Today’s Martha Mondays project was chosen by Teresa at Homemade Iowa Life. The project is homemade mercury glass, from page of January Martha Stewart Living.

I love mercury glass, so this was exciting. Martha makes it sounds very simple (of course! It’s all simple to Martha). The first hurdle was buying what I needed. I bought a very inexpensive glass vase for $1.99. Finding the mirror paint was a problem. Martha references Krylon.com, however there wasn’t time to order this. I scoured local craft and home improvement stores. None of them had Krylon mirror paint (or looking glass paint, as it seems to say on the bottle in the photo in the magazine). I ended up buying chrome paint, which is close, but obviously not the same thing. Sigh. I paid $3.99 for a small size can of this.

Mr. MarthaAndMe assisted with this project as always. We wrapped paper around the vase and taped it. Then we sprayed the inside with water and next with the spray paint. We let it sit upside down on a drying rack overnight.

I removed the paper the next morning. It did do what it was supposed to, which is mostly cover the inside but not completely. However, I could definitely tell this was chrome, not mirror paint. If I had had mirror paint, I think the results would have been great. As it is, it’s just ok. So I’ll give this project a thumbs up, providing you can find the correct paint!

Today’s Martha Mondays project was chosen by Teresa at Homemade Iowa Life. The project is homemade mercury glass, from page of January Martha Stewart Living. I love mercury glass, so this was exciting. Martha makes it sounds very simple (of course! It’s all simple to Martha). The first hurdle was buying what I needed. I … Read more →

Thanks to Teresa at Homemade Iowa Life, the project for 1/11 is Instant Antique Glass, page 48 of January Martha Stewart Living. If you don’t have the magazine, you need some kind of glass vase, or votive holder, etc, a spray bottle with water and mirror paint in a spray bottle.

You need to work in a ventilated area. Clean the glass and cover the outside with paper. Spray the inside with water then the mirror paint. Turn it upside down on a drying rack so air can circulate and let it dry completely overnight. You can repeat if necessary. The result should look like mercury glass.

I love mercury glass, so I can’t wait to see how this turns out.

Thanks to Teresa at Homemade Iowa Life, the project for 1/11 is Instant Antique Glass, page 48 of January Martha Stewart Living. If you don’t have the magazine, you need some kind of glass vase, or votive holder, etc, a spray bottle with water and mirror paint in a spray bottle. You need to work … Read more →

I hope everyone survived the holidays! After a short break, we’re back to Martha Mondays. Today’s recipe was Silver Dollar Pear Pancakes, chosen by Pru at Perfecting Pru. We had these for breakfast on Sunday. It’s Martha’s basic buttermilk pancake recipe (which is almost the same as my recipe, except she uses more buttermilk), but you start by placing thin slices of pear that have been dipped in maple syrup and cinnamon on the griddle and letting them cook for a minute. Then you put the batter over them.

I liked these. The pear is an interesting flavor. It was kind of a sticky mess on the griddle, but they did taste good. It was nice to try something different for breakfast.

If you made this, please post a link to your results or a comment saying what you thought. Visit the other members’ blogs.

I hope everyone survived the holidays! After a short break, we’re back to Martha Mondays. Today’s recipe was Silver Dollar Pear Pancakes, chosen by Pru at Perfecting Pru. We had these for breakfast on Sunday. It’s Martha’s basic buttermilk pancake recipe (which is almost the same as my recipe, except she uses more buttermilk), but … Read more →

We’re going to hit the pause button on Martha Mondays until after the holidays. Some members have suggested it and I agree. So the next Martha Mondays will be Jan. 4. Pru Singer from My Life Pru Singer has made her pick for that already, so you can plan ahead – Silver Dollar Pear Pancakes. We’ll push everyone else’s assigned dates back a week from there on out.

I’ll still be posting through the holidays. For one thing I am determined to make a croque en bouche. Fingers crossed on that.

We’re going to hit the pause button on Martha Mondays until after the holidays. Some members have suggested it and I agree. So the next Martha Mondays will be Jan. 4. Pru Singer from My Life Pru Singer has made her pick for that already, so you can plan ahead – Silver Dollar Pear Pancakes. … Read more →

Hello and welcome to Martha Mondays this Christmas week. I hope all of you are ready, or almost ready for the big day and if you celebrate Hanukkah, I hope you had a nice holiday.

This week’s project, Vinegar Glossed Chicken,  was chosen by Sara at Sassy Suppers. I was excited to try this since it is a Lucinda recipe and I usually like her recipes a lot.

This recipe was pretty simple to put together. I used boneless chicken breasts instead of a whole chicken cut up since no one here likes dark meat. You start by browning your chicken in some oil. Once that’s done, add the chicken stock which you reduce by half. Next add in the vinegar which has been mixed with garlic and rosemary. The recipe says to swirl the pan and cook it down till it forms a glaze.

This did not work out very well for me at all. I followed the amounts exactly and ended up with a pan of very sour vinegar – cooking it down make it thicker, but did not change the flavor. There was no way I could feed that to my family so I set about doctoring it up. I added about a cup of more chicken stock and then added Wondra to thicken it. I added sugar to cut the taste of the vinegar – several teaspoons. I also added some water at the end and more Wondra to try to thin out the taste of the vinegar. No one really cared for this. I served the sauce/gravy separately so people could control how much they got. The chicken did turn a pretty color. I wouldn’t try this one again. I guess maybe if you love the taste of vinegar this would appeal to you, but it just tasted horribly sour to me. The kids complained about how it made the house smell. It was just overwhelming. Lucinda, you’ve failed me!

