and you can’t really do much with it since it is scraps.

You coat small bowls with plastic wrap then layer strawberry and vanilla ice cream into them. You place a cake circle on top. The recipe does not say this, but you really have to press that cake circle down into the ice cream so it will adhere.  I had a couple where I did not press hard enough and it did not attach. You then wrap it up and freeze it. I

 

 

did all this the day before.

The night of the party (after returning from the headache inducing Dave and Busters at 9 pm) I made the meringue. You beat egg whites then add a syrup you cooked using a candy thermometer. The egg whites turn a pale caramel color once you add the syrup. The recipe says to add the syrup slowly, but I would say to be careful not to add it too slowly – I had some syrup crystallizing on the side of the

 

 

bowl and I had to pick it out.

Ok, so once the meringue is ready, you’re supposed to pop the desserts out of their molds. The recipe says to let them sit for a few minutes and then they will come right out. Yeah, right. We ended up dipping the bottoms of the molds into hot water to get them to loosen. Once we did that, they did pop right out and you could easily peel the plastic wrap off.

Then I spread the meringue over them. This is where things started to get

 

 

loony, in more ways than one. As I am frantically trying to get this together and into the oven before it melts, it is announced that one of the party guests is having an allergy attack and needs meds. I am not about to hand out Zyrtec without parental permission, so Mr. MarthaAndMe had to make the call to get clearance while I worked on dessert.

There was definitely not enough meringue. Double the meringue recipe for this if you make this. I had ice cream peeking out and meringue that was too thin. You really want a nice thick layer of meringue in my opinion.

The recipe says to preheat the oven to 500 degrees and put the desserts in for 2 minutes (you can also use a blow torch, but oddly enough, I just don’t have one laying around).  This oven setting was not a good idea.

 

 

Everything started to melt and the meringue was not cooking. Disaster in the making! I quickly switched over to broil and that did the trick. So, my recommendation is to broil not bake!

Despite the melting situation, these turned out pretty well. The meringue was SO good, even if it did kind of slide off some of the desserts. It was crunchy, sweet and delicious and in nice contrast to the ice cream. Most of the ice cream was intact and the cake on the bottom was good. I served this with chocolate sauce, which really added to it, so I highly

 

 

recommend that.

I mentioned to some people that I was making this and they asked if it was going to be flaming. Apparently, they serve this on cruise ships and set it on fire (they must put alcohol on it to do this, I imagine). So, no, there was nothing flaming at this party, but I think it was a hit. Everyone scraped their plates clean and I think I got points for the novelty factor. And really, you can’t go wrong with cake and ice cream, which is what this basically is.

 

 

 

 

Mini-Martha is having a birthday next week. To celebrate, he had some friends over last night. I approached the cake topic cautiously. I have made lots of crazy things for my kids’ birthdays – a brownie pizza, a spaghetti and meatballs cake (for an April Fool’s Day theme), pumpkin pie, strawberry pie, a bowling pins … Read more →

Didn’t you just love the cupcake show Martha did on Wednesday this week? OMG, cupcakes are so cute and so good. I have been to Magnolia (the famous cupcake shop in NYC Martha mentioned) and I have to be honest – I thought their cupcakes were kind of dry. They did not wow me at all.

I loved the parchment paper wrapper idea that one of the chefs showed. So cute!

In addition to bringing on two NYC cupcake chefs, Martha made Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes, which is in the February issue of Martha Stewart Living (pp. 149-150). I imagine this is also in the soon to be released cupcake book.

We were having a dinner guest last night, so I decided to give these cupcakes a shot. Prepare yourself my friends – this is another one of Martha’s all day recipes.

Things started off well enough with the batter for the cupcakes. You essentially beat the cr** out of the eggs until they are light and poufy. No problem. Martha said to fill the cupcake tins only half full. I would ignore this advice next time – I felt my cupcakes were too short.

Next I baked the cupcakes. They needed a little less time than the recipe

says. They turned out nicely – soft and spongy. They were easy to cut in half.

Next, I moved on to the vanilla cream, which is the pudding-type filling for the cupcakes.  I followed the instructions on this to the letter. I cooked it and refrigerated it, and when I took it out, I had a bowl of runny glop. It was far too thin – and it was somehow thinner than it was when I first stuck it in the fridge. I was in a total panic, because I

needed to get these assembled in time for dinner. I dumped it back in a pot and heated it up again, but it did not thicken. Finally I added some more cornstarch and it immediately came together. I refrigerated it again and when it came out, it was too thick! Aaaahhh!!! Now, in the rational light of day, I think I should have probably just whisked in a little milk to thin it, but I didn’t think of that. I used it as it was and actually, you really couldn’t tell when you ate the cupcake that it was too thick (and it had the added effect of not running out the sides at all). If you make this recipe, I would recommend doubling the amount of cream. I didn’t have enough to fill all the cupcakes (I ended up with 24 cupcakes).

