Today’s project, Caramel Corn from July Living was chosen by Teresa at A Homemade Iowa Life. I’ve never made caramel corn and the kids love it, so this was a great project to try.

It was easier than I expected. You pop 12 cups of popped corn and mix 1 1/2 cups of beer nuts (or salted peanuts which is what I used). Melt 1 stick plus 2 tbsp butter and add 1 3/4 cups brown sugar, 1/3 cup light corn syrup, 1/2 tsp salt and cook to 248 degrees. Add 1/4 tsp baking soda and toss with the popcorn. Then bake at 250 for 40 minutes, stirring a few times. Not a lot of work and it turned out nicely. It tastes great. The only caveat I would offer is to make sure you separate out all of the unpopped corn. I make mine in the microwave and always have some that doesn’t pop. It gets mixed into the caramel and is not nice to chew if you don’t get it all out before adding the caramel. Thumbs up on this one!

Today’s project, Caramel Corn from July Living was chosen by Teresa at A Homemade Iowa Life. I’ve never made caramel corn and the kids love it, so this was a great project to try. It was easier than I expected. You pop 12 cups of popped corn and mix 1 1/2 cups of beer nuts … Read more →

As part of my new Martha on Demand initiative, I recently asked readers of this blog to tell me what Martha recipes they would like me to test out for them. There was an overwhelming number of people who asked for veggie burgers. Stephanie in particular requested the veggie burgers in the July issue of Everyday Food and others chimed in saying any veggie burger recipe would be great.  Thanks to all of you who requested it, I gave this recipe a try.

Things did not start off well in the grocery store! I could not find bulgur. I ended up buying a tabbouleh mix, which has bulgur and then spices in an envelope inside. You start by soaking 1/2 cup bulgur in 1 cup boiling water for 30 min. Then you drain it. Coarsely chop 1 can of drained and rinsed pinto beans and add to the bulgur. Shred 2 carrots and add that and an egg. Also add 1 thinly sliced scallion and salt and pepper and 1/2 cup grated Swiss cheese.

The recipe says to measure 1/2 cup of the mix as one burger and smush it with a spatula to the right thickness. It was supposed to make 4 burgers, but I ended up with 5. You cook them in a pan with a little olive oil. My mix was really kind of mushy and didn’t hold together too well. The recipe says to cook 3 min per side. Mine took about 20 min before they were cooked through, but I had them all in one large pan so the heat was not very direct. I did successfully transfer most of it to buns. The recipe says to put avocado and bean sprouts on the bun. I used Miracle Whip and avocado.

They looked pretty decent – nicely browned. They tasted really bland though. There’s nothing in them to give them any flavor. It just tasted like plain beans. At the very least this needed onion or garlic and some other seasonings – herbs of some kind. I don’t think I would make this again. It was a lot of work with not much taste, unfortunately! A big disappointment. My kids hated it, but they aren’t veggie burger fans in general. I love Gardenburgers, but this didn’t measure up at all.

I’ll be making some of the other Martha on Demand requests made on the other thread in my continuing Martha on Demand series, but if you have any requests, go ahead and post them here. I’m always open to suggestions and it’s great when people post specific Martha recipes they want me to try.

As part of my new Martha on Demand initiative, I recently asked readers of this blog to tell me what Martha recipes they would like me to test out for them. There was an overwhelming number of people who asked for veggie burgers. Stephanie in particular requested the veggie burgers in the July issue of … Read more →

Strawberry cupcakes! What a thought. This is a perfect pick for June. I’ve made strawberry muffins before, but not strawberry cupcakes. This recipe is from Martha Stewart’s cupcake book and is the June selection for the MSC Cupcake Club.

The cupcake batter was lovely and wonderful tasting – I could have eaten a bowl just of that. Sigh. They baked up nicely. I was hesitant about the frosting – strawberry buttercream. I tend not to do well with Martha’s frostings, but I went for it. It’s a basic buttercream with pureed strawberries added at the end. I took my time and it turned out well I thought. I didn’t get out the cake decorating tips – ugh. Instead I just sort of free-form glopped frosting on top of these. They looked cute I thought. They tasted pretty good too. They got a thumbs up from everyone, except Teen Martha, who wouldn’t even try one because “I don’t like fruit in my cupcakes.” My only complaint was that they weren’t chocolate! They were moist and did taste like strawberry. Now I have a refrigerator full of cupcakes which I am quickly going to give away so they don’t end up on my hips!