Hello and welcome to Martha Mondays this Christmas week. I hope all of you are ready, or almost ready for the big day and if you celebrate Hanukkah, I hope you had a nice holiday. This week’s project, Vinegar Glossed Chicken,  was chosen by Sara at Sassy Suppers. I was excited to try this since … Read more →

Gingerbread cupcakes – what could be a better pick for December? I was so enthusiastic about these, I even bought holiday cupcake papers and little gingerbread toothpick guys to decorate. This recipe is from the Martha Stewart Cupcake book. Visit the MSC Cupcake Club page and other members if you get a chance.

As always, these cupcakes were a breeze to whip up. There was only one small problem – I didn’t have quite enough ginger. I only had 1 1/2 tbsp and the recipe called for 2 tbsp. Sorry Martha!

This made 22 very small cupcakes. Usually I like to fill my cupcake tins pretty close to the top and have them rise out of the tins. There wasn’t enough to do this and they didn’t rise a lot.

I just made a plain white frosting and decorated with my toothpick guys (as always I am sure I will be embarrassed once I see the other club members’ creativity!).

As for taste, I was not a big fan. I would rather eat real gingerbread. The kids liked them and so did Mr. MarthaAndMe. I sent most of these off to school with Teen Martha who fed them to her Virgil (Latin) class.

Gingerbread cupcakes – what could be a better pick for December? I was so enthusiastic about these, I even bought holiday cupcake papers and little gingerbread toothpick guys to decorate. This recipe is from the Martha Stewart Cupcake book. Visit the MSC Cupcake Club page and other members if you get a chance. As always, … Read more →

This week’s Martha Mondays pick – Chocolate-Caramel Cookie Bars – was chosen by Megan at Megan’s Cookin. This cookie was on my list to make since it looked so good!

The bottom part of the cookie was very simple to make. The chocolate caramel was a little harder. You cook sugar and water until it turns “amber”. I found that term to be a little vague. I think of amber as a yellowish-brown, kind of deep and dark. Martha says to cook it for 10-12 minutes to get that color. I slaved over that stove for 20 minutes, washing down the sides of the pan and I got to a light gold color. Finally I threw in the towel and hoped it was right.  I added the butter and cream, boiled it and poured it over the chocolate.

When I took it out of the fridge, I realized I didn’t read the part in the instructions about putting parchment in the pan before putting in the cookies! I was sure I was going to have a mess on my hands, but it came out easily.

I have to say I didn’t care for this one though. It was just too sweet. I love chocolate, but I did not enjoy this. I guess the added sugar from the caramel made it just too sweet for me. The cookie bottom was crunchy and nice, but I just couldn’t eat it – too sweet for me. I did put sea salt on top and that was interesting, but it didn’t cut the sweetness enough for me. The kids will probably eat this up – I think anyone under the age of 18 is immune to things that are too sweet. The consensus of the family was that this tasted like fudge and not caramel.

This week’s Martha Mondays pick – Chocolate-Caramel Cookie Bars – was chosen by Megan at Megan’s Cookin. This cookie was on my list to make since it looked so good! The bottom part of the cookie was very simple to make. The chocolate caramel was a little harder. You cook sugar and water until it … Read more →

The Martha Mondays project for 12/14 is the chocolate caramel cookie bar in the November issue of Living. This pick is courtesy of Megan at Megan’s Cookin’. If you need the recipe, let me know. As always, new members are welcome – just email me or leave a comment if you would like to be added to the blogroll and have a turn making a pick.

The Martha Mondays project for 12/14 is the chocolate caramel cookie bar in the November issue of Living. This pick is courtesy of Megan at Megan’s Cookin’. If you need the recipe, let me know. As always, new members are welcome – just email me or leave a comment if you would like to be … Read more →

This week’s Martha Mondays project was Iced Applesauce Oatmeal Cookies, chosen by Robyn At Robyn’s Nest. These were really easy to put together. I did make a few changes.  I used whole wheat flour instead of regular;  I didn’t use raisins; I used regular applesauce instead of chunky and I added about 1/4 tsp of cinnamon. I thought the batter tasted incredible. Then I tasted a cookie warm and did not like it at all. Later I tasted one once it was cooled and had the icing on it and liked it much better. Everyone in the house gave this one a thumbs up. These are soft oatmeal cookies. I liked it because it is at least somewhat healthy and it feels substantial and filling.  Very yummy!

This week’s Martha Mondays project was Iced Applesauce Oatmeal Cookies, chosen by Robyn At Robyn’s Nest. These were really easy to put together. I did make a few changes.  I used whole wheat flour instead of regular;  I didn’t use raisins; I used regular applesauce instead of chunky and I added about 1/4 tsp of … Read more →

The Martha Mondays pick for 12/7, chosen by Robyn at RobynsNest is Iced Oatmeal Applesauce Cookies. Sounds pretty yummy! I can’t wait to taste them. As always, if you would like to join, just email me or leave a comment.

The Martha Mondays pick for 12/7, chosen by Robyn at RobynsNest is Iced Oatmeal Applesauce Cookies. Sounds pretty yummy! I can’t wait to taste them. As always, if you would like to join, just email me or leave a comment.