The final step is to melt some chocolate with cream and corn syrup to make the ganache glaze. This was easy. It melted nicely and I spooned it over the cupcakes. It did need a little help to drip down the edges, but once I got it to run, it looked great.

These tasted great. We ate them with a fork, but you could definitely just pick them up like a regular cupcake. This is a fun twist on cupcakes, which sometimes can be sort of boring, no matter how pretty they are.

Didn’t you just love the cupcake show Martha did on Wednesday this week? OMG, cupcakes are so cute and so good. I have been to Magnolia (the famous cupcake shop in NYC Martha mentioned) and I have to be honest – I thought their cupcakes were kind of dry. They did not wow me at … Read more →

On Monday, Martha displayed dishes from the Inaugural luncheon menu (below the menu there is a link to the recipes if you want to see them), spoke with the head chef, and made the duck breast and whipped sweet potatoes on her show. I was excited about the Inauguration and decided to make some of the luncheon menu for dinner last night. It was fun to share in the festivities. I don’t know how the luncheon guests managed to eat that many courses for lunch!

I made the seafood stew, molasses whipped sweet potatoes, asparagus and apple cinnamon sponge cake. This was plenty for dinner.

However, I spent most of the day in the kitchen to get it done! First I made the apple filling for the dessert. This entailed chopping up apples, caramelizing them and then adding some water and cooking them down. Once they’ve cooked down, you add nutmeg, applesauce, sugar, salt and lemon zest. I added some cinnamon as well.  I sliced bread (I used challah) and cut it out in circles to fit the ramekins.

Then I cooked the seafood in water, removed it, added vegetables, and then cooked the remaining broth down. This took a loooong time. Once it was cooked down, I added cream and white wine and had to cook it down again.  I cut up the seafood and prepared the ramekins (which I had to go out and buy for this since I didn’t have any!).

I baked the yams (no sweet potatoes to be found at my store) and mashed them with molasses, maple syrup, butter, cumin, and salt and pepper.

I prepared the asparagus for steaming.

I had to get everything assembled before blowing out the door for hockey practice, so I assembled both the seafood and dessert dishes (which meant dipping the bread in butter for the dessert and cutting out the puff pastry circles for the seafood stew) and left detailed instructions with my teenager about when to put them in the oven.

Everything turned out really well. The seafood stew was fabulous – no doubt because it took so much time and care to make. It was really wonderful. I would have preferred the cream sauce to be just a bit thicker. I confess I did add a little Wondra to mine and next time would add more. The molasses whipped sweet potatoes were good. The asparagus was regular asparagus – no big deal there. The dessert was good, but I felt as though the slices of bread were too thick and too buttery. I would slice them thinner and use less butter and

more apple filling. The caramel sauce that went on top was delicious (as you will see if you read the recipes in the link I provided, that at least was easy to make!).

It was exciting to feel as though we were participating in this historical event in a small way, and it was a very tasty meal. Cheers to the new president!

On Monday, Martha displayed dishes from the Inaugural luncheon menu (below the menu there is a link to the recipes if you want to see them), spoke with the head chef, and made the duck breast and whipped sweet potatoes on her show. I was excited about the Inauguration and decided to make some of … Read more →

Martha has a gorgeous feature about closet organization starting on page 74 of Martha Stewart Living (Jan. issue). I read this eagerly because our bedroom closet was stuffed to the gills.

The biggest problem with closets, in my opinion is the amount of stuff you have in them! If you look at Martha’s photos, you’ll see there are just a few things hanging or stacked on the drawers. I don’t know about you, but I’ve got more clothes than that!

Ok, so maybe it’s a tad disorganized in this photo. When we moved in, we redid this closet and installedwire drawers, shelves and three different heights of rods.

I also bought a shoe cube, which really helped. There is also a shoe rack on the inside of the closet door, which holds a lot of shoes as well.

And this big plastic drawer unit holds all my jewelry and scarves.

Despite those organizational systems already in place, you can see we needed some help.