Strawberry cupcakes! What a thought. This is a perfect pick for June. I’ve made strawberry muffins before, but not strawberry cupcakes. This recipe is from Martha Stewart’s cupcake book and is the June selection for the MSC Cupcake Club. The cupcake batter was lovely and wonderful tasting – I could have eaten a bowl just … Read more →

Thanks to Pru at Perfecting Pru for this week’s pick. I like turkey burgers, but find that they can be dry unless you really doctor them up by putting stuff in them. I was intrigued by this recipe – sour cream and mango chutney seemed like interesting additions!

I had a hard time finding mango chutney. In England it’s pretty popular, but not here! I finally stumbled upon a lone bottle in the European foods section. The only kind my store had was “hot”.

This was easy to mix up. It also includes some ripped up bread which was sort of an interesting addition as well. I froze the burgers and then cooked them in the oven as directed. I served them on whole wheat rolls with some mayo and lettuce.

These were good and the family liked them. I wasn’t too wild about the chutney. I used only half of the amount directed because I was afraid of it being too spicy. This tasted a lot like a coronation chicken sandwich I had at a rest stop on the highway in England and I wasn’t too wild about that sandwich either! The mango chutney is a flavor that is unfamiliar to me.

I ate the leftover burger the next day and put some sliced avocado on the roll and melted some Swiss cheese on it and it was much better. Somehow I didn’t taste the chutney as much and I liked it a lot more.

I don’t think I would use mango chutney again, but the sour cream and bread were interesting additions which I will use again, so this was a good recipe since it taught me those two tricks!

Thanks to Pru at Perfecting Pru for this week’s pick. I like turkey burgers, but find that they can be dry unless you really doctor them up by putting stuff in them. I was intrigued by this recipe – sour cream and mango chutney seemed like interesting additions! I had a hard time finding mango … Read more →

I’ve decided to shake things up a bit. I’m officially calling on you (yes, you, anyone who reads this blog!) to tell me what Martha recipes you want me to make. I’d love to get reader suggestions and then I’ll do one a week or so. I’m thinking I’ll occasionally post a call for suggestions to keep the well filled. I’ll try to do one recipe every week and will post my results here for all to see. So if there’s a Martha recipe you’ve been wanting to try and wondered if it was any good, leave me a comment and I’ll test drive it for you. Simple or complicated, it doesn’t matter.

I would especially love it if you would spread the word. Here’s a tweet that could be posted:

@MarthaAndMeBlog is doing #Martha on Demand – tell her what you want her to make! http://wp.me/plYaL-17h

Or feel free to Facebook it. The more input the better.

I’ve decided to shake things up a bit. I’m officially calling on you (yes, you, anyone who reads this blog!) to tell me what Martha recipes you want me to make. I’d love to get reader suggestions and then I’ll do one a week or so. I’m thinking I’ll occasionally post a call for suggestions … Read more →

Today’s project was chosen by Sara at Sassy Suppers – Herbed Flatbread from the June issue of Living. I’ve never made anything like this before. The dough was very simple – get 1/4 tsp yeast foamy in 1 cup of warm water, then add flour and oil and salt and knead till smooth. Let it rise for an hour and then divide into 16 pieces and roll them out to a 10×4 size. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sea salt and herbs and bake. That’s it. Given that there is very little in them, they were surprisingly flavorful. Everyone enjoyed them. Dude Martha said they tasted like garlic bread sticks. I froze the rest and plan to use them again. Maybe I’ll sprinkle a little cheese on them before heating them up for something different.  I can see lots of different ways to use these. You could make little pizzas on them. They would be great with smoked salmon. Or they’re nice just plain with soup or a salad.

