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 →

I was intrigued by the recipe for Roasted Shrimp with Spaghetti Squash in December Martha Stewart Everyday Food. I’ve seen recipes like this before, where the idea is that spaghetti squash replaces spaghetti and I’ve always been curious, and skeptical.

This recipe is very simple – too simple. You roast the squash, cut in half, upside down in water. Then scrape the strands out. Meanwhile, you roast your shrimp in the oven (this goes very quickly of course). Serve the shrimp over the squash with lemon and parsley. That’s it.

As soon as I scraped out the squash, I knew I was in trouble. I tasted it and it was very bland and flavorless. Just like you would not serve plain shrimp over plain spaghetti, there’s no way you would serve plain shrimp over plain spaghetti squash, so I tried to add some flavor. First I threw in some herb butter I had hanging around. That did liven it up a bit. Somehow these kinds of squash always seem to need something sweet to me, so I added a little honey. I also added lemon juice and lots of salt and pepper.

I added the shrimp and got it to the table, but I just didn’t like it. Although the squash came out in strands, by the time I mixed ingredients into it, it had become mushy. It didn’t feel like or taste like spaghetti and the only resemblance is that it has strands.

I didn’t care for this dish at all and am marking spaghetti squash off my list! If you have a better way to prepare it, let me know!

I was intrigued by the recipe for Roasted Shrimp with Spaghetti Squash in December Martha Stewart Everyday Food. I’ve seen recipes like this before, where the idea is that spaghetti squash replaces spaghetti and I’ve always been curious, and skeptical. This recipe is very simple – too simple. You roast the squash, cut in half, … Read more →

crummy photo - sorry!

We went to Hawaii in the summer of ’08 and it was one of the most magnificent trips ever. We loved it there. The scenery, the climate, the people, the beaches – and of course the food. I think I ate fish every single night and we had shave ice many times. One of my favorite Hawaiian flavors is passion fruit. I can’t seem to find passion fruit juice or extract around here, so I’m left to improvise with other Hawaiian favorites.

Recently, I was in the mood for something from the islands, but we had had fish a lot so it was time to shift gears. I had chicken breasts and mangoes. I made a quick dash to the store and bought some fresh pineapple too.

I dug out some of the recipes I have from Sam Choy and adapted his Sweet and Sour Chicken Breasts with Tropical Fruits into a recipe I’m calling Hawaiian Chicken.
Marinate the chicken breasts in the following mixture:
1/2 cup tamari sauce
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp minced ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 1 1/2 tbsp water
1 1/2 tsp brown sugar

I marinated mine for a couple of hours, but do it for at least half an hour. While that is marinating, cut up one mango and dice about a cup of fresh pineapple.

To cook, I melted a little butter in the pan, added the chicken breasts and about half the marinade and cooked over medium high heat. I let the marinade cook down a bit then covered it to cook the breasts all the way through. I did add some chicken broth (between 1/4 and 1/2 cup) as I went along when I felt the sauce was getting too dark or too thick. When they are close to done, add the fruit and 1/4 cup bottled sweet and sour sauce and salt and pepper. Cook until the fruit softens and the sauce is thick – about 3 minutes.

We went to Hawaii in the summer of ’08 and it was one of the most magnificent trips ever. We loved it there. The scenery, the climate, the people, the beaches – and of course the food. I think I ate fish every single night and we had shave ice many times. One of my … Read more →

Out of the oven

There’s always been an enthusiastic response in the past when Teen Martha baked for the blog. She was at it again. This time she needed to make cookies to take to the National Honor Society induction ceremony. She’s a member and the induction is for juniors. They have a little reception afterwards for new members and parents where they have cookies and punch. I handed her December Living, December Everyday Food and the special issue Martha Stewart’s Holiday Sweets to look through. She choose Chocolate Mint Wafers on page 53 of the special Holiday Sweets issue.

She mixed up the cookie dough and was worried because it was crumbly. She refrigerated it and then formed it into wafers. As you can see, they didn’t look very pretty. The method for this cookie is to make the dough into balls, then flatten then with the bottom of a glass. Teen Martha was not pleased with the outcome of this.

Once the chocolate wafers were cool, she melted chocolate with peppermint extract in the microwave and dunked the cookies. She had a little trouble getting the cookies covered with the chocolate without losing them in the bowl, but did get the job done. She decorated them with little gold balls.

Neither of us is giving this one a thumbs up. Teen Martha felt they were not minty enough. I tasted mint, but they were hard as rocks – almost impossible to bite into. This wasn’t a winner.

There’s always been an enthusiastic response in the past when Teen Martha baked for the blog. She was at it again. This time she needed to make cookies to take to the National Honor Society induction ceremony. She’s a member and the induction is for juniors. They have a little reception afterwards for new members … Read more →

This family loves biscuits and I always make them from scratch, with my mom’s recipe. I’ve learned over the years that biscuit dough needs to be handled as little as possible to get a nice consistency. I always hand form my biscuits instead of rolling them out.

Martha has a recipe for Cheddar and Sage Biscuits in December Everyday Food. I have added cheddar to biscuits before, but never sage, so I wanted to try them.

This recipe recommends making biscuits in the food processor. I’ve always done mine by hand with a pastry butter, so this was new. I also noticed the recipe contains a lot of baking powder – 2 tbsp. The recipe also contains 2 tbsp fresh chopped sage and buttermilk (a must in biscuits!) as well as 2 cups of cheddar cheese.

Using the food processor was quick, but I was worrying about overworking it. I whizzed it until it just came together then hand formed the biscuits.

They baked quickly at 450 and puffed up. Would they win family approval? The answer is, surprisingly, no one even noticed the cheese or the sage. I’m still surprised. I didn’t really taste it either. It adds a very mild background flavor. I did think these biscuits were a little tough and would not make them in the food processor again. They were good though, but I’m going to stick with my mom’s recipe:

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp soda

1/3 cup butter

2/3 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese (optional).

Cut butter into dry ingredients then gently mix in buttermilk until just combined. Pat into rounds and bake at 475 degrees for about 10 minutes. Makes 6 large biscuits.

This family loves biscuits and I always make them from scratch, with my mom’s recipe. I’ve learned over the years that biscuit dough needs to be handled as little as possible to get a nice consistency. I always hand form my biscuits instead of rolling them out. Martha has a recipe for Cheddar and Sage … Read more →

Quick week night meals are always welcome here, so I made Martha’s Turkey Cutlets with Shallots and Rosemary from December Everyday Food. I bought my cutlets pre-cut – Martha says to slice them yourself from one turkey breast. I bought two thick cutlets. Martha says to pound them to 1/4 inch thick. I beat those cutlets within an inch of their lives and they hardly flattened at all.

Next you cook your cutlets in a little oil until almost done (I made sure mine were still very pink inside). Take them out and cook 4 quartered shallots with salt and pepper until soft. She says 4 minutes, but it took a lot longer than that – I didn’t want them crunchy. Next add in 5 springs of rosemary (about an inch long each) and 1/2 cup white wine and cook the wine down to a syrup. Add 3/4 cup chicken broth and cook until reduced by half. I did all of this a bit in advance and when it was time to eat, I heated the sauce up, added the butter (1 tbsp) and stuck the turkey back in to warm it and cook it the rest of the way. Unfortunately, at that point only half my turkey remained – one of the dogs had snatched a cutlet from the counter while my back was turned (and then I forgot to take the photo until we started eating, so it really looks like there was nothing left!).

I have not been a fan of turkey cutlets much in the past – they always get overcooked and have no taste. Because these were thick, they didn’t overcook and there was time for them to absorb the flavor. I really liked it. It was very quick, but the sauce had a nice flavor and it actually felt like dinner, not something you threw in a pan and threw together quickly.

Quick week night meals are always welcome here, so I made Martha’s Turkey Cutlets with Shallots and Rosemary from December Everyday Food. I bought my cutlets pre-cut – Martha says to slice them yourself from one turkey breast. I bought two thick cutlets. Martha says to pound them to 1/4 inch thick. I beat those … 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 →

Because I wanted one for myself, Mr. MarthaAndMe and the most wonderful Justin Chow, designer extraordinaire, designed a t-shirt on Cafepress that says “What Would Martha Do?” It’s got the little implements that are in the MarthaAndMe new logo (also designed by Justin) on it and it says MarthaAndMe on the back in smaller letters. I really wanted a t-shirt for me and decided to share with others who might enjoy it. Mr. MarthaAndMe set it up so you can get the same image on an apron,sweatshirt, long sleeve t-shirt, tote bag, mug, mousepad, dog t-shirt, etc. They make great holiday gifts. And, yes, I make a very small percent from each one, which will help defray the cost of the design for the new logo. Check out the products – and thanks Mr. MarthaAndMe and Justin! A box about this will be permanently hanging out over on the right hand side of the blog if you want to find it again in the future.

Because I wanted one for myself, Mr. MarthaAndMe and the most wonderful Justin Chow, designer extraordinaire, designed a t-shirt on Cafepress that says “What Would Martha Do?” It’s got the little implements that are in the MarthaAndMe new logo (also designed by Justin) on it and it says MarthaAndMe on the back in smaller letters. … Read more →

I love French onion soup. I order it in restaurants all the time. I’ve only attempted to make it once before and it was not good at all. I think I didn’t caramelize the onions long enough. Martha has a recipe for it in December Everyday Food and I decided to give it a try. Actually, it’s one of those articles where you make one item then can make several items from it. The main item is caramelized onions. Martha’s instructions are pretty simple and I felt confident making it. I did substitute 2 large Spanish onions for the 15 white onions she calls for because that’s what I had on hand. I cooked the onions with butter until they just started to brown on high. Then I reduced the heat to medium, added 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp salt and cooked the onions about another 45 minutes until they were brown and sort of sticky. This did involve a lot of stirring and required opening the windows since the kids hate the smell of onions.

To make the soup, Martha says to add one cup of the onions to 5 1/2 cups of beef broth. She suggests serving a slice of bread with melted Gruyere on the side. I added the beef broth, but also added some thyme, salt and pepper. I mixed it and brought it to a boil then turned it off and let it sit while I drove children to various places. I think that allowed the flavors to meld a bit.

For the bread, I melted Gruyere on some slices of wheat bread, but then I cut it into cubes and dumped it in the soup. I love the way French onion soup looks when you get it in a restaurant, but I find it very hard to eat – all that stringy cheese and huge clumps of bread. If I do say so myself, handling it this way was sheer genius. It was easy to eat, we got all the flavors in each spoonful, no one was wrapped in a web of cheese, and it went smoothly.

I will definitely make this again! Much easier than I expected and very delicious!

I love French onion soup. I order it in restaurants all the time. I’ve only attempted to make it once before and it was not good at all. I think I didn’t caramelize the onions long enough. Martha has a recipe for it in December Everyday Food and I decided to give it a try. … Read more →