So I sat down with the magazine and read Martha’s advice.  I have to say a lot of it was not very useful. Installing custom made wooden drawers and pull out shoe racks is really beyond what I can afford at this point. There isn’t a speck of wall space in this closet to hand belts or scarves, let along a message station!

I did like the idea of folding tshirts and standing them up. It didn’t really work out for me, so instead I tried rolling them and standing them on end and I’m pleased with that result. It makes it so much easier to find things because you can see them all.

In this after picture you can see how much neater it all looks. I did get rid of a pretty big pile. I also discovered I had about 20 turtlenecks which I never ever wear anymore (but can’t help thinking I might want someday), so I took those out and stuck them in a drawer somewhere else.

The biggest challenge for me is always keeping the closet neat. I have trouble with the stacks of sweaters and shirts – they always end up jumbled and messy. Now that I have some more space though, maybe I can manage!

I liked the tips about putting things in garment bags. I have some suits that I really need to do that with, so I’ll buy some of those when I go out.

Getting rid of the tangle of extra hangers made a big difference in this section. I kept some and tried to organize them so I could actually remove them one at a time.

SIDE NOTE: Tonight I’m going to be cooking part of the Inaugural Luncheon menu for dinner. Martha showed all of the dishes on her show yesterday, made one, and spoke with the head chef. I’m excited to be making some of the menu myself and will be posting it tomorrow. Happy Inauguration everyone!

Martha has a gorgeous feature about closet organization starting on page 74 of Martha Stewart Living (Jan. issue). I read this eagerly because our bedroom closet was stuffed to the gills. The biggest problem with closets, in my opinion is the amount of stuff you have in them! If you look at Martha’s photos, you’ll … Read more →

I’ve tackled another one of Martha’s Superbowl party foods, Spicy-Sweet Chicken Wings (page 38 of January Martha Stewart Living). First let me say this. I’m from Buffalo. Home of the chicken wing. When we order wings here we get them from some of the very best places in the entire world. Tough to beat.

I do occasionally make my own wings. So I was eager to give Martha’s version a try.

First you make the sauce – a mix of hoisin, orange zest, hot sauce, honey and sesame oil. I felt right away it could not possibly be enough. You marinate the wings in part of it, then bake them. Halfway through you put the rest of the sauce on them. The wings did not get as crispy as I like them and they were on the edge of burning. They had a slightly mushy texture. I like them crunchy.

The sauce had a nice taste, but there just was not enough of it. Having the dipping sauce definitely helped, but usually a dip has a different flavor, not a repeat of the same tastes.

Everyone agreed these wings were ok, but not terrific. I would recommend cooking them longer at a lower temp so that the sugars in the sauce do not burn, yet the wings have time to crisp.

I’ve tackled another one of Martha’s Superbowl party foods, Spicy-Sweet Chicken Wings (page 38 of January Martha Stewart Living). First let me say this. I’m from Buffalo. Home of the chicken wing. When we order wings here we get them from some of the very best places in the entire world. Tough to beat. I … Read more →

Can I just say, sliders do not strike me as Martha food. Can you see Martha eating them? I just can’t. Although I do understand it’s in the January issue of Martha Stewart Living as part of the Superbowl food section (does Martha have a Superbowl party? I doubt it).

My son loves sliders and orders them in restaurants every time they are on the menu, so I decided to make this for dinner. Really there’s nothing to this – all you do is make small hamburgers and serve them on dinner rolls. I didn’t make the shallot butter in the recipe because my family is very specific about what can and cannot go on a hamburger or slider. My son will not eat cheese. My husband likes mustard and ketchup. My daughter likes just ketchup. I require ketchup and relish. So I skipped the shallot butter and left several without cheese. I, of course, used organic, grass fed hamburger, which is something I am rigid about.

I did cook these under the broiler as Martha directs, even though I normally would have made them on the Jenn-Air grill. This was easy to make. I just wish I could have found whole wheat or multigrain dinner rolls, but I had to use white. I cannot tell you how long it has been since I’ve tasted regular white bread.  A real indulgence in this house.

The sliders were good. There’s something fun about cute little hamburgers like this. They’re easy to pick up and eat. This would be a nice thing to serve at a casual party, so it’s definitely something that would work for SuperBowl.

I’m going to be making more of the SuperBowl items from this issue in the coming weeks.

Can I just say, sliders do not strike me as Martha food. Can you see Martha eating them? I just can’t. Although I do understand it’s in the January issue of Martha Stewart Living as part of the Superbowl food section (does Martha have a Superbowl party? I doubt it). My son loves sliders and … Read more →