Today’s project was chosen by Sara at Sassy Suppers – Herbed Flatbread from the June issue of Living. I’ve never made anything like this before. The dough was very simple – get 1/4 tsp yeast foamy in 1 cup of warm water, then add flour and oil and salt and knead till smooth. Let it … Read more →

Going into the oven

Today’s Martha Mondays project was chosen by Hannah at City Interludes. Lemon Poppyseed Cookies (from June Everyday Food) sounded terrific. I once made something similar from Martha (years ago) and it was fantastic, so I had high hopes. Let me just say, this did not meet them!

I am still scratching my head at this recipe.  It has almost nothing in it. 1/2 c flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp baking soda, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tbsp poppyseeds. Wet ingredients include only 1 tbsp veg oil, 2 egg yolks, 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1 tsp lemon zest. The recipe does say the dough will be dry, but it didn’t mention it would be a bowl of sand. I could not get this to stay together. As you can see, what I sent into the oven did not resemble cookies. I tried to use a spoon, a cookie dough scoop and my hands to get this to stick together, but it just would not.

It came out of the oven looking about the same, just browner. Although it was a total disaster in terms of appearance, they did taste quite good, so it’s a shame they wouldn’t act like cookies! I’ll be interested to hear if anyone else had success – maybe I’m just a loser who couldn’t make this one work!

End result

Today’s Martha Mondays project was chosen by Hannah at City Interludes. Lemon Poppyseed Cookies (from June Everyday Food) sounded terrific. I once made something similar from Martha (years ago) and it was fantastic, so I had high hopes. Let me just say, this did not meet them! I am still scratching my head at this … Read more →

Potato and Zucchini Hash from May Martha Stewart Everyday Food was our pick for today, chosen by At Least Twice a Week.  I love potatoes and am always looking for something new to do with zucchini. This recipe was pretty simple – fry up 2 potatoes (peeled and sliced thinly in small pieces) with half a sliced onion. Once the potato is cooked, add in 1 thinly sliced and cut zucchini. Salt and pepper it to taste. Martha says to serve with fried eggs, but I skipped that.

Very simple, and very good! I liked this, even though it sounded sort of weird (potatoes and zucchini?). It worked well as a dish though and was easy to put together.  I love it when Martha has me try something new and I am pleasantly surprised.

Potato and Zucchini Hash from May Martha Stewart Everyday Food was our pick for today, chosen by At Least Twice a Week.  I love potatoes and am always looking for something new to do with zucchini. This recipe was pretty simple – fry up 2 potatoes (peeled and sliced thinly in small pieces) with half … Read more →

This month’s MS Cupcake Club pick is Tres Leches Cupcakes, from the Martha Stewart Cupcake book. I just finished making these. The batter was easy to make (even though I accidentally got egg yolk in the whites and had to start over). After you bake it, you are supposed to brush a mix of cream, sweetened condensed milk, and evaporated milk on them. It made so much though and it took forever to brush it over and over on the cupcakes. I stopped when I had a few tablespoons left and the cupcakes looked pretty saturated.

I tasted one after they sat for 30 min and I didn’t care for it. It tasted very eggy and custardy to me. I then sprinkled my last bite with cinnamon sugar, and that was good, so I did it to the rest and put them in the fridge and am hoping maybe they will taste better cold later tonight or tomorrow. They’re also really wet, so maybe they will sort of set up once they’re cold.

This month’s MS Cupcake Club pick is Tres Leches Cupcakes, from the Martha Stewart Cupcake book. I just finished making these. The batter was easy to make (even though I accidentally got egg yolk in the whites and had to start over). After you bake it, you are supposed to brush a mix of cream, … Read more →

Thanks to Karen at At Least Twice a Week for shaking me out of my work-induced stupor and sending me her pick for Monday – potato zucchini hash from May Everyday Food. If you need the recipe, let me know. It sounds delish.

Thanks to Karen at At Least Twice a Week for shaking me out of my work-induced stupor and sending me her pick for Monday – potato zucchini hash from May Everyday Food. If you need the recipe, let me know. It sounds